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Edward Parmentier, Harpsichord (Keith Hill, 1987)

In this recording, Edward Parmentier made extensive use of open score so that each voice could be more clearly seen and thus articulated. He mentions that he likes to imagine German words attached to each of these voices so that he can play them in a more vocal manner. The resulting sound is intimate, immediate and transparent. These are very personal interpretations from a true master of the harpsichord.

Johann Sebastian Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier – Book 1
(Wildboar 0401)

It is often thought that “well tempered” refers to our modern, equal-tempered system of intonation, enabling a musician to play in every possible key without retuning. However, as it applies to Bach’s important collection of 24 Preludes and Fugues, the title may mean something less literal. Edward Parmentier uses an unequal “Werckmeister” intonation on this recording, stating that Bach may have used the term “well tempered” simply to mean that these pieces represent every possible key, leaving the tuning up to the performer. Though the concept of equal temperament had existed since the early 16th century, it was not used for keyboard instruments. For Bach to have used it would have been truly revolutionary

Track listing:

Disk 1

Disk 2