NCEM York Early Music Festival 2020

Monday 6 July
Event 10 6.30pm – 7.30pm
Venue St Lawrence Church, Hull Road
Tickets Unreserved seating: £16 (£14 | *Under 35s £6)
STEVEN DEVINE harpsichord
J.S.BACH: 48 PRELUDES & FUGUES
(THE WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER)
The festival is presenting this monumental work across four concerts.
The first on 21 March – early music day. See also events 18 and 24
The Well-Tempered Clavier – two
books of preludes and fugues in all
the major and minor keys – is the
most famous example of Bach’s
fascination with meticulously
ordered collections of works
exploring in depth a particular
compositional method or style.
Within these 48 ingenious reimaginings
of the simple pairing of
free, often improvisational prelude
and the more strictly controlled
contrapuntal structure that is
the fugue, he achieves incredible
variety, taking us on a richly
expressive journey through the
major keyboard styles and textures
of his day.
book online
10 TICKETS.ncem.co.uk
‘Why play ALL the ‘48’? Surely
they were never designed to be
played together?
But playing the complete
collection is a monumental
experience. From the simplicity of
the broken chords of the first Prelude
in Book 1 to the fiendish complexity
of the B-flat minor Fugue in Book
2, via the blatant virtuosity of the
B flat major Prelude in Book 1, this
music has it all. Presented over four
hour-long concerts, the 48 contains
a huge variety of technical and
emotional demands on the player
and a very satisfying experience for
the listener.’
Steven Devine
Supported by
The Queens Hotel
www.queenshotel-york.com
See also events 18 and 24>