The Well-Tempered Clavier

E53077

keyboard music collection musical composition

The Well-Tempered Clavier is a landmark collection of keyboard preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys by Johann Sebastian Bach, celebrated for its technical rigor and profound musical expression.

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All labels observed (31)

Label	Occurrences
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I	65
The Well-Tempered Clavier canonical	59
The Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846–869	9
24 preludes and fugues of The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I	8
24 preludes and fugues in all major and minor keys, Book I	7
Das wohltemperierte Klavier I	6
24 preludes and fugues in all major and minor keys (Book I)	4
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II	4
24 preludes and fugues in all major and minor keys (WTC I)	2
Clavier-Übung	2
Das wohltemperirte Clavier, Teil I	2
The Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846–893	2
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, BWV 846–869	2
autograph manuscript of The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I	2
Bach The Well-Tempered Clavier	1
Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier (recordings)	1
Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier (selections)	1
Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier	1
Book I of The Well-Tempered Clavier	1
Book II of The Well-Tempered Clavier	1
Das Wohltemperirte Clavier, Teil I	1
Das wohltemperierte Klavier	1
Das wohltemperirte Clavier	1
Glenn Gould – The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I	1
Sviatoslav Richter – The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I	1
The Well-Tempered Clavier (19th-century editions)	1
The Well-Tempered Clavier I, BWV 846–869	1
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I preludes and fugues	1
Wohltemperirte Clavier (original spelling)	1
complete Well-Tempered Clavier recordings	1
preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T419060 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Well-Tempered Clavier
Context triple: [Johann Sebastian Bach, notableWork, The Well-Tempered Clavier]

A. Brandenburg Concertos
The Brandenburg Concertos are a celebrated collection of six Baroque instrumental works by Johann Sebastian Bach, renowned for their rich orchestration and inventive musical forms.
B. BWV (Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis)
The BWV (Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis) is the standard thematic catalog that systematically lists and numbers the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach.
C. Mass in B minor
Mass in B minor is a monumental choral and orchestral composition by Johann Sebastian Bach, widely regarded as one of the greatest sacred works in Western classical music.
D. Violin Partitas and Sonatas
Violin Partitas and Sonatas are a set of six solo violin works by Johann Sebastian Bach that are celebrated as cornerstones of the violin repertoire for their technical demands and profound musical depth.
E. “Chaconne”
“Chaconne” is a neoclassical ballet choreographed by George Balanchine, set to music by Christoph Willibald Gluck and known for its elegant, courtly style.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Well-Tempered Clavier
Target entity description: The Well-Tempered Clavier is a landmark collection of keyboard preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys by Johann Sebastian Bach, celebrated for its technical rigor and profound musical expression.

A. Brandenburg Concertos
The Brandenburg Concertos are a celebrated collection of six Baroque instrumental works by Johann Sebastian Bach, renowned for their rich orchestration and inventive musical forms.
B. BWV (Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis)
The BWV (Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis) is the standard thematic catalog that systematically lists and numbers the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach.
C. Mass in B minor
Mass in B minor is a monumental choral and orchestral composition by Johann Sebastian Bach, widely regarded as one of the greatest sacred works in Western classical music.
D. Violin Partitas and Sonatas
Violin Partitas and Sonatas are a set of six solo violin works by Johann Sebastian Bach that are celebrated as cornerstones of the violin repertoire for their technical demands and profound musical depth.
E. “Chaconne”
“Chaconne” is a neoclassical ballet choreographed by George Balanchine, set to music by Christoph Willibald Gluck and known for its elegant, courtly style.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (58)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	keyboard music collection ⓘ musical composition ⓘ
abbreviation	WTC ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Das wohltemperierte Klavier ⓘ linked to: The Well-Tempered Clavier
catalogNumber	BWV 846–893 ⓘ
composer	Johann Sebastian Bach ⓘ
contains	Fugue in A minor, BWV 865 ⓘ Fugue in A-flat major, BWV 862 ⓘ Fugue in B minor, BWV 869 ⓘ Fugue in B-flat major, BWV 866 ⓘ Fugue in C major, BWV 846 ⓘ Fugue in C minor, BWV 847 ⓘ Fugue in C-sharp major, BWV 848 ⓘ Fugue in D major, BWV 850 ⓘ Fugue in D minor, BWV 851 ⓘ Fugue in E minor, BWV 855 ⓘ Fugue in E-flat major, BWV 852 ⓘ Fugue in F major, BWV 856 ⓘ Fugue in F minor, BWV 857 ⓘ Fugue in G major, BWV 860 ⓘ Fugue in G minor, BWV 861 ⓘ Prelude in A minor, BWV 865 ⓘ Prelude in A-flat major, BWV 862 ⓘ Prelude in B minor, BWV 869 ⓘ Prelude in B-flat major, BWV 866 ⓘ Prelude in C major, BWV 846 ⓘ Prelude in C minor, BWV 847 ⓘ Prelude in C-sharp major, BWV 848 ⓘ Prelude in D major, BWV 850 ⓘ Prelude in D minor, BWV 851 ⓘ Prelude in E minor, BWV 855 ⓘ Prelude in E-flat major, BWV 852 ⓘ Prelude in F major, BWV 856 ⓘ Prelude in F minor, BWV 857 ⓘ Prelude in G major, BWV 860 ⓘ Prelude in G minor, BWV 861 ⓘ
firstBookCompleted	1722 ⓘ
form	prelude and fugue ⓘ
genre	Baroque music ⓘ
influenced	Western classical keyboard repertoire ⓘ tonal harmony pedagogy ⓘ
intendedInstrument	clavichord ⓘ harpsichord ⓘ keyboard ⓘ
keyCoverage	all 24 major and minor keys ⓘ
languageOfTitle	German ⓘ
notableFor	contrapuntal complexity ⓘ expressive depth ⓘ technical rigor ⓘ
numberOfBooks	2 ⓘ
numberOfFugues	24 ⓘ
numberOfPieces	48 ⓘ
numberOfPreludes	24 ⓘ
periodOfComposition	early 18th century ⓘ
secondBookApproximateDate	c. 1742 ⓘ
tuningConcept	well temperament ⓘ
usedFor	composition study ⓘ keyboard technique training ⓘ

How these facts were elicited