The Art of Fugue

[Mandryka]

 I heard  of Art of Fugue in London yesterday in  an orchestration by Mahan Esfahani and The Acadamy of Ancient Music. It's probably worth catching via the BBC's website, where I think it's streaming for a week.

The orchestration seemed fundamentally a study in texture and colour, and it's maybe light on emotional depth. But that didn't stop the musicians from playing very movingly sometimes -- especially the violinists and the cellist and recorder player. I thought the Academy of Ancient music sounded wonderful -- I've resolved to hear them whenever they're playing here. Keyboard playing was pretty unimaginative I thought, with one major exception.

For the ending they passed straight from the unfinished fugue to a lovely orchestration of the chorale  BWV 668. I think that's the best way myself -- no attempt to finish it and the music isn't left just hanging in air. The chorale orchestration seemed to inspire the keyboard, and at last I heard some meaningful agogics there. It was simple and beautiful.

I haven't had a chance to hear the stream yet so I've no idea if it captures the event -- for what it's worth my ears pricked up for the first time at cpt 4 -- at that moment I thought that this is inspired music making. And although it wasn't quite maintained throughout, there were several long periods of magic. There was another extraordinary setting for the second volinist and harpsichord, a fugue set for the two violins, some glorious recorder settings. You'll have to find them in the stream but they were memorable in the event.

What it can't capture is the visual persormality of the performers. The way Esfahani used gestures to exhort the band to play in a certain way, for example. The glances and smiles  all the musicians kept giving each other.  And most of all the demeanour of Pavlo Beznosiuk, the first violinist, who just exuded complete joy in music making throughout. He was following the whole thing with a miniature score, clearly thoroughly enjoying the whole concert.

What was marvelous for me  was the rapt audience. About 1000 people (Cadogan Hall, not Albert Hall!) listening silently and rapt for an hour and a half. All ages. That's often a a feature of the proms, and it's a really inspiring aspect of the London musical scene I think.

Mahan Esfahani is a BBC sponsored young musician. First time they've done that with a harpsichordist apparently.

[Opus106]

Thanks for the report, Howard. Sounds like a truly memorable experience. I caught it yesterday (live stream) from somewhere in the middle and wasn't quite able to put my finger on where they were. (Also, I was about to head off outside for a while, so no time to go till the end.) I'll give it a listen again later in the week, from the beginning this time.

[GuybrushThreepwood]

I just finished reading the 15 pages topic, and must say I am thrilled of how many fans this great work has.

This was my formal initiation in classical music through a not so related source: a book. While reading the now classical Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid from Hofstadter, I realized the hard task of finishing such an extensive and sometimes complex book was going to be impossible without having a deep knowledge of the Art of Fugue, which is deeply tight to the idea of self reference the author uses to explore Gödel ideas. I was quite lucky, since the only recording I was able to found here in Chile was MAK CD, which caused a deep impression on me.

This was 7 years ago, and I have been able to extend the narrow scenario that was drawn by that masterpiece and now would say classical music is my second great passion, being really close to literature. As for today I own 16 versions of the Art of Fugue, being the one played by Phantasm String Quartet my favorite, therefore I am quite surprised nobody mentioned it before in this topic: I absolutely recommend it over the Julliard, Emerson, Fretwork SQ versions.

I am not sure if this post is completely dead, but sure is still an interesting subject for me.

I also recommend Uri Golomb article, which has a real nice analysis of the work and a critic selection of recordings: http://www.academia.edu/384041/Johann_Sebastian_Bachs_The_Art_of_Fugue

Have a nice 2014!

[Mandryka]

I saw Fretwork play Art of Fugue in London today, in an arrangement for 4 gambas of different sizes.

The model they had of the music was of an accompanied high pitched singer-star crooning catchy melodies. Basically the balances were such that the highest gamba dominated the ensemble and all the others were pretty well pushed into the background -- so in terms of style  it was a bit like hearing Pavarotti accompanied by Zubin Mehta and his orchestra singing Nessun Dorma, or something. All dissonances were erased. All contrapuntal tension was ironed out. The only suggestion of responsiveness between the players was when one viol echoed, sympathetically, a phrase played by the high lead-singer viol. Emotionally they were always uplifting.

Every ten minutes the instruments go out of tune, and the retuning process is lengthy. They played half a dozen cpti in about half an hour and then had a longish interval, I felt there was no need for an interval at all. They had the scores out on stand but weren't reading them -- no one ever turned  a page, it was just part of the show I guess.

I had a good seat, two rows from the front, centre isle in The Wigmore Hall. So I don't think my perception of the balance was due to funny acoustics.

[kishnevi]

Not at all like their recording, then.  One important member of the ensemble is now deceased, so perhaps the change in personnel has had an impact on their playing style?

[Mandryka]

Not at all like their recording, then.  One important member of the ensemble is now deceased, so perhaps the change in personnel has had an impact on their playing style?

Correct

Could the sound on a viol be so directional that my impression of the balance was caused by the fact that I was looking directly at the high viol, and the low viols had their backs to me?

                                             V.    V.
                                        V.              V


                                                                          ME


For those who know the Wigmore Hall I had the aisle seat of row 2, central bank of seats (B13). So very close and very central. I wouldn't have this problem with a regular string quartet.

Or are low viols less powerful dynamically than high ones? Even on the record, Fretwork aren't as equally balanced as an organ recording can be. I just compared  their cpt 6 with Gerd Zacher, and it's clear.

[prémont]

Correct

Could the sound on a viol be so directional that my impression of the balance was caused by the fact that I was looking directly at the high viol, and the low viols had their backs to me?

                                             V.    V.
                                        V.              V


                                                                          ME




For those who know the Wigmore Hall I had the aisle seat of row 2, central bank of seats (B13). So very close and very central. I wouldn't have this problem with a regular string quartet.

Or are low viols less powerful dynamically than high ones? Even on the record, Fretwork aren't as equally balanced as an organ recording can be. I just compared  their cpt 6 with Gerd Zacher, and it's clear.

A descant viol may have a marginally more penetrating tone than tenor- and bassviols, but not more volume. Fretwork is a highly professional group, and the members have played so many years together, that they since long should have solved the problems of balance. I do not know the Wigmore Hall, but I think the problem may be the acoustics there. Maybe the hall is so large, that the bass instruments "drown", while the more penetrating tone of the descant viol stood out in your ears, since you - as I understand it - sat rather close to the group.

What was the lineup of the group at this recital?

[Mandryka]

I must be going mad. It wasn't Fretwork it was Phantasm. The lineup was Laurence Dreyfus, Emilia Benjamin, Johnathan Mason, Markku Luolajan-Mikkola.

[prémont]

I must be going mad. It wasn't Fretwork it was Phantasm. The lineup was Laurence Dreyfus, Emilia Benjamin, Johnathan Mason, Markku Luolajan-Mikkola.

We all make that kind of mistakes now and then.

However it does not change my view, since Phantasm also is a highly professional group, and these four members have played together for a long time.. I have not listened to their AoF recording for a year or so (they didn´t record but Cpt. I - XI and the unfinished Fugue), but I do not remember any problems of balance in the recording. 

[Mandryka]

I heard Art of Fugue last night played by Bob van Asperen and Olivier Baumont. Asperen's contribution was  varied -- cpt 1 treated to very free ornamentation which made me think of French music, and some of the later cpti given some beautiful and natural rubato. It was one of the best baroque performances I've ever heard. He played a wonderful instrument, (Ruckers 1746)  He played slowly and contemplatively.

Baumont played four canons. And they played four fugues as duets -- with Baumont playing the Ruckers and Asperen plying a copy of Hemsch (1751)

As Asperen was playing I kept thinking to myself, what wonderful music and what a beautiful instrument, both visually and in terms of sound. How expressive and  emotional -- how could anyone find this music dry! But then Baumont came and played and I'm afraid what he did was not at all beautiful, not at all expressive, and dry. He even seemed to bring down the duets.

I also kept thinking that this is really organ music, because even on a harpsichord some voices seem to dominate. On an organ you can play all the music clearly, and that seems to be less of an option on a harpsichord. Still I was very grateful to here Asperen and the Ruckers.

The performance was part of a festival of all Bach's harpsichord music on historic instruments. The audience was young -- in Paris clearly Baroque is thriving.

This concert was subtitled "In Memoriam Gustav Leonhardt" Asperen gave a little speech where he said that when Gustav died it felt like the end of an era, but really the only thing to do is to emulate his enthusiasm for finding "the truth"

That's from memory and a translation of Asperen's French, but you'll be able to hear it for yourself because I believe the concert will be broadcast on culturebox.fr, citedelamusiquelive.tv, France2 and Mezzo.

http://www.citedelamusiquelive.tv/concert/1015040/bob-van-asperen-olivier-baumont-johann-sebastian-bach.html

Oh and this time, I'm sure I have the names of the performers right! Just checked and it wasn't Beausejour.

[torut]

Bach: The Art of Fugue - Angela Hewitt (piano), Hyperion CDA67980
[asin]B00MX51FHW[/asin]
Release date: October 14, 2014
It's already available at the Hyperion web site.
http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67980&vw=dc

This is very interesting to me. I have most of her recordings of Bach's solo keyboard works, which I like a lot.

[torut]

I just finished reading the 15 pages topic, and must say I am thrilled of how many fans this great work has.

This was my formal initiation in classical music through a not so related source: a book. While reading the now classical Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid from Hofstadter, I realized the hard task of finishing such an extensive and sometimes complex book was going to be impossible without having a deep knowledge of the Art of Fugue, which is deeply tight to the idea of self reference the author uses to explore Gödel ideas. I was quite lucky, since the only recording I was able to found here in Chile was MAK CD, which caused a deep impression on me.

This was 7 years ago, and I have been able to extend the narrow scenario that was drawn by that masterpiece and now would say classical music is my second great passion, being really close to literature. As for today I own 16 versions of the Art of Fugue, being the one played by Phantasm String Quartet my favorite, therefore I am quite surprised nobody mentioned it before in this topic: I absolutely recommend it over the Julliard, Emerson, Fretwork SQ versions.

I am not sure if this post is completely dead, but sure is still an interesting subject for me.

I also recommend Uri Golomb article, which has a real nice analysis of the work and a critic selection of recordings: http://www.academia.edu/384041/Johann_Sebastian_Bachs_The_Art_of_Fugue

Have a nice 2014!

It was the Hofstadter's book that excited my curiosity about The Art of Fugue a long time ago. It's an amazing book and I was totally mesmerized. I first purchased the CD of Münchinger / Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, and for some reason, it felt so dull that I almost disliked the music itself. However, after many years not touching it at all, when I listened to the album a few days ago, it turned out to be a very fine performance. I enjoyed the whole album very much. I have Gould and Delmé Quartet (Simpson's arrangement), which are very nice. I also have Menno Van Delft's recoding but have not listened to it enough. I feel it sounds too slow.

I've been listening to Hewitt's album. I believe it is truly excellent. Each voice is played very clearly with sensible articulation, and the piano sounds never get muddy. I think her clear touch is influenced by Gould, who she admires.

[Mandryka]

This is a version for four hands, four feet and one organ. The limbs belong to Pacale Rouet and Jean Christophe Leclère. The instrument is at the Abbatiale  Notre De de Mouzon in the Ardennes. Pretty contemporary with the music and very very French - colours which would be wonderful in Clérabmault for sure. The style is very much à l'Isoir in my opinion - that's to say, there's a speedy, psychodelic trippy feeling about it, even more so than in Isoir's recording.

[Mandryka]

The authentically restored early organ of St Laurentius Gräfenrode sounds distinctive. I can't find any details about the tuning, but it's interesting. Franns Wilfrid von Promnitz uses a glockenspiel stop now and then, he claims it is authentic, once of twice I felt he overused it and it got on my nerves a bit. He plays all the cpti in a dancing and joyful way, with colourful registers, fast, often very fast,  but not confused. At no point does he find nobility, delicacy, gravity, repose.  He has no sensitivity to the emotional content of the music. Basically for him, these pieces of music are a sort of rough and energetic play. He has his own ideas about the order. The voice leading is lively, alive. He uses very little rubato.

[Mandryka]

Pieter Dirksen plays the 1742 AoF, in the first 12 tracks of the above CD. There's a lot to say about Dirkesn's  expressive and introspective music making, but what struck me most is the end of this early version of AoF - the intense and dissonant chromatic penultimate fugue, followed by the strange, gentle, mystical canon at the end. Tracks 11 and 12 on the CD. It is maybe the best way to listen to the end of AoF.

This is a very good harpsichord recording, and the 1742 is very pleasing to listen to in entirety. Dirksen is really sensitive to the huge variety of affects in the music. The CD contains music from later versions too.

[jlaurson]

Pieter Dirksen plays the 1742 AoF, in the first 12 tracks of the above CD. There's a lot to say about Dirkesn's  expressive and introspective music making, but what struck me most is the end of this early version of AoF - the intense and dissonant chromatic penultimate fugue, followed by the strange, gentle, mystical canon at the end. Tracks 11 and 12 on the CD. It is maybe the best way to listen to the end of AoF.

This is a very good harpsichord recording, and the 1742 is very pleasing to listen to in entirety. Dirksen is really sensitive to the huge variety of affects in the music. The CD contains music from later versions too.

That's good to know; I'm always looking for a really good harpsichord version (ironically), but haven't really found one that totally clicks.

[Mandryka]

That's good to know; I'm always looking for a really good harpsichord version (ironically), but haven't really found one that totally clicks.

I'm rather intrigued by a suggestion Dirksen makes, that the published version represents a compendium,  and the earlier versions are a coherent well orders cycle made for playing and for listening to. What I can say is that I have found his reconstruction of the earliest (1742 - unpublished) version really compelling.

[Kontrapunctus]

If you like it on the piano, then I recommend this one:

[Mandryka]

THE EARLIEST VERSION OF BACH'S ART OF FUGUE In the 20th century, several myths have emerged regarding Johann Sebastian Bach's Art of Fugue, some of which unfortunately are still alive today.

One of the most persistent misperceptions is the idea that Bach wrote an 'abstract' score which should be arranged for instrumental ensembles, though it has already long been proven that the work was written for harpsichord. Through intense research, especially from the last two decades (notably by Wolfgang Wiemer, Gregory Butler and Christoph Wolff) our knowledge about the background of this fascinating work has been deepened considerably. The idea that the Art of Fugue as Bach's final work was left behind in a rather chaotic state should therefore be seen as inaccurate. The main sources of Bach's Art of Fugue consist of an autograph (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, MS Bach P 200) and the posthumous print of 1751. Due to recent research, the status of the two sources as well as their mutual relationship had to be considerably revised. The printed version was ranked for a long time as a rather erratic work, in which the posthumous editors did scant justice to Bach's intentions. In this view P 200 was considered to be a sort of sketchbook, the content of which Bach was unable to work out completely for the printed version. This interpretation, which set the scene for the numerous 'new' orderings — mostly in con-junction with orchestrations alien to the work — has been proven untenable. It is now clear that the 1751 print does indeed predominantly reflect Bach's intentions.

This conclusion has, however, not diminished the stature of the autograph, as new insights have been brought about regarding this source as well. P 200 has been increasingly recognized as containing an independent, early version of the Art of Fugue. This new view was strengthened by the discovery, made on the basis of comparative watermark and handwriting analysis, that the manuscript did not originate in Bach's very last years but already in the early 1740s — probably in the year 1742. The work in the form found in P 200 has been repeatedly examined regarding its cyclical character, without leading to wholly convincing results. A plausible solution has only recently been discovered.' Previous interpretations of the version in P 200 foundered because all of the movements it contains were considered as a unity. Renewed scrutiny of the graphological evidence and the watermarks in combination with stylistical observations (in the context of Bach's other music of the 1740's) has led me to the conclusion that the earliest version of the Art of Fugue consisted of only twelve pieces (nos. 1-12 of the autograph). This part of the manuscript was most likely written in 1742.

The twelve-movement cycle is easily recognizable as an organic whole. An exhaustive analysis of its cyclical principles has been carried out elsewhere;' here, a few of the most salient points may be singled out. Two ordering principles which are present in other late cycles of Bach can also be found in the 1742 Art of Fugue: The cycle is completed by a canon in augmentation — a feature which is also found in the Fourteen Canons BWV 1087 and in the final version BWV 769a of the Canonic Variations `Vom Himmel hock, do komm ich her Bach retained this position of the augmentation canon in the printed version of the Art of Fugue as well. [II] The position of P 200 no. 7, the early ver-4 sion of the later Contrapunctus 6 in stylo francese', did previously not allow for a convincing cyclical explanation. In Bach's late keyboard cycles, a movement in this specific style is always placed at the opening of the second half of the work, as in Clavierabung 111(1739), the Well-Tempered Clavier II (ca.1739 — 1742) and the Goldberg Variations (1741). Both in the printed version and P 200 in its entirety the 'French' fugue does not occupy such a position; only in the twelve-movement early version does this fugue take its 'normal' place, opening the second half of the cycle.

The '1742' version exhibits a symmetrical structure with a progressive increase in the use of contrapuntal artifice. The cycle consists of three fugues in simple counterpoint (nos. 1-3) which are followed by six movements in double counterpoint (nos. 4- 9) and concluded by three more pieces, now in triple counterpoint (nos. 10-12). The treatment of the fugue as a contrapuntal principle contrasts with a work like the Well-Tempered Clavier (the second part of which was completed about the same time) in which the fugue is treated as a genre. In the Art of Fugue 'counterpoint' is thus emphasized by the dominance of multiple contrapuntal techniques. Strict ordering can also be found in the distribution of the rectus and inversus forms of the theme over the twelve movements. Half of them use only a single form; whereas three fugues (nos. 1, 3 and 5) use the normal form, and another three are devoted to the inverted version (nos. 2, 6 and 10). The other half of the fugues (nos. 4, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12) incorporate both forms simultaneously.

At a later stage (probably around 1747) Bach extended P 200 with two new mirror fugues (nos. 13-14) and a completely rewritten version of the augmentation canon (no. 15), which should be seen as the first step in preparing the work for publication. Shortly thereafter, these plans were finalized into the form we now know from the print. The most conspicuous changes which Bach made are the doubling of note values for a number of pieces and some major cyclic changes. In the latter process the `baroque' mixture of genres was exchanged for a more 'didactic' ordering according to genre. Above all, this revision brings about the important practical implication that the early version is much more a concert cycle than the printed version, which has more the character of a rationally ordered fugue compendium with little regard towards cyclic performance. In the ordering of the early version, the theme undergoes various transformations in a consequent and logical development, while in the printed version this development begins anew with each different group. The performance time needed for the 'dynamic' early version is moreover much shorter than the 'static' printed version. The length of the early version can be compared with Bach's other large harpsichord cycles such as the French Overture BWV 831. In fact, the early version is shorter than the Goldberg Variations BWV 988.

The present recording is based upon a reconstruction of this twelve-part early version. The later re-visions in the manuscript have been omitted in order to recapture the original text of the 1742 version. The decisions which had to be made contain, to be sure, an element of subjectivity. Many corrections are easily identifiable as later emendations. However, other corrections may have already been carried out while Bach was copying the pieces. Thus, the version presented here is hypothetical in character — offering, nonetheless, fascinating perspectives. One such example is the early version of the chromatic triple fugue no. 11, where one encounters striking dissonances and harmonic clashes occasioned by some uncompromising voice leading which were only later resolved. Contrary to the printed version, this fugue is ordered right after its pendant on the same thematic constellation in inversion (no. 10). Together they form the expressive culmination of the whole cycle. The two framing canons, which, in their rather introverted, concentrated two-part writing, stand in striking contrast to the two triple fugues. These four pieces form the closing part of the early version of the Art of Fugue. This recording is an attempt to revive the earliest and perhaps most unified version of Bach's last major harpsichord work.

As has already been mentioned, around the year 1747 Bach made an 'interim' version of the Art of Fugue, in which the augmentation canon was completely recast and two newly composed mirror fugues added, which should stand before this canon. These three additional pieces have been recorded as well, and with the possibilities of CD technology one can listen to this second version of the cycle by pre-programming nos. 1-11 and 13-17. The resulting fourteen-movement cycle must have represented Bach's thoughts about the Art of Fugue before he decided upon a much more radical revision —the final version as found in the 1751 print. The present recording does also show that the mirror fugues are indeed playable by two hands alone (which has routinely been doubted thus far), thus demonstrating that even those pieces were conceived for a single harpsichord. The most startling feature of the mirror fugues is perhaps not so much the technical feat in itself which Bach brings off here, but rather the musical wonder of the inverted version of both fugues: these are markedly different in expression from the normal version, reaching out as it seems to the very limits of musical experience.

Pieter Dirksen

[GioCar]

A new release by Channel Classics