ABSTRACT
It is no longer unusual to hear Bach’s keyboard music performed on the harpsichord; indeed, new recordings on the piano have become something of a rarity, and study of historical performance practice has become a required part of the curriculum in many institutions. Yet many players and teachers remain untouched (or unimpressed) by so-called historically informed performance, and much of what passes for “authentic” playing on “original” instruments is not what it purports to be. Performance practice is too large a topic to be discussed adequately in any one book, let alone a single chapter, but certain issues recur so oft en in Bach’s keyboard music that it is worth mentioning them briefl y before considering individual compositions.
