Here's my latest.

Bach - Prelude and Fugue in E flat minor, BVW 853, from WTC book I
Bach - Prelude and Fugue in E major, BVW 854, from WTC book I
Bach - Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BVW 855, from WTC book I

I like your melody voicing in the prelude. And you have my repect for the very good played fast 2nd part of the prelude. There are some spots in the fugue were you delay the notes a bit (what is a matter of taste, it is only not my taste), and the tempo gets faster after some bars. I niggle a bit about the trills in the prelude, they are here and there not evenly.

It is not the easiest prelude & fugue pair, neither prelude (left hand) nor fugue. I think this 2-voice fugue is difficultier as some 3 or 4 voice fugues from the WTC.
At a whole, a really good take!

I generally like your way with this pair, though as Olaf said the trills in the Prelude could have been better. I also like your imperious handling of the Presto - however you could broaden out more in the last bar, like making the sun break through after a pelt of rain.

The fugue is also nice and assertive. Tempo is not rock steady, it seems to fluctuate a little here and there. There are one or two slips or reading mistakes but otherwise this is very convincing. Does it strike you that both this prelude and fugue are excellent Etudes in their own right ! Only thing I disapprove of here is how you bite off the the closing chord. Seems to me you should always take your time for Bach closings, and give them their full weight. May be a matter of personal taste.

Well all three submissions are good quality and I will gladly put them on the site (still have your bio
info somewhere, I think). One request though, especially if you make separate postings, can you please put the title and BWV/opus number in the subject line ?

BTW what is your problem with multiple attachments ? One can just keep using the 'Attachment' button to add attachments ad nauseam. Doesn't that work for you ?

Reminds me what my old piano teacher said: "Let Bach end always GREAT. For other composers do what you like". Not that I took her advice to heart in every case on Bach, but at least you are not alone with your opinion here.

Thankyou techneut and MindenBlues for your comments and glad there's a seen improvement.

Yes please, if the recordings could be put on the site that would be great.

There are still evidently some insecurities which in an ideal world I'm not 100% happy about, but AM happy it is a reflection of where I am right now. Time to tackle something fresh, and something I aim to improve with every project I post!

Indeed both challenging studies, especially the rather exposed two part fugue (including cheeky unisons).

Taking comments in turn:

Yes, ok I have altered this ending several times, including in the run up to this recording, and have yet to find something I'm fully convinced with myself. I've heard a totally convincing rall & dim trailing off at the end, but decided not for me in my interpretation. This version I plough on deliberately with no rall, but agree it doesn't fully work. It is the unusual semiquavers...where should the emphasis lie? I feel I must observe Bach's rests, but room for more of ...something...

No, unless it is something subtle about the specific order of hitting the "browse" and "add attachment" button, I tried adding all three, but all you got was the last (hence strange reverse order of submission). I don't get any reassuring list of all the files or ability to highlight several files at once (as you would say, in an email browser)...Can't argue, other posters clearly have no problem. We could leave it if you like and blame it on something like the computer that hasn't passed the Turing Test so can't answer back (yet).

Will mark the slips pointed out in this and other postings, and will listen out in future for those pickups on recording.

Ok David, you are up the site. Welcome to our distunguished roster of pianists Please check your page and the links to see if everything is ok.

Good decision not to keep dwelling on these and move on. Can I just ask that you take care of eliminating these thudding noises in your next recordings ? This is rather distracting in places.

Now, we still have your Hindemith Ludus Tonalis selection. Shall I put that up as well or do you want to redo it ? Perhaps you could also provide a Hindemith bio (as I am getting a bit lazy in compiling bios ...)

Great to be welcomed into the fold!

links seemed to check out ok, other than there isn't one to the Bach under the "recordings" header on my biog page.

Certainly will look to eliminating thudding noises. Any tips on mike placing from anyone? I improved it since first recordings, but I have a single mike placed rather too near my feet on the left, with (upright) piano cover off so no wonder it is picking up the pedal mechanism. This was recommended somewhere, and I didn't like results when I placed it above the top lid.

I've had another listen to the Hindemith. Too many slips for my liking. I'll see whether I can produce a better version plus bio in reasonable time, but once again, keen to move on.

Ah yes, I tend to forget that Always good to check isn't it ! Fixed now.


Can't recommend about an upright, but near the feet sounds bad... unless you want to cut down on the pedal usage in Bach. However I agree the E flat minor prelude reather needs it. You may just want to move the mike away a metre or two.


Ok as you wish. I hope you'll provide a complete Ludus later on, as I still have no heard this work in its entirety.

I tried recording the Hindemith again tonight. I improved on some of the slips, but don't really feel I gained anything more satisfying in the music.

I'm tending towards feeling these were an interesting foil to the Bach, and I valued the comments when I posted it originally, especially that I might have introduced something new to people, but would have to be honest that my heart's not quite in it at the moment to put in the necessary hard graft to get it to the next level. I think I'm suffering withdrawl symptoms and am absolutely desperate to do some Schubert and Beethoven! Perhaps then I can return to the challenge.

Really lovely played with a nice tone and phrasing and I also like the tempo you choosed. One could wish for you to be a little more even here and there and also to pay more attention to the trills as I am pretty sure you can perform them better by just add some more focus. But overall, really well done!