{"podcast":{"title":"WTF Bach","slug":"wtf-bach-1217892","podcast_index_feed_id":1217892,"rss_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/1868576.rss","website_url":"https://wtfbach.substack.com/podcast","image_url":"https://substackcdn.com/feed/podcast/1868576/031b34c51b841908e64f47a17901101b.jpg","author":"Evan Shinners","episode_count":151,"summary":"The podcast about all things J.S. Bach. Brought to you by his prodigal son, WTF Bach (Evan Shinners)","last_synced_at":"2026-07-22T04:20:46.841294+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/wtf-bach-1217892"},"episode":{"title":"135: H Major! The Final Major (And Tuning It...)","slug":"135-h-major-the-final-major-and-tuning-it","published_at":"2026-05-20T13:14:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/wtf-bach-1217892/135-h-major-the-final-major-and-tuning-it","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/wtf-bach-1217892","url":"https://wtfbach.substack.com/p/135-h-major-the-final-major-and-tuning","audio_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/198449746/270961060ea784b0b2c5f58906412289.mp3","summary":"We reach the last note in The Well-Tempered Clavier, B natural. To this point, Bach has climbed chromatically from C, visiting both minor and major modes in every half step, and before the stunning finale in b minor, Bach writes a somewhat simpler prelude and fugue, BWV 868, in B major. Thank Bach for God! There are few revisions between the earliest and latest copies, the most striking is the inner voice at measure 11 in the prelude. Which do you prefer: or, The two tuning schemes used in today’s episode are 1/4 Comma Meantone , and Kellner’s Bach . N.B. This Kellner is not J.P. Kellner, the important Bach scribe, but rather, Herbert Anton Kellner, an important 20th century musicologist. The fugue, in four voices, features two inverted entrances. (I inverted, vertically, the word ‘theme,’ which is visually more correct than spinning it 180 degrees— I know you’re here for such details.) Write That Fugue! We Rely Exclusively on Paid Subscriptions! Help WTF Bach endure: Join at wtfbach.substack.com This is the only place Evan checks comments regularly. You can also make a one-time donation here: https://www.paypal.me/wtfbach https://venmo.com/wtfbach Thank you for your help! Concepts Covered: J.S. Bach’s BWV 868, the B major Prelude and Fugue from Book 1 of the Well-Tempered Clavier, his compositional revisions between the early version and final fair copy. An analysis of large-scale harmonic progressions, such as the move from the tonic to dominant, and a similar movement, from sub-dominant to tonic. The prelude is played in two temperaments, Kellner’s Bach and quarter-comma meantone. Get full access to W.T.F. Bach? at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe","meta_description":"We reach the last note in The Well-Tempered Clavier, B natural. To this point, Bach has climbed chromatically from C, visiting both minor and major modes…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3547,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/wtf-bach-1217892/episodes/135-h-major-the-final-major-and-tuning-it/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/wtf-bach-1217892/135-h-major-the-final-major-and-tuning-it.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}