Fugue for J. S. Bach was a natural language; he wrote fugues in organ toccatas and voluntaries, in masses and motets, in orchestral and chamber music, and even in his sonatas for violin solo. The fugues he wrote for keyboard have long been the foundation of the keyboard repertory, played by beginning students and world-famous virtuosi alike. In a series of essays, Kerman discusses his favorite Bach keyboard fugues - some of them among the best-known and others much less familiar. These witty, insightful pieces, addressed to musical amateurs as well as to specialists and students, are augmented by a CD with new performances made specially for this volume. In addition to the complete scores for all the music discussed in the book, the CD features Karen Rosenak, piano, playing two preludes and fugues from The well-tempered clavier - C Major, book 1; and B Major, book 2 - and recordings by Davitt Moroney of the Fughetta in C Major, BWV 952, on clavichord; the Fugue on "Jesus Christus unser Heiland," BWV 689, on organ; and the Fantasy and fugue in A Minor, BWV 904, on harpsichord.