In the art of the fugue lies some of the most structured, and structurally complex music ever composed, yet in its complexity and. The art of fugue, bwv 1080 by rachel podger on amazon music. Fugue xiv inachevee, choral devant ton trone je vais comparaitre bwv 668. Until recently, the art of fugue was considered bachs very last work. Pdf on nov 15, 2011, loic sylvestre and others published the mathematical architecture of bachs the art of fugue find, read and cite. This work consists of 14 fugues and 4 canons in d minor, each using some. Pdf johann sebastian bachs the art of fugue uri golomb. According to the obituary, it was to include four themes, each inverted at the end.
Examples include contrapunctus v through contrapunctus vii, from bachs the art of fugue. Grosse fuge demands attention as the most advanced work of our greatest composer. The second voice might also imitate the main voice using different note values e. Bachs very bestknown fugue must be the fugue in c minor from book 1 ofthe welltempered clavier. There are many apocryphal stories in the classicalmusic world, but the one in which frederick the great challenged bach to improvise a sixpart fugue on a theme of the kings own invention is true, and the musical offering was, after a period of further reflection, the result. When the subject is answered in a second voice, the first voice may continue with a countersubject. Bach the art of fugue contrapunctus i youtube bwv 1080 art of the fugue full score duration.
All fugues contain an exposition s and ta or ra, a middle section, and a final section return of s. This in turn comes from latin, also fuga, which is itself related to both fugere to flee and fugare to chase. The art of fugues reputation as a cerebral, intellectual work is so pervasive. A fugue is a contrapuntal composition for a number of separate parts or voices. Analysis of bachs fugue bwv 847 in c minor wtc i jose rodriguez alvira 2011 jose rodriguez alvira. This is a book of commentaries on selected bach fugues.
Contrapunctus v the art of fugue sheet music for piano. An indepth analysis of bachs canons and fugues, including an extended section on the art of fugue, prepared by tim smith, associate professor of music history at northern arizona university. It was the first fugue to be jazzed and the first to be switched on. Bach bwv 10801 harmonic analysis with colored notes art of. These three main sections make the fugue appear ternary in form, but since there is very little thematic. Classical notes classical classics beethovens grosse. In this fugue, bach permutes the subjects of contrapunctus viii in three ways. We have already done some of the analysis in class, but go through it in more detail, answering all of the questions from the text. The welltempered clavieris an exemplary collection of twice twentyfour preludes and fugues for keyboard in which bach exhibits his unsurpassed contrapuntal virtuosity and also the seemingly infinite types, forms, and characters that may emergeat his hands, and at his hands alonefrom the art of fugue.
The art of fugue, bwv 1080, is made up of 14 fugues and 4 canons, each exploring the contrapuntal possibilities of a single musical subject. But in keeping with the late works of artists such as shakespeare, beethoven and goya, it. Johann sebastian bachs the art of fugue is a work of high art. The art and science of practicing is not just time spent at the instrument but time spent listening to the music the student is working on, studying and understanding the harmonic analysis of the music as well as researching the time period and technical characteristics of the composer of the piece you are working on. This puts the inversion firmly on the d minor triad, unlike the troubled wandering of the contrapunctus iii subject, and the result is a joyful transformation of the.
The subject or answer may appear in any order, but in bachs fugues the bass voice will often take the last entry. Written in the last decade of his life, the art of fugue is the culmination of bachs experimentation with monothematic instrumental works. Johann sebastian bach 16851750 the art of fugue, bwv 1080. A detailed guide that analyzes the structural, harmonic and thematic frame of the prelude and the fugue. But in keeping with the late works of artists such as shakespeare, beethoven and goya, it contains elements of pathos, humour. This is absolute music, composed without any specific instrument in mind. Bach wrote hundreds of pieces for organ, choir, as well as many other instruments. Terrys the art of fugue is the art of fugue as it had been received through the course of the century, no more confined by bachs original con ception of the work than terrys english was by forkels original german. The performance is firstrate, if a little reserved. Using the analytical questions above, go through j. The earliest use of the word fugue in the 16th century actually meant canon strictly applied. Between 1979 and 1981, the canadian pianist glenn gould collaborated on a series of documentary films with the french violinist, writer and filmmaker bruno mansaingeon.
For maestro dentler, bachs immersion in pythagorean thought and the pythagorean elements in the art of fugue are clear. Bach seems to have decided to add it to the art of fugue at the last minute and began composing it after the engraving process had begun. When the subject is answered in a second voice, the first voice may continue with a. The art of fugue an overview the art of fugue is a series of contrapuntal movements, all based on a single. Variants include fughetta literally, a small fugue and fugato a passage in fugal style within another work that is. With this theme bach writes 14 fugues one was unfinished and 4 canons.
Johann sebastian bachs the art of fugue bach cantatas website. The asmf succeeds in presenting them in all of these contexts, except the piano. Four themes, left incomplete bach intended this fugue to crown the art of fugue a fourpart fugue integrating the themes in their upright and inverted forms. This puts the inversion firmly on the d minor triad, unlike the troubled wandering of the contrapunctus iii subject, and the result is a joyful transformation. Questions have also been posed as to whether the work is best heard as a whole or in excerpts. Click on the link below each diagram to access an interactive version of these analysis, with scores.
A detailed guide that analyzes the structural, harmonic and thematic frame of. Contrapunctus 14 bwv 108019, the famous unfinished fugue, was intended to serve as the culminating piece of the collection. When he died three years later on july 28, 1750, the work was left unfinished. A counter fugue is a fugue in which the first answer is presented as the subject in inversion upside down, and the inverted subject continues to feature prominently throughout the fugue. As with all the works of bachs later years, the work is both great art and a teaching piece, which. Bach bwv 10801 harmonic analysis with colored notes art. Get the flash player to see this player contrapunctus iv. For more information, and discussion on this method and its results, please see the fugues main page and the bibliographical references. Top nasa images solar system collection ames research center. The sequence of 20 fugues and canons, grouped according to. In the scenes presented here, gould plays a pair of movements from johann sebastian bachs the art of fugue gould was nearing the end of his life when he gave these performances.
The english term fugue originated in the 16th century and is derived from the french word fugue or the italian fuga. Fugues vi et vii, canon par augmentation et mouvement contraire, fugues viii a x side 3. Classical notes classical classics bachs art of the. The art of fugue was one of three pieces written for the society. Bach probably began the piece in 1738 and began to rework and add to it shortly before his death, or his blindness, prevented him completing the work. Leonhardt emphatically calls it art of fugue rather than art of the fugue, so as to stress that it is a work of art in fugue form rather than a set of craft lessons. The counterpoint in this fugue is among the strictest in the welltempered clavier. Essays on the art of the fugue bachlund, gary imslp. Newly constructed digital library of bachs manuscripts prepared by the berlin state library. Contrapunctus xiv from bachs art of fugue hereafter abbreviated cpo xiv 3 is incomplete, making it a prime candidate for analysis and attempted continuation and compietionj4j although cpo xiv, as it stands in bachs manuscript, does not contain the kdf theme, it has long been acknowledged as part of kdf5j the issue. Parameters of stretto use inside the contrapunctus 5 of the art of. Bach contrapunctus 1 from art of fugue sheet music for piano. The welltempered clavieris an exemplary collection of twice twentyfour preludes and fugues for keyboard in which bach exhibits his unsurpassed contrapuntal virtuosity and also the seemingly infinite types, forms, and characters that may emergeat his hands, and at his hands alonefrom the art of fugue some pieces are sketches for jeweled miniatures, some for vast frescos.
The method of imitation can vary, however the second voice might imitate the first at the octave, or at some other interval in art of fugue bach uses the 10th and the 12th intervals. Bachs work the art of fugue, which consists of 14 fugues and 4 canons, represents a specific contrapuntal cycle. The offering and the art of fugue have been equally successfully performed on the organ, harpsichord, piano, and by string ensemble. From this perspective, bitschs complaint becomes the fulfillment of hilgenfeldts prophecy and. This work is licensed under a creative commons attributionnoncommercialnoderivatives 4.
Mar 23, 2017 johann sebastian bachs the art of fugue is a work of high art. Bach fugues for keyboard, 17151750 joseph kerman fugue for j. Once i finish the entire work for keyboard, im probably going to arrange the entire thing for brass. Johann sebastian bach the art of fugue i part usage attributionnoncommercialshare alike 3. The two biggest potential problems may be 1 confusion of terms and 2 imprecise bracketing. This is a gigantic triple fugue tightly linked with contrapunctus viii.
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