This video examines the various ways that composers have used the circle of fifths in keyboard music, both harmonically and melodically, across the history of Western art music. This is part 1, which covers the Baroque and Classical eras.

The methods that these composers utilized in order to make the same progression stay fresh often reveals the signature elements of their individual styles. Think of this video as “variations on a single theme” and the breadth of variety in texture and harmony becomes quite remarkable.

Purcell Suite
0:00 Okruško

Pachelbel Chaconne
1:05 Chaimovich

Couperin Les Papillons
1:36 Cziffra

Bach English Suite No.2
1:58 Levin

Bach Toccata BWV 911
2:17 Argerich

Couperin L’Atalante
2:36 Tharaud

Handel Suite in Gm
3:18 Richter

Bach Brandenburg Concerto No.5
3:36 Gould

Couperin Le Tic-Toc-Choc
4:09 Sokolov

Bach WTC Book I
4:24 Ólafsson
4:50 Nikolayeva
5:09 Korevaar

Rameau Suite in D
5:34 Sokolov

Rameau Suite in G
5:51 Sokolov
6:12 Cziffra

Couperin Les Tours de Passe-Passe
6:32 Tharaud

Handel Suite in Em
6:46 Schirmer

Telemann 36 Fantasias for Keyboard
7:03 Payne

Handel Suite in Bb
7:14 Schiff

Bach Concerto No.1
7:47 Bahrami

Bach Italian Concerto
8:05 Kuschnerova

Scarlatti Sonata K.18
8:44 Lee

Bach Concerto No.5
9:01 Perahia

Bach Goldberg Variations
9:18 Tharaud
9:39 Tharaud

Scarlatti Sonata K.141
10:09 Argerich

Bach Well-Tempered Clavier Book II
10:31 Koroliov
10:52 Koroliov

Bach Art of Fugue
11:14 MacGregor

Bach Musical Offering
11:33 Katsaris

*CLASSICAL PERIOD*

C.P.E. Bach Concerto H.432
11:52 Markovina

C.P.E. Bach Solfeggietto
12:15 Spiri

J.C. Bach Concerto Op.7 No.5
12:27 Knauer

C.P.E. Bach Sonata H.245
12:55 Cziffra

Haydn Sonata Hob.XVI/32
12:32 Ax

Mozart Sonata K.310
13:51 Lipatti

Haydn Sonata Hob.XVI/34
14:32 Brendel

Mozart Sonata K.332
14:55 Sokolov

Haydn Concerto Hob.XVIII/11
15:14 Ax

Mozart Concerto K.466
15:59 Perahia

Mozart Concerto K.467
16:26 Perahia

Mozart Concerto K.482
17:10 Perahia

Mozart Concerto K.503 (1786)
17:28 Perahia

Mozart Sonata K.545 (1788)
17:53 Pires

Clementi Sonata Op.24 No.2
18:11 Szokolay

Mozart Sonata K.533
18:44 Haebler

Beethoven Concerto No.2 :
19:01 Zimerman. Up to this point, Beethoven has the least conventional approach to the circle of fifths, rarely using it for traditional methods of expression.

Haydn Sonata Hob.XVI:52
19:18 Brendel

Clementi Sonata Op.33 No.3
19:45 Horowitz

Beethoven Rage Over a Lost Penny
20:10 Sokolov

Haydn Sonata Hob.XVI:50
20:27 Ax

Beethoven Sonata No.3
20:40 Jumppanen

Beethoven Sonata No.8
20:57 Lortie
21:26 Fischer

Beethoven Sonata No.12
22:02 Lewis

Beethoven Sonata No.14
22:32 Lortie

Clementi Sonata Op.40 No.2
22:49 Berman

Beethoven Sonata No.16
23:02 Kovacevich

Beethoven Sonata No.18
23:21 Kovacevich

Beethoven Sonata No.21
23:40 Korstick
24:00 Korstick

Beethoven Sonata No.22
24:17 Lortie

Beethoven Concerto No.4
24:30 Serkin

Beethoven Sonata No.26
24:52 Arrau

Weber Sonata No.1
24:59 Arrau

Beethoven Sonata No.28
25:11 Gilels

Schubert Sonata D.537
25:25 Cabasso. Despite Schubert's love for Beethoven, it would seem that Schubert used the circle of fifths for purely expressive purposes.

Schubert Sonata D.664
25:59 Anda

Beethoven Sonata No.29
26:22 Gilels

Beethoven Sonata No.31
26:41 Goode

Schubert Wanderer Fantasy
26:57 Nel

Schubert Sonata D.784
27:31 Lupu

Schubert Impromptus D.899
27:46 Pires
28:16 Zimerman

Hummel Concerto No.5
28:31 Shelley

Schubert Impromptus D.935
28:57 Lupu

Schubert Klavierstücke
29:17 Avdeeva

Schubert Sonata D.960
30:11 Clifford Curzon

I hate to split this video up into two parts, because it implies that there is some kind of divide between the Classical and Romantic periods when really they just kind of trickled into each other.

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