The music of Bach is a major cornerstone for Michael Houstoun, who has recorded the 96 pieces that comprise Bach’s Preludes and Fugues Books 1 & 2 on a four-CD set.

As Houstoun says, “For a pianist like myself, someone for whom music virtually begins with Johann Sebastian Bach, he provides a series of bottom lines of incalculable value everywhere and always. For the musician who wants to learn about melody, musical pulsation, polyphony and its harmonic implications, Bach is the greatest teacher. For me, Bach’s music is of the utmost humanity, and its consolations are without limit. Even in the chromatic depths of a minor key fugue, despair is held at bay. Such indomitability is inspiring, and even learning one prelude and fugue can give us a never-to-be-forgotten taste.”