''Les Guitares bien tempérées'' (''The Well-Tempered Guitars''), Op. 199, for two

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

s, is a work written in 1962 by

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (3 April 1895 – 16 March 1968) was an Italian composer, pianist and writer. He was known as one of the foremost guitar composers in the twentieth century with almost one hundred compositions for that instrument. In ...

. It consists of 24 pairs of preludes and fugues, one pair in each of the 24 major and minor keys. The 24 pieces are divided into four books. It has been described as the longest and most important cycle of works ever composed for two guitars.SoloDuo
Retrieved 25 June 2013 It was both inspired by and a tribute to

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

's ''

The Well-Tempered Clavier ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time ''clavier'' referred to a variety of keyboard instruments, ...

'', a work for solo keyboard.

Composition

Castelnuovo-Tedesco had a long artistic association with

Andrés Segovia Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña (21 February 1893 – 2 June 1987), was a Spanish virtuoso classical guitarist. Many professional classical guitarists were either students of Segovia or students of Segovia's students. Segovia ...

going back to their meeting in 1932, and had written a great many guitar compositions with Segovia in mind.Music Web International
Retrieved 25 June 2013Graham Wade, The Relevance of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968), European Guitar Teachers Association
. Retrieved 25 June 2013 From the mid-1950s he also dedicated solo guitar pieces to guitarists such as Siegfried Behrend, Christopher Parkening, Oscar Ghiglia,

Alirio Díaz __NOTOC__ Alirio Díaz (12 November 19235 July 2016) was a Venezuelan classical guitarist and composer, considered one of the most prominent composer-guitarists of South America and an eminent musician. He studied with Andrés Segovia, and gav ...

Laurindo Almeida Laurindo José de Araújo Almeida Nóbrega Neto (2 September 1917 – 26 July 1995) was a Brazilian guitarist and composer in classical, jazz, and Latin music. He was one of the pioneers in the creation of bossa nova. Almeida was the firs ...

and others. However, this work was both inspired by and dedicated to the husband-wife duo guitar team of

Alexandre Lagoya Alexandre Lagoya (29 June 1929 – 24 August 1999) was a French classical guitarist and composer. His early career included boxing and guitar, and as he cites on the sleeve of a 1981 Columbia album, his parents hoped he would outgrow his predile ...

and Ida Presti. Castelnuovo-Tedesco wrote the work between 8 March and 3 June 1962.Guitar Impact
Retrieved 25 June 2013 Both the title and the structure of the work were inspired by

's ''

'', a double set of 48 preludes and fugues for keyboard in all 24 major and minor keys.allmusic
Retrieved 25 June 2013 Bach proceeded in ascending semitones starting at

C major C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...

, following each major key with its

parallel minor In music theory, a major scale and a minor scale that have the same starting note ( tonic) are called parallel keys and are said to be in a parallel relationship. Forte, Allen (1979). ''Tonal Harmony'', p.9. 3rd edition. Holt, Rinehart, and Wils ...

. Instead, Castelnuovo-Tedesco used a schema based on the

circle of fifths In music theory, the circle of fifths (sometimes also cycle of fifths) is a way of organizing pitches as a sequence of perfect fifths. Starting on a C, and using the standard system of tuning for Western music (12-tone equal temperament), the se ...

- but not the same solution as used by Chopin in his 24 Preludes, Op. 28 and

Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded ...

in his 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87. Castelnuovo-Tedesco's order for Books I and II was: * G minor, D major, A minor, E major, B minor, F-sharp major, C-sharp minor, A-flat major, E-flat minor, B-flat major, F minor, C major For Books III and IV, the major and minor tonalities were reversed: * G major, D minor, A major, E minor, B major, F-sharp minor, C-sharp major, G-sharp minor, E-flat major, B-flat minor, F major, C minor. Presti died suddenly in April 1967, aged only 43. Castelnuovo-Tedesco paid tribute to her in a 25th prelude and fugue for two guitars, called ''Fuga Elegiaca – to the Memory of Ida Presti'', which was written in G minor, a return to the starting key of ''Les Guitares bien tempérées''. Castelnuovo-Tedesco died in 1968. ''Les Guitares bien tempérées'' was not published until 1974, by Aldo Bruzzichella. The work has been recorded by duos such as MoNo Guitar Duo, Duo Tedesco, Duo Favori, Brasil Guitar Duo, Duo Pace Poli Cappelli and Matteo Mela & Lorenzo Micheli.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guitares bien temperees, Les 1962 compositions Castelnuovo-Tedesco Compositions by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Compositions for two guitars Preludes (music) Fugues Castelnuovo-Tedesco