Bach -- Selections from Anna Magdalena's Notebook

By Valery Lloyd-Watts

These pieces are lovely, and what else can I say? Bach is beautiful!

The pieces in this book are in order from the easiest ornaments to the more complex. The vocal pieces provide a bare canvas for later embellishment as well as being indicators of phrase shape. The recording is "safe". To gain better perspective, find a recording that includes the vocal works...

sung in German.

An excellent collection from Anna Magdalena's notebook. The editor, W. Palmer, has great and scholarly introductions to the work. The fingering and phrasing that was added is in light gray, while the original is black, gives you a "sense" of how these pieces should be articulated. Most of the...

other Magdalen notebooks out there are just Urtext versions and leave it up to you to figure out the details. To be successful with these pieces, you can't just play the notes, and the performances on the CD are excellent and demonstrate phrasing, dynamics, etc well, albeit there are some added "decorations" that are not in the written music. These are relatively easy pieces which, if mastered and in some cases memorized, will indoctrinate a "Bach" sense for playing other pieces of the same vintage. Highly recommended! Make sure you get the version with the CD.

A great sounding collection of solo piano pieces from the great master. Appropriate for recitals and the like, this book gives a wonderful insight into the realm of brilliant composition and keyboard technique. A "must" for any serious student of the piano.