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What is the clef supposed to be in the right hand stave? Or was the treble clef changed at some point in history?

Tenor clef.
edit - no it isn't. I don't know.
Soprano clef, I think.

I am surprised at the surprise with the manuscript. Am I the only one who has it printed this way by a publisher? I was surprised the first time I saw the first two notes in the bass clef.

why is this prelude always played so slowly? I can understand if you're playing accompaniment for Ave Maria, but the tempo marking is allegro. Don't most of the preludes have a fast tempo anyway?

Henle Urtext edition has no tempo marking.

Curiously, the AMB urtext shows the second note in the treble clef while the WTC urtext shows it in the bass clef. So it appears that each way has an authentic tradition behind it.

Bach vary rarely (to my knowledge) put tempo markings on his keyboard works. One exception that comes to mind, among others, occurs in the Prelude in C minor from Book I of the WTC where, at measure 28 there is a Presto indication; at measure 34 there is an Adagio indication followed by an Allegro indication 35. None of the Preludes and Fugues from the WTC has an overall tempo indication at the beginning of the piece. The Allegro marking you speak of is obviously an editor's suggestion. Look at the manuscript in beet's post; there is no Allegro marking.

One reason that the tempos of Bach's Preludes and Fugues vary so much from performer to performer is based on the very fact that there are no tempo indications.

Regards,

not so. it can be played fast or slow, depending on what mood you want to make. i once saw an older pianist playing it really fast (no pedal), making it furious sound.

i play it faster, but not that fast.

Allegro? Where in the world did you see that? The tempo should be based on the character of the work.

The other exception from WTC (the only other one as far as I know) is the final pair from Book I: the prelude gets an Andante and the fugue gets a Largo. Neither of which stopped Gould from playing them (beautifully) at a ridiculously fast tempo.

-J

... and in the Peters edition, Prelude XVI, Bk II, is marked Largo; presumably this is Urtext, as this is the only Prelude with a tempo indication in Bk II of this edition.

Regards,

I have the ABRSM Edition edited by Richard Jones, with commentaries by Tovey. Tovey suggests "Moderato." And the score has the E in the treble clef, with the stem pointing downwards, the editor has written an L next to it.

Interestingly, Tovey makes mention to an earlier version which consists of different chords. I suppose the above facsimile was of whatever later version.

I have "Moderato" too.