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Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments
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Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments

work by C.P.E. Bach
Also known as: “Versuch über die wahre Art das Klavier zu spielen”(Show More)
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Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments (1753) is a foundational text for understanding 18th-century music performance. Bach, son of Johann Sebastian Bach, was a leading composer of the early Classical period. His Essay was highly influential, with Joseph Haydn calling it "the school of schools" and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart stating, "He is the father, we are the children."1

The Essay offers comprehensive guidance on thorough bass, ornamentation, fingering, and other performance refinements crucial to the era's musical style. It reflects Bach's own transition from the Baroque to the emerging Classical style, emphasizing "sensitivity" (Empfindsamkeit). This work was essential for musicians of the time and remains a vital sourcebook for understanding 18th-century keyboard performance practices.1

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3 Britannica Sources
  1. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
  2. The Art of Fugue
  3. Johann Sebastian Bach - Editions of Bach’s works

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