When playing them, most interpretations are fairly fast for the prelude and slower with sharper articulation for the fugues, but then you have someone like Glenn Gould who playes the prelude slower and stacatto, and the fugue faster.
Also, as there are no dynamics - should we apply our own to the preludes and fugues or should they just be at a uniform dynamic?
And with regards to pedalling - of course Bach could never have written his pieces to include the pedal, but many people use them when playing his pieces. (especially pieces like the 1st prelude, WTC book 1). I personlly don't think the pedal sounds good with his preludes and sounds awful with the fugues, however many times some people have tried to convince me otherwise!
I just wondered what people think is the authentic way to play them - but then again, with these types of pieces should we be concerned with authenticity? When we play romantic pieces nothing stops us from personal interpretations ...
I am quite interested in what people have to say on this because for me, it's important for the audience to have a reaction to what you are playing, because when you perform in public it is for them and some of the time it is to present them with a different perspective and some of the time it is to entertain them. And I think discussions like this with different peoples' opinions can help shape our musicianship, which applies to both the way we approach performances and compositions.
