Bach48 Album to be released worldwide February 14, 2020!

The International Beethoven Project is thrilled to officially announce the upcoming release of the long-awaited and long-in-production Bach48 Album of the complete Well-Tempered Clavier on the amazing London-based Orchid Classics record label on February 14th, 2020 worldwide! The album box set of 5 CDs and one 28-page booklet is now on pre-sale, and we hope you will reserve your copy today, as every official sale will help bring the album to the top of the charts. We even have extra benefits if you purchase the album before its release date, which you can read about by visiting www.bach48.com/redesign/pre-order.

 

This ambitious album (and George Lepauw’s first official solo piano album), consists of a 5-hour audio recording of both books of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, as well as a film of the complete recording (also 5 hours), a 33-minute documentary film, a dedicated website, and further related artistic creations in the coming year.

 

Exactly 302 years ago, on December 2nd, 1717, Johann Sebastian Bach was released from prison in Weimar, where he had spent a whole month on account of his unwelcome resignation from his post as Konzertmeister to the dukes of Saxe-Weimar. At the end of his time in prison, Bach was unceremoniously dismissed from his position, which allowed him to begin a new life as Kapellmeister (director of music) at the Calvinist court in Köthen under the enlightened leadership of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen, during which time Bach composed much of his secular music, including the first book of the Well-Tempered Clavier, a brilliant concept he elaborated while sitting in prison. In the documentary film we produced, “Voyage Into the Well-Tempered Clavier”, we found and filmed Bach’s prison cell where Bach indeed conceived of the Well-Tempered Clavier.

 

If you pre-order the album, you will be given special access to view this documentary online!

 

A production of the Chicago-based International Beethoven Project (IBP), Bach48 has been in the works for nearly five years, and seeing it come to life has been deeply satisfying. IBP cannot thank enough all the incredible people who have made it possible, from its creative team to the donors and foundations involved. Most importantly, special thanks must go to audio producer Harms Achtergarde, film directors Martin Mirabel and Mariano Nante, film editors Alejo Santos and Sebastiàn Palacio, graphic designer Javier Reboursin, photographer Céline Oms, Orchid Classics founder and label director Matthew Trusler, as well as our very top supporters, the Chauncey and Marion Deering McCormick Family Foundation, the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Chicago, the Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation, the Reynolds Family Foundation, and Marjorie Layden. More people will be thanked and talked about in the coming weeks for their participation.

 

Help us spread the word and make sure this album is heard and seen by many!

 

And don’t forget to pre-order here.

 

Thank you!