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Johann Sebastian Bach's bust.
The Art of Escape (Part II)
We pick up the contrapuntal thread from last week and continue with some additional adventures. Bach left Die Kunst der Fuge incomplete, perhaps by design, perhaps by oversight, perhaps due to ill health. Should one resist the temptation to imagine a conclusion? We don't.
Program Broadcast dates:
- July 24, 2000
Links and Resources
Learn more about Art of Fugue, featuring the history of the work, types of fugues, score images, and audio samples- Read Michael Fergusen's essay, On the Audacity of Completing Bach's Unfinished Quadruple Fugue
- Rob's Cultural Archive on the Web
- Was Bach Jewish?
- A Previously Unknown Portrait of Bach
Music played in the program
BACH: Toccata & Fugue in F, S. 540 –W. Randolph Bourne (1975 Brunzema-Casavant/Maternity of Mary Church, Saint Paul, MN) Ten Thousand Lakes CD-113
BACH: Aria in F after Couperin, S. 587 –Olivier Vernet (1991 Aubertin/Saint Louis Church, Vichy) Ligia Digital 2CD-0104069/70
BACH: Chorale-prelude, Komm heiliger Geist, S. 651 –Gerhard Weinberger (1735 Silbermann/Saint Peter's Church, Freiberg) cpo CD-999664 Note: this chorale is a single item. Although there were two before, at one point, this is the correct listing.
BACH: 4 Canons, fr Art of Fugue, S. 1080 Canon in Hypodiapason (at the Octave) –Lynn Zeigler (1987 Brombaugh/Iowa State University, Ames, IA) Calcante 2CD-011
Canon alla Duodecima in Contrapunto alla Quinta (at the twelfth) –Louis Thiry (1741 Silbermann/Saint Thomas Church, Strasbourg, Alsace) Studio SM-1222.15 (Albany)
Canon alla Decima Contrapunto alla Terza (at the tenth) –Thierry Mechler (1993 Muhleisen/Saint Nicholas Church, Walbeck, Germany) Solstice CD-147
Canon in Hypodiatessaron (in contrary motion with augmentation) –Bernard Lagacé (1961 Beckerath/Immaculate Conception Church, Montreal) Analekta 2CD-3066/7
BACH: Contrapunctus XIV (on 4 themes), fr Art of Fugue, S. 1080 (completed)
by Helmut Walcha (1780 Silbermann/Saint Pierre-le-Jeune, Strasbourg) Archive 12CD-419904 (OLF)
by Lionel Rogg (1959 Metzler/Saint Peter's Cathedral, Geneva, Switzerland) Angel LPSB-3766 (out-of-print)
by Michael Ferguson (1979 Fisk/House of Hope Presbyterian Church, Saint Paul, MN) Pipedreams CD-1001
BACH: Chorale-prelude, Vor Deinen Thron tret ich, S. 668 –Douglas E. Bush (1739 Trost/Castle Church, Altenburg) Classical 89 CD-9603 (801-378-8450)
Filler–Contrapunctus No. 4, fr Art of Fugue (Rubsam, PHS 438 186)
Our trip' seems to conclude here but with realization that it may never end as long as listeners are eager to be engaged by music such as this, both rigorous and remarkable!