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After Bach II album cover

Album guide

After Bach II

Brad Mehldau

Composer
J.S. Bach
Released
2024
Label
Nonesuch
Forces
Piano
Personnel
Brad Mehldau

Mehldau found that listeners to the first album could not always tell where Bach ended and his own music began.

The sequel makes those borders explicit, but its seven-part Goldberg sequence began spontaneously at the Verbier Festival, when he declined to play a standard variation and offered a three-minute improvisation instead.

Hear both

The classical side contains only the source pieces used on the album, in album order. The jazz side presents the complete album whenever a dependable copy can be embedded.

The originalsJ.S. Bach · classical source works

The six underlying Bach sources appear once in first-use order; the A-minor Prelude and Fugue are separate consecutive videos.

Jazzed upBrad Mehldau · 2024
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Source works

The album’s complete track listing, with each classical source identified and original compositions marked plainly.

  1. Prelude to PreludeWTC I: Prelude in E major, BWV 854
  2. Prelude No. 9 in E Major from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, BWV 854Prelude No. 9 in E Major from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, BWV 854
  3. Prelude No. 6 in D Minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book I, BWV 851Prelude No. 6 in D Minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book I, BWV 851
  4. After Bach: ToccataWTC I: Prelude in D minor, BWV 851
  5. Partita for Keyboard No. 4 in D Major, BWV 828: II. AllemandePartita for Keyboard No. 4 in D Major, BWV 828: II. Allemande
  6. After Bach: CavatinaPartita No. 4, BWV 828: Allemande
  7. Prelude No. 20 in A Minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book I, BWV 865Prelude No. 20 in A Minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book I, BWV 865
  8. Between BachWTC I: Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 865
  9. Fugue No. 20 in A Minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book I, BWV 865Fugue No. 20 in A Minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book I, BWV 865
  10. IntermezzoWTC I: Prelude in E major, BWV 854
  11. Variations on Bach’s Goldberg Theme: Aria-likeGoldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria
  12. Variations on Bach’s Goldberg Theme: Variation I, Minor 5/8 aGoldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria
  13. Variations on Bach’s Goldberg Theme: Variation II, Minor 5/8 bGoldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria
  14. Variations on Bach’s Goldberg Theme: Variation III, Major 7/4Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria
  15. Variations on Bach’s Goldberg Theme: Variation IV, BreakbeatGoldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria
  16. Variations on Bach’s Goldberg Theme: Variation V, JazzGoldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria
  17. Variations on Bach’s Goldberg Theme: Variation VI, FinaleGoldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria
  18. Prelude No. 7 in E-Flat Major from The Well-Tempered Clavier Book I, BWV 852Prelude No. 7 in E-Flat Major from The Well-Tempered Clavier Book I, BWV 852
  19. PostludeWTC I: Prelude in E major, BWV 854