The Art of Fugue
The Art of Fugue is a cycle composed by Johann Sebastian Bach of fourteen fugues and four canons ( BWV 1080).
According to the first Bach biographer Johann Nikolaus Forkel , the work is intended to convey vividly “what can possibly be done about a fugue theme. The variations, all of which are complete fugues on one theme, are here called contrapuncts ” .
In order to clarify the contrapuntal structure of the work, Bach wrote out each part - all fugues, double fugues, mirror fugues, etc., are at most four-part - on a separate notation system, i.e. in the form of a score . At the same time, he followed the old tradition of notating polyphonic keyboard music in scores, which had its heyday in the 17th century and includes works by well-known composers such as Frescobaldi , Scheidt , Froberger , Buxtehude and Kerll .
Bach's work, which has been handed down in fragments to this day, not only gives rise to diverse speculations, but is also the subject of work-analytical, music-historical and source-critical studies. The ongoing discussion focuses on the question of the intended instruments, the sequence of the individual movements and the incompleteness of this work.
Musical characteristics
Basic theme |
Like the Goldberg Variations and the Musical Sacrifice , Die Kunst der Fuge is a collection of compositions on a specific theme, the possibilities of which are systematically explored. It consists of 14 three- and four-part fugues called “Contrapunctus” and four two-part canons . As a special feature, the Contrapunctus 12 and 13 are available twice; in an original form called "recto" and a mirror form called "inverso" .
In the art of the fugue, Bach not only uses different types of fugue (single fugue, counterfugue, double fugue, mirror fugue, canon) as well as their conventional processing forms ( inversion , enlargement / augmentation and reduction / diminution ), but also other, more general musical design elements. The individual fugues are based on one or more compositional ideas (tie, dots , triplets , intense chromatics , jump figures with preferred intervals, fast 16th movements, etc.). The fugue theme itself is also subject to changes (rhythmic regroupings, inserted or omitted notes) that go beyond the conventional forms of processing the fugue mentioned above. With this, Bach achieved a variety of expressions that decidedly contradicts the view of the work as a pure demonstration object of contrapuntal art.
The work begins with three simple four-part fugues in which the fugue theme itself remains relatively unchanged.
Contrapunctus I : After the opposing voice has traversed the pitch space from d to a in ascending quarters, it moves on to the eighth note movement, which is constantly present in different voices during the course of the piece ( ). The main feature of this fugue is the principle of bridging (already given in measure 4 of the theme) and the subsequent repulsion. The tied tone of the first voice is moved by the tone of the second voice to move to a new tone, which can now be tied again. This process is intensified through the use of reserved dissonances , as in bars 6–7 (the G sharp turns the f into a dissonance and forces it to resolve into the e via the jump note h). This technique guarantees a constant flow of voices.
In Contrapunctus II the rhythmic element is heightened. It is characterized by a continuous dotted eighth-note flow, which was already indicated in Contrapunctus I (bars 10-14, bars 22-29, etc.) ( ). In addition, the theme is slightly changed here in its last bar (dotted). These means give the joint a very energetic character.
With Contrapunctus III , which begins with the reversal of the theme, the previously dominant diatonic area is abandoned and, for the first time, intensive use is made of the creative element of chromatics, a musical medium that in Bach's time was associated with the areas of suffering and sinful man in Christian Sense was associated. The chromatic begins with the last note of the theme, which introduces the tone sequence ef- dis-d-cis-chcd-dis-ef -g of the opposing voice ( ). The chromatically shaped opposing voice appears as a counter-subject with every topic use. One example is bar 55–56, which is characterized by chromatic passages, in which a rhythmic modification of the theme in the alto, pointing to Contrapunctus V, is accompanied by a long chromatic passage in the tenor .
Contrapunctus IV with the use of the theme in the inversion, on the other hand, has an emphatically relaxed, joyful character ( ). This is achieved through the frequently sounding falling third as in bars 54–56, the emphasis on triads (bars 23–26) and a periodic in the opening and closing parts that anticipate classical music .
With Contrapunctus V the group of four-part counterfugues begins, which is characterized by the fact that the comes occurs as the inversion of the dux. For the first time, the subject undergoes a transformation. It is slightly changed rhythmically by inserting short passage notes between three tones of the original theme ( ).
While Contrapunctus V, in its limitation to partially bound eighth notes, is based more on Contrapunctus I, in Contrapunctus VI eighth notes, dotted eighth notes, sixteenths and thirty-second notes are used alternately. This is typical of the opening movement of a French overture; With the heading In Stylo Francese , Bach expressly pointed out that the movement should be played accordingly ( ). Bach now also introduces the downsizing (i.e. the theme at double the speed) and, funnily enough, already does this with a "premature" use of the come in measure 2, before the dux is over.
Contrapunctus VII then closes the group of counterfugues. It is characterized by the use of magnification (augmentation: halved note values and therefore half the tempo) and reduction ( diminution : double note values, i.e. double tempo) (note example).
Contrapunctus VIII opens a group of four double fugues in which two themes and one or two counter-subjects are presented and processed one after the other or at the same time. The first playful theme of the three-part Contrapunctus VIII, which deals with two themes and one counter-subject (triple fugue), is characterized by two fourth jumps interrupted by chromatic courses ( ). It is the first new theme of the cycle that differs significantly from the basic theme. In terms of expression, it stands in stark contrast to the second theme, a restless sixteenth-note figure characterized by chromatics and tone repetitions. The listener will encounter both themes again in Contrapunctus XI.
Contrapunctus IX begins with an octave jump, which is taken up again in Contrapunctus XIII, which is followed by an ascending and descending sixteenth run ( ). Even if one does not notice the theme, it still shows a distant relationship with the basic theme of the work (outlined in blue in the sheet music example). This appears as the second topic and, with its long note values, represents a stark contrast to the first topic.
The first theme of the 4-part Contrapunctus X anticipates the eighth theme of Contrapunctus XI, interspersed with pauses, in quarters ( ). It is thus the first theme of the work that uses the pause as a design element. The second dotted theme comes from Contrapunctus V.
The four-part Contrapunctus XI , which concludes the group of double fugues, is one of Bach's most complex fugues. She processes two subjects and two counter-subjects (quadruple fugue) and impresses with her expressiveness. His first theme of eighth notes with a pause at the beginning of the bar corresponds to the model of the suspiratio (sigh) from the baroque theory of figures ( ). Apart from two notes (blue in the example), it contains the notes of the basic theme. The second theme from bar 27 is the reversal of the theme from Contrapunctus VIII. It is joined by a chromatically increasing contrast. A second contrast, which already appeared in Contrapunctus VIII with the opposite direction of movement, accompanies him (from bar 90). Towards the end of the fugue (bars 158-167), the form of reflection of the two mirror fugues beginning with the following contrapunctus is already indicated.
With Contrapunctus XII , the first appear of two mirror fugues. A mirror fugue is understood here to mean that the entire movement is then repeated with reversed intervals (the score image sometimes gives laypeople the idea that both versions should sound at the same time). The theme consists exactly of the tones of the basic figure. The two-part nature of the movement and the three-time measure suggest a stylized sarabande . The contrapuntal complexity of the task led Bach to conceive the movement for two harpsichords.
The three-part mirror fugue Contrapunctus XIII picks up on the dance-like character already indicated and presents itself as a gigue , in which Bach almost always reverses the theme at the beginning of the second part. After an octave jump, which already appears in Contrapunctus IX, the theme changes into a sixteenth-note triplet movement for three bars. In the further course this triplet movement alternates again and again with dotted sixteenth notes. Since this movement too overwhelms the possibilities of a single keyboard instrument, Bach added a free fourth part in a further version, which now makes the movement playable on two harpsichords.
This is followed by four virtuoso two-part canons, the fragmentary final fugue and finally - if you consider it to be part of it - the chorale Before Your Throne (which Bach himself has included in the Eighteen Choirs collection ).
Closing fugue
After the BACH theme has been introduced in the last fugue and combined with the other two themes, the manuscript breaks off. In the handwriting of Bach's son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, it contains the annotation: " NB : The author died above this fugue, where the name B A C H was added in the contrasubject." Bach's student Johann Friedrich Agricola wrote about this in the 1754 necrology (and inscribed probably the individual sections of the final movement as 'fugues'):
“This is the last work of the author, which contains all kinds of contrapuncts and canons, about a single main clause. His last illness prevented him, according to his draft, from bringing the penultimate fugue completely to an end and working out the last one, which contains 4 themes, and which should then be reversed note for note in all parts. "
In the foreword to the first edition, Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg wrote :
“There is nothing more to be regretted than that, through his eye disease and the death that followed shortly thereafter, he was incapable of ending it himself and making it mean. He was surprised by the same in the middle of the elaboration of his last fugue, where he appears to be able to recognize himself by the addition of the third movement. "
Philipp Spitta and Albert Schweitzer were convinced that the final fugue does not belong to the “art of the fugue” because it (allegedly) does not contain the basic theme. In 1880, Nottebohm , on the other hand, established that the basic theme can sound at the same time as the triple complex ending the fragment, which then becomes a quadruple complex. For all of these reasons, it has often been assumed since then that the fugue originally called “Fuga á 3 soggetti” should become a quadruple fugue with the basic theme as the fourth theme. Otfried Büsing was able to prove, however, that this was very likely not the case and that Nottebohm was wrong. The first theme of the final fugue is just as similar to the basic theme of the cycle on closer examination as the other variants from the “Art of Fugue”. There is not a single example in Bach's oeuvre that he used themes with such similar themes in a multiple fugue. In addition, the basic theme does not fit perfectly into the quadruple complex, because according to the laws of counterpoint, its appearance in the bass - which was always important to Bach at the end of the fugue - is problematic. Nottebohm's discovery also lost its impact when it was found that numerous other Bach themes also fit, and sometimes even better - so it is more of a coincidence. A sounding of the basic theme as an apotheosis at the end would also correspond to a cyclical-final element that, although common with Bruckner, was unknown in Bach's time. Another aspect is the question of how far the composition had progressed. Many scientists, above all Christoph Wolff, believe - and with strong arguments - that the final fugue must have already been completed. It is written on a different paper than the previous part, namely on the type of paper that Bach normally used for engravings, and with calligraphic care, which is a very clear indication of an already finished work. The last bars 227–239, after which the manuscript breaks off, are on a different type of paper and the sheet is so carelessly rasterized that it would only have been usable for a few bars from the start. Probably because of illness, Bach could not continue the engraving copy himself and the few bars were intended as a template for a copyist, who from this point on could fall back on a manuscript with the finale, which has been lost. It is noticeable that, in contrast to all other movements in the work, the entire final fugue is not written in part score, but in two-line piano notation. This supports the fact that this fugue was intended as Bach's annual contribution to Mizler's “ Corresponding Society of Musical Sciences ” (see below), which would also explain the production of the engraving model. Various attempts were made to complete the final fugue; Walter Kolneder counted twenty such approaches by 1977, z. B. by Donald Francis Tovey . Zoltán Göncz's work is noteworthy in recent attempts , and Helmut Walcha , Kalevi Aho , Rudolf Barschai , Maurits Reynen, Henryk Dyhr and Tudor Saveanu each made their own additions. Glenn Gould thought this fugue was the most beautiful thing that has ever existed in music.
Dating
Preparatory work from approx. 1740, autograph handed down early version from 1742 to about 1746, printing probably started in spring 1748, autograph of the unfinished final fugue after August 1748 until mid-December 1749, first printing 1751 and 1752. The title “The Art of Fugue” comes from the first print, while the earlier autograph version bears the title “Die Kunst der Fuga”, which differs from it only in the last letter, and was written by Bach's student Johann Christoph Altnikol . Due to the lack of a written work title, the traditional title has been questioned; on the other hand, considerations of numerical symbols speak for the authenticity of the variant of the title handed down by Altnikol.
Work and creation
It was not until 1726 that Bach's interest in the printing of his compositions can be proven. Two cantatas - Gott ist mein König from 1708, and the now-lost counterpart from 1709 - which he had composed for the change of council of the city of Mühlhausen , had been the only publications before the Leipzig period; their pressure was probably due to the initiative of the Mühlhauser council assembly. In 1731 Bach published the six partitas for harpsichord as his Opus 1 , later the entire four-volume keyboard exercise , the musical sacrifice and the six so-called Schübler Chorales . Apparently he was trying to reach a smaller group of specialists in particular, so the prints consistently contain music for keyboard instruments (apart from the trio sonata from the musical sacrifice) . A printing of Bach's Leipzig cantatas (which had to be a printed part) would not have been of much use to theoretically interested musicians, since these works were only performed under his direction during Bach's lifetime. In addition, Bach cultivated his reputation as a virtuoso harpsichordist and organist, which he also reinforced by pressing key music that is technically extremely difficult to master. The necrology of 1754 consequently writes ,
“[...] that our Bach was the strongest organ and piano player that one has ever had. It may be that many a famous man has achieved a great deal in full part on these instruments: is that why he was just as finished, and in his hands and feet at the same time, as finished as Bach. He who has had the pleasure of hearing him and others and is otherwise not prejudiced will not consider this doubt to be unfounded. And whoever looks at Bach's organ and piano pieces, which, as is well known, he performed himself in the greatest perfection, will not have much objection to the above sentence either. "
This series of major publications for keyboard instruments also includes the Art of Fugue , which only appeared after Bach's death . Bach occupied himself with the composition in the last years of his life, verifiably since 1742. It is assumed that the print was intended as an annual gift for the Corresponding Societät der Musicalischen Wissenschaften , which Bach had joined in 1747 and whose members, according to the statutes, were up to the age of 65 had to submit a “scientific work” in print every June. In 1747 Bach had presented the Canonical Changes [on "Vom Himmel hoch"] as the first contribution , and probably the musical sacrifice as the second in 1748 . The timely completion of the Art of Fugue in June 1749, which would have been Bach's last contribution before he was 65, was in all probability prevented by his increasing blindness and by two unsuccessful operations by the British surgeon John Taylor. Bach died before completion. The contrapunctus 14 breaks off; it is generally assumed that the art of the fugue would have been completed with this piece .
The traditional notion of the art of the fugue as Bach's swan song has been increasingly relativized by research in recent decades. As we know today from diplomatic investigations, the work goes back to a considerable extent at least to the time around 1742. According to a study published in 1983, the art of fugue would be the answer to the challenge that Johann Mattheson uttered in 1739 in his Perfect Capellmeister with a view to his own fugue collection The wol-sounding finger language with the hope of finding something like that from the famous Mr. Bach in To see Leipzig, who is a great fugue master, brought to light. This thesis of a postulated connection is also supported by Gregory Butler with other arguments .
Lore and text problems
swell
Autographs
A final fair copy of the art of fugue has not survived and probably never existed. The four autographs still known today, none of which contain the entire cycle, mostly reflect an earlier state of composition. They are all in the Berlin State Library and are grouped together in one bundle.
- Mus. ms. autogr. Bach P 200 : The main autograph, written around 1745–1748, covers most of the cycle in a different order than the first edition (and today's editions). The contrapuncti 4, 13 in the version for two harpsichords, 14 and the canons in the decimals and in the duodecim are missing. The title Die Kunst der Fuga / di Sig.o [sic] Joh. Seb. Bach is written by Johann Christoph Altnikol . It is at least in part a compositional autograph, i. H. it reproduces the composition process through a series of revisions and corrections.
- Mus. ms. autogr. Bach P 200, supplement 1 (approx. 1749) contains the canon per Augmentationem contrario motu (BWV 1080, 14) on three loose sheets . In the manuscript, Bach entered information about line breaks and page breaks for the engraver , which the first print - which incidentally adheres exactly to the template - only partially followed.
- Mus. ms. autogr. Bach P 200, supplement 2 (approx. 1749) contains the contrapunctus 13 ( rectus and inversus ; see below) in the versions for two harpsichords. This manuscript, too, although it was not prepared for the engraving like enclosure 1 , served as a template for the first edition.
- Mus. ms. autogr. Bach P 200, Supplement 3 (approx. 1749): The unfinished Contrapunctus 14 is not notated on five individual sheets, not in the score, but on a "piano system" (two systems per accolade). The piece breaks off in the middle of page 5, followed by the note by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach : "The author died above this fugue, where the name BACH was placed in the contrasubject." Corrections are made on the back of the fourth sheet , probably also by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.
First printing
The first print was probably published in 1751 under the title “Die / Kunst der Fuge / by / Johann Sebastian Bach / former Capellmeister and Music Director of Leipzig”; a second edition containing some corrections, 1752. The engraver was Johann Heinrich Schübler, the younger brother of Johann Georg Schübler , who engraved and published Bach's so-called " Schübler chorals " from 1748–1749 .
The first edition contains all known pieces of the Art of Fugue in a different order from the main autograph; for three (contrapunctus 4 and the canons in the decim and duodecim) it is the only source. It was obviously put together in a hurry by the editor, when Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach is suspected, as it contains double versions which most likely do not belong in the final collection. On the one hand, Contrapunctus 13 is followed by an early version of Contrapunctus 10, which does not begin until bar 23; on the other hand, towards the end he brings four-part alternative versions of the two variants of the three-part Contrapunctus 13 "a 2nd Clav:" , ie for two keyboard instruments.
The chorale
The first edition puts the. In front of the musical text
"Message.
The blessed gentleman author of this work was prevented by his eye disease and the death that followed shortly afterwards, to finish the last fugue, where he makes himself known by name when the third movement is added; one therefore wanted to keep the friends of his muse harmless by communicating the four-part church chorale added at the end, which the blessed man in his blindness dictated to one of his friends from the bar in the pen. "
What is meant is the chorale arrangement for organ “ Wenn we in hoechsten Noethen ” (BWV 668, actually “Before your throne I step hereby”) , which was probably composed between 1744 and 1747 and follows Contrapunctus 14 as the final piece . It was clearly not intended by Bach for the art of fugue , but was added by the posthumous editors.
Concordance of the main autograph and first edition
A : Autograph (without enclosures). The autograph has several numbers (pages, leaves, pieces) that are not from Bach. The numbers in the table refer to the page count.
ED : First printing.
BWV : Numbering within the Bach works directory number 1080. For technical reasons, the superscript digits of the BWV are represented by normal digits separated by commas.
| A: side | A: Title, if any | ED: Page | ED: Title | BWV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Contrapunctus 1. | 1 | |
| 6th | 3 | Contrapunctus 2. | 2 | |
| 4th | 6th | Contrapunctus 3 | 3 | |
| 8th | Contrapunctus 4 | 4th | ||
| 8th | 13 | Contrapunctus 5. | 5 | |
| 16 | 16 | Contrapunctus 6. a 4 in Stylo Francese | 6th | |
| 20th | 19th | Contrapunctus 7. a 4 per augment and diminute: | 7th | |
| 25th | 21st | Contrapunctus 8. a3 | 8th | |
| 10 | 26th | Contrapunctus 9. a 4. alla Duodecima | 9 | |
| 29 | Contrapunctus 10. a. 4. alla Decima. | 10 | ||
| 14th | 45 | Contrap. a 4 [early version of Contrapunctus 10, without bars 1–22 of the final version] | 10 | |
| 28 | 32 | Contrapunctus 11th a 4th | 11 | |
| 33 | 39 | Contrapunctus inversus a 4 | 12.1 | |
| 33 | [notated by accolade under BWV 1080 / 12.1] | 37 | Contrapunctus inversus 12 a 4 | 12.2 |
| 36 | 43 | Contrapunctus inversus a 3 | 13.1 | |
| 36 | [notated by accolade under BWV 1080 / 13.1] | 41 | Contrapunctus a 3 | 13.2 |
| 38 | Canon al roverscio et per augmentationem [second version, two-part notation] | 48 | Canon per augmentation in Contrario Motu. | 14th |
| 32 | [two-part notation of the early version of canon BWV 1080/14] | 14th | ||
| 33 | Canon in Hypodiatessaron al roversio et per augmentationem [bars 1–22 of the early version of the canon BWV 1080/14 in unanimous notation] | 14th | ||
| 23 | Canon in Hypodiapason. [unanimous quotation] | 15th | ||
| 23 | Resolutio Canonis [resolution in two-part notation] | 51 | Canon alla Ottava | 15th |
| 53 | Canon alla Decima [in] Contrapunto alla Terza | 16 | ||
| 55 | Canon alla Duodecima in Contrapunto alla Quinta | 17th | ||
| 57 | Fuga a 2nd clav: [four-part version of Contrapunctus 13 BWV 1080 / 13.1] | 18.1 | ||
| 59 | Alio modo Fuga a 2nd clav. [four-part version of Contrapunctus 13 BWV 1080 / 13.2] | 18.2 | ||
| 61 | Fugue a 3 Soggetti | 19th | ||
| 66 | Chorale. When we in highest Noethen Canto Fermo in Canto | BWV 668 |
arrangement
The sequence of the individual pieces finally envisaged by Bach is still controversial today. Neither the arrangement of the pieces in the main autograph nor that in the first edition is considered definitive: the autograph often only offers an early version, including several versions of the same piece (Contrapunctus 14); in addition, it does not contain the entire inventory. The first printing is apparently not reliable either; It also contains multiple versions of the same pieces that should hardly have been published. In general, the attempts at arrangement follow the first print up to Contrapunctus 11, although this tears apart Contrapuncti 8 and 11, which are based on the same themes and which are therefore one behind the other in the autograph (the Contrapuncti 6 and 7 also relate thematically to each other and are both in the autograph as well as in the first print in a row). Above all, there is disagreement about the arrangement of the rectus and inversus versions of Contrapunctus 13, the canons and Contrapunctus 14, which some authors see as the final piece, while others put it in front of the canons.
The question of the arrangement is of secondary importance, however. The art of the fugue is not structured according to performance-related aspects, such as a suite that is to be performed as a whole and whose individual movements therefore follow one another according to the principles of contrast, (emotional) dramaturgy, etc. Rather, like the Well-Tempered Clavier or the Musical sacrifice, it is a collection of individual pieces on the same compositional problem. A complete performance would probably overwhelm most of the audience. That is why Bach did not compose the individual movements according to the principle of contrast, as is usual in a cyclical work (e.g. a slow movement follows a fast movement), but according to the principle of similarity in character and compositional problem. Pieces with similar thematic material (the Contrapuncti 6 and 7, the recto and inverso versions of the Contrapuncti 12 and 13 and - in the autograph - the Contrapuncti 8 and 11) and similar compositional problems (the simple Contrapuncti 1–4, the Mirror fugues 5–7, the Contrapuncti with several themes 8–11 - which would actually also include Contrapunctus 14 - the Contrapuncti 12 and 13 as a whole, as well as the canons).
Original cast
Neither in Bach's autograph nor in the first edition of the Art of Fugue is there any information on the instrumentation of the work. As a result, there has been much speculation about the instrumental designation intended by Bach, as the composer died before the first publication went to press.
Today the keyboard instrument thesis is scientifically no longer seriously controversial. For example, Christoph Wolff explains in his piano edition of Bach's work published in 1987:
"The keys instrumental determination of the Art of Fugue there is [...] not only for their historical context (polyphonic score notation keys music was since Scheidt and Frescobaldi as a convention), but in particular from the invoice that consistently manualiter takes -Spielbarkeit consideration."
In addition to the playability for two hands, the main arguments for a harpsichord work are also stylistic criteria, which Gustav Leonhardt worked out. Wolff and Leonhardt's point of view is also supported by a more recent document find, a subscription call from May 7, 1751, probably written by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach . The latter explains the following about the notation and the determination of the playing of the father's work:
"Since all the voices in it sing continuously, and the one with as much strength as the other is worked out: Each part has been specially brought to its own system and provided with its appropriate key in the score. But what special insights into the art of typesetting, probably with regard to harmony, as a melody, can be obtained by looking at good scores, are shown by their examples who have had the good fortune to excel in it. However, everything is expressly set up for the use of the piano and the organ at the same time. "
Reception history
The Art of Fugue was published at a time when the strictly contrapuntal forms of composition with the advent of the “ sensitive music ” of the pre-classical period were gradually being perceived as “ old braids ”. People still admired this form of composition and warmly recommended it to the budding composer for study. However, one began to doubt more and more a musical value going beyond this. Of course, this had to affect the art of the fugue more than other, more “secular” works by Bach such as the Brandenburg Concerts or the Violin Concerts . In the foreword to the first print of the work by the music theorist Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg , for example, he wrote that the work did aptly convey the rules of the fugue and that every budding composer was advised to familiarize himself with fugues and counterpoints; on the other hand, however, the fugue is now a “birth of ludicrous antiquity” , which has left chamber music entirely, and the counterpoint “sounds barbaric to the tender ears of our modern times” . According to his son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach , only thirty copies of the first print were sold in the first five years, which did not even cover the costs of printing. The Bach biographer Forkel wrote in 1802:
“But this Bach art of the fugue was too high for the big world; she had to withdraw into the small world populated with very few connoisseurs. […] If a work of this kind had come to the fore outside Germany by such an extraordinarily famous man as Bach, and furthermore recommended as something extraordinary by a writer who had public faith in this field, sheer patriotism would have become maybe 10 superb editions of it have been out of print. "
Mattheson commented on the first edition of the work as follows:
"Joh. Sebast. Bach's so-called Art of Fugue, a practical and magnificent work of 70 coppers in folio, will one day astonish all French and French fugue makers; as long as they can only see and understand it correctly, do not want to say, can play. How about if every foreigner and foreigner dared to look at this rarity with his Louis d'Or? Germany is and will certainly remain the real organ and fugue country. "
This cautious reception of the work changed slowly in the 19th century in the course of the rediscovery of Bach's work. In the arrangement of Bach's fugues for string trio ( KV 404a) by Mozart , there is also the Contrapunctus VIII. In 1801 and 1802 two score editions, one of them with a piano transcription from two systems, were published in Paris and Zurich. The orchestra school of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin studied the work in 1813 and 1815, but without it being performed in public. In 1838 the work was published by CF Peters Musikverlag in an edition by Carl Czerny notated on two staves , who added fingering as well as performance and tempo markings according to his own ideas. 20,000 copies had been sold by 1874. In 1868 an edition for organ was created, and in 1875 an edition of the score in the original clef . Composers such as Beethoven , Schumann , Bruckner and Brahms had printed versions or manuscripts. In addition, theoretical work on the work was also created, such as that by Moritz Hauptmann (1841), James Higgs (1877), Hugo Riemann (1894). Nevertheless, the art of the fugue was never one of the most popular works by Bach. Albert Schweitzer , whose Bach monograph from 1905 exerted a great influence on the Bach picture of the time, devoted only a few pages to the art of the fugue and described its main topic with a mixture of fascination and noticeable distance as follows:
“You can't really call it [the subject] interesting; it is not the result of a brilliant intuition, but has been shaped more with regard to its universal usability and with the intention of reversing it. And yet it captivates those who hear it again and again. It is a quiet, serious world that it opens up. It lies there, barren and rigid, without color, without light, without movement; she does not delight or distract; and yet you can't get rid of it. "
Alban Berg, on the other hand, wrote to his wife Helene after a performance in Zurich in 1928:
“Yesterday art belonged to the fugue. Gorgeous !! A work previously thought to be mathematics. Deepest music! "
The pianist Glenn Gould, who, as mentioned above, considered the art of fugue to be one of the greatest works in music history, spoke in a later judgment that Bach, who in the course of his life had moved further and further out of the expectations of his musical environment , with this composition I consciously turned away from the music of his time. In some cases, Bach used a harmonious style (e.g. in the unfinished fugue) that would correspond more to the Flemish-German hymn chorale of the 17th century, at least 100 years before Bach's time. On the other hand, Gould admired the boldness of harmony in the contrapuntal execution, which at times reminds one of Wagner and beyond that even of the atonality of an early Schönberg more than 150 years later.
Edits
Until the first decades of the 20th century, the art of the fugue was undisputed as a piano work, albeit one that was not actually intended for performance but rather for study. The work has "initially a different tendency than the purely aesthetic," noted Moritz Hauptmann in his explanations in 1841 ; it wanted to be "mainly an instructive one." And his student Salomon Jadassohn stated in his explanations in 1898 the in Joh. Seb. Sachs Kunst der Fugue incidentally states: "It is obvious that the whole work is not intended for practical execution."
Having broken the spell that kept the art of the fugue away from public musical life is the lasting merit of Wolfgang Graeser . His arrangement of the work for large orchestra , organ and harpsichord , premiered under the direction of Thomas Cantor Karl Straube on June 26, 1927 in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig , had a considerable influence on the discussion about the instrumental determination of the art of fugue. Exactly based on the Bach yearbook of 1924, this arrangement was included in 1932 as a supplement to the Bach Complete Edition. Roswitha Schlötterer-Traimer comments in her study on the art of fugue:
“This was the first time that the problem of instrumenting the art of fugue appeared. In his edition Graeser suggested a string orchestra and solo string quartet, wood and brass instruments, as well as harpsichord and organ, each of which should perform the individual contrapuncts in different formations. […] After the fragmentary quadruple fugue was broken off, the chorale was played. The reaction from experts was largely enthusiastic, but also quite critical in some cases. "
To this day, experiments have been made with the most varied of instrumental groups for almost every conceivable instrumental group, none of which, however, corresponds to historical practice .
Further adaptations
- Around 1782, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart transcribed a contrapunctus for string trio in his 6 Adagios and Fugues KV404a .
- Ludwig van Beethoven copied several bars from Contrapunctus IV . Schleuning considers the piano sonata in B flat major op.106 "Hammerklaviersonata" to be a reflection on the art of the fugue .
- In his Canonical Fantasy on BACH and Fugue on 4 Themes by Johann Sebastian Bach (1906) Wilhelm Middelschulte interwoven the third theme from Contrapunctus XIV with the Toccata and Fugue in D minor , the Confiteor from the B minor Mass and the theme regium from the Musical Offering to a Quadruple Fugue.
- In his Fantasia contrappuntistica (1910 for piano two hands, 1921 greatly expanded for two pianos), Ferruccio Busoni freely processed the themes of the quadruple fugue.
- In his string trio Parvula Corona Musicalis op. 122 (ad honorem Johannis Sebastiani Bach composite secundum methodum duodecim tonorum per Ernestum Krenek anno Domini MCML) from 1950, Ernst Krenek wrote Invocationes Bach's theme with quotations from Beethoven's opp. 131–133 and Wagner's Tristan combined.
- In his organ piece Die Kunst einer Fuge (sic!) From 1968, the composer and organist Gerd Zacher arranged the Contrapunctus I in 10 interpretations without changing a single note. He took up characteristics of other composers and made them recognizable through dedications: 1. Quatuor for Johann Sebastian Bach; 2nd crescendo for Robert Schumann; 3. Alto Rhapsody for Johannes Brahms; Harmonies for György Ligeti; Timbre - durées for Olivier Messiaen; Interferenser for Bengt Hambraeus; Improvisation ajoutée for Mauricio Kagel; Density 1, 2, 3, 4 for Edgard Varèse; Sons brisés for Juan Allende-Blin; No (-) for Dieter Schnebel.
- Rolf Riehm processed the Contrapunctus XI in his orchestral piece Double Distant Counterpoint from 1994 .
- Maria Scharwieß published parallel fugues (playable together with the original) in 2005.
- Harry van der Kamp has underlaid the Contrapunctus XIX with the text “Ein blessed Ende mir bescher '” from the 15th stanza of the chorale Before Your Throne, and recorded it in 2005 with the Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam .
Discography
Sixty recordings were made between 1935 and 1979, offering a richness of tonal interpretation that is unlike any other composition. This variety affects all aspects of musical realization, starting with detailed questions such as articulation and phrasing through to instrumentation, sequence and tempo. Since the introduction of the compact disc, this variety of recordings has taken on an unmistakable dimension. The first recordings of the work were made by the Roth String Quartet ( Columbia [US], recorded 1934), Hermann Diener and his Collegium Musicum (Electrola, 1935), the organist Edward Power Biggs (Victor, 1940) and the organist Fritz Heitmann (Telefunken , 1950) and Richard and Wesley Buhlig at the piano.
Important orchestral recordings of the following three decades were made by Hermann Scherchen (1949, 1965), Ars Rediviva under Milan Munclinger (1965, 1979), Kurt Redel (1958), Karl Münchinger (1965), Karl Ristenpart (1966), Helmut Winschermann (1974) , George Malcolm (1965) and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Neville Marriner (1974). Among the countless recent recordings are those by Hans Zender (1985), Reinhard Goebel and the Musica Antiqua Köln (1984), Erich Bergel (1991), Max Pommer and the New Bach Collegium Musicum Leipzig (1983) as well as the dynamically expressive recording of Rinaldo Alessandrini (1988) highlighted. The line-up is not uniform, and harpsichord and piano are sometimes used. Hesperion XX even uses wind instruments (tines and trombones) in his recording (2001). Vittorio and Vincenzo Ghielmi (Il Suonar parlante) made a recording in 2008 with harpsichord, fortepiano and strings (with the completion of the last fugue and a final chorale).
There are also chamber music recordings with a changing cast. The spectrum ranges from a pure string quartet to various string ensembles with and without harpsichords, strings and woodwinds , to exotic combinations ( oboe , accordion and bassoon ). An early recording (1962) comes from the Collegium Aureum (4 strings and 2 harpsichords). The work was subsequently recorded by ensembles such as the Borciani String Quartet (1985), the Juilliard String Quartet , the Emerson String Quartet and the Keller Quartet .
Recordings on the organ include those by Helmut Walcha (1956), Glenn Gould (partial recording ) (1962), Johannes-Ernst Köhler (1969), Marie-Claire Alain (1974), Lionel Rogg , Herbert Tachezi (1977), Wolfgang Rübsam (1992) Louis Thiry (1993), Heinrich Walther (1995), Gerd Zacher (1999), Hans Fagius (2000), Bengt Tribukait (2008) and Gerhard Weinberger (2008).
Early harpsichord recordings were made by Gustav Leonhardt (1953 and 1969), Gunnar Johansen (1952) and Isolde Ahlgrimm (1953 and 1967 on a pedal harpsichord), later by Davitt Moroney (1985), Kenneth Gilbert (1989), the Dutch Ton Koopman ( 1993) and Pieter Dirksen (2002), by Robert Hill (1998), and by Matteo Messori (2008). Fabio Bonizzoni realizes a harpsichord recording based on the manuscript P 200 in places with a second player (2011).
The first recordings on the piano were made by Josef and Grete Dichler (1954), Charles Rosen (1967) and Glenn Gould (1967). Later on, numerous pianists such as Grigori Sokolow (1982), Zoltán Kocsis (1984), Evgeni Koroliov (1990), Tatjana Nikolajewa (1992), Joanna MacGregor (1995), Edward Aldwell (1996), Pi-hsien Chen (2003), Ivo Janssen (2007), Pierre-Laurent Aimard (2008), Ron Lepinat (2009), Angela Hewitt (2013), Zhu Xiao-Mei (2014) and Schaghajegh Nosrati (2015).
There are also recordings for saxophone quartet ( Los Angeles Saxophone Quartet 1974, Berlin Saxophone Quartet 1990, Vienna Saxophone Quartet 2001), brass ( Canadian Brass 1987), synthesizer ( Yūji Takahashi 1975, Alexander Blechinger 1990) and classical guitar ( József Eötvös 2002).
A recording with a fortepiano (Mozart type fortepiano) has also been available since 2006, with Walter Riemer as the pianist .
In 2006 the Slovenian band Laibach performed an electronic adaptation of the work at the Bach Festival in Leipzig. The recording was released in 2008 as a CD or download.
The Düsseldorf Theater der Klänge performed the production Die Kunst der Tanz-Fuge as part of the international Düsseldorf Organ Festival ( ido ) in 2016 , in which four dancers danced in addition to the original music to a partially electronic, rhythmic version (arrangement: JU Lensing ) .
expenditure
- Bach, Johann Sebastian: The art of the fugue . BWV 1080. Facsimile series of Bach works and writings, ed. from the Leipzig Bach Archive, Vol. 14, Leipzig 1979 (facsimile of the autograph and original print 1752 / copy of the Leipzig Music Library, collection Becker, with a study by Hans Gunter Hoke and a description of the manuscript by H.-J. Schulze). ISBN 3-7957-0200-3 .
- Bach, Johann Sebastian: The art of the fugue . BWV 1080. Vol. 1: Earlier version of the autograph score. Edited by Christoph Wolff. First edition. Frankfurt, Leipzig, New York, London: Edition Peters No. 8586a, 1987 (piano notation)
- Bach, Johann Sebastian: The art of the fugue . BWV 1080. Vol. 2: Later version of the original print. Edited by Christoph Wolff. Frankfurt, Leipzig, New York, London: Edition Peters No. 8586b, 1987 (piano notation)
- Bach, Johann Sebastian: The art of the fugue for harpsichord (piano) BWV 1080, after the sources ed. v. Davitt Moroney, G. Henle Verlag, Munich 1989.
- Bach, Johann Sebastian: New edition of the complete works. Series VIII Volume 2.1. The art of the fugue . BWV 1080. Edited from the original print. by Klaus Hofmann. Bärenreiter 1995
- Bach, Johann Sebastian: New edition of the complete works. Series VIII Volume 2.2. The art of the fugue . BWV 1080. According to the autograph sources, ed. by Klaus Hofmann. Bärenreiter 1995
literature
Chronological list:
- Forkel, Johann Nikolaus: About Johann Sebastian Bach's life, art and works of art. Leipzig, Hoffmeister and Kühnel, 1802. Facsimile and full text
- Hauptmann, Moritz: Explanations on Joh.Sebastian Bach's Art of Fugue , Leipzig 1841
- Nottebohm, Gustav: JS Bach's last fugue. Musik-Welt 1 (1880/81), No. 20 v. March 5, 1881, pp. 232-236 and No. 21 v. March 12, 1881, pp. 244-246.
- Rietsch, Heinrich: On the "Art of Fugue" by JS Bach , Bach Yearbook 1926, pp. 1–22. doi: 10.13141 / bjb.v19261458
- Schwebsch, Erich: Johann Sebastian Bach and the art of the fugue. Stuttgart 1931, ISBN 3-7725-0555-4 , u. Free Spiritual Life, Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 978-3-7725-0555-3 .
- Hoke, Hans Gunter: Studies on the history of the "Art of Fugue" by Johann Sebastian Bach , Contributions to Musicology 1962, pp. 81–129
- Kolneder, Walter: The Art of Fugue - Myths of the 20th Century. Wilhelmshaven: Heinrichshofen 1977, ISBN 3-7959-0178-2 .
- Wiemer, Wolfgang: The restored order in Johann Sebastian Bach's art of the fugue. Wiesbaden 1977, ISBN 3-7651-0138-9 .
- Elste, Martin: Bach's art of the fugue on records. With a discography of all cyclical recordings. Frankfurt am Main: Booksellers Association 1981, ISBN 3-7657-1061-X .
- Wolff, Christoph: On the chronology and composition history of Bach's art of the fugue . Contributions to musicology 25 (1983), pp. 130-142
- Eggebrecht, Hans Heinrich: Bach's art of the fugue - appearance and interpretation. Munich 1984, ISBN 3-492-00667-1
- Hofstadter, Douglas R .: Gödel, Escher, Bach . An endless braided band . Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta 1985, ISBN 3-608-93037-X .
- Schleuning, Peter: Johann Sebastian Bach's "Art of Fugue". Ideologies - Origin - Analysis. Munich u. a .: dtv / Bärenreiter 1993 ISBN 3-423-04585-X / ISBN 3-7618-1050-4 .
- Dirksen, Pieter: Studies on the art of the fugue by Johann Sebastian Bach. Wilhelmshaven: Florian Noetzel Verlag 1994, ISBN 3-7959-0658-X .
- Rechtsteiner, Hans-Jörg: “Everything arranged with measure, number and weight. The ideal plan of Johann Sebastian Bach's Art of Fugue. “Frankfurt / M. u. a .: Peter Lang 1995 (1st edition), ISBN 978-3-631-48499-9 ; E-book (2008, 3rd expanded and improved edition, public domain) at http://imslp.org
- Jena, Günter: I live my life in growing rings - the art of the fugue by Johann Sebastian Bach. Thoughts and experiences of an interpreter , m. 2 audio CDs. Eschbach: Verlag am Eschbach, 2000, ISBN 3-88671-211-7 .
- Stange-Elbe, Joachim: Analysis and interpretation perspectives on Johann Sebastian Bach's 'Art of Fugue' with tools from object-oriented information technology. (Univ. Osnabrück, Habil.-Schr., 2000.)
Web links
- The work and its sources at Bach digital
- Digitized autographs at Bach digital
- Reading list
- Alphabetical list of literature (English)
- The Art of Fugue : Sheet Music and Audio Files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Free recordings by the Piano Society
Individual evidence
- ^ Johann Nikolaus Forkel: About Johann Sebastian Bach's life, art and works of art. 1802
- ^ Johann Friedrich Agricola: Nekrolog auf JS Bach, 1754. Printed in: CH Bitter: Johann Sebastian Bach , Vol. II, 1865, p. 374.
- ^ Johann Sebastian Bach's works / XLVII / supplement volume. (pdf; 1.2 MB) Breitkopf und Härtel Verlag, 1926, accessed on March 17, 2019 (contains reproductions of the original title pages and the “preliminary report” by Marpurg).
- ↑ Bach Yearbook 2015, ISBN 978-3-374-04320-0 , p. 193.
- ↑ Bach Yearbook 2014, ISBN 978-3-374-04036-0 , p. 11.
- ↑ on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO3ewYOD4zE
- ↑ Bach - Glenn Gould talks about the Art of Fugue : “ … There are moments in the Art of Fuge that are much more valuable than its virtuosity, I think; moments that for me absolutely surpass everything else that Bach wrote. I really can't think of any music that moved me more deeply than that last fugue […] it really is because that final fugue… has a sense of peace, a devotional quality, that even for Bach is,… is really overwhelming… “(YouTube video, Gould in conversation with Bruno Monsaingeon ), translated:“… I think there are moments in the art of the fugue that are much more valuable than anything virtuoso there. I don't know of any other music that moved me more than this last fugue [...] it really comes from the fact that this last fugue conveys an atmosphere of peace and a devout quality that even for Bach ... is really overwhelming ... "
- ↑ Prautzsch, Ludwig: I am herewith standing before your throne. Figures and symbols in the last works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Neuhausen-Stuttgart, 1980, p. 290
- ↑ Bach Documents II, No. 666; quoted here from: Johann Sebastian Bach. Life and work in documents , dtv scientific series / Bärenreiter Verlag, 1975, p. 193 f.
- ↑ George B. Stauffer, Johann Mattheson and JS Bach: the Hamburg connection, in: New Mattheson Studies, Cambridge (Massachusetts), 1983, pp. 353-368
- ^ Johann Sebastian Bach, new edition of all works. Series VIII, Volume 2: The Art of Fugue, p. 80. Critical report by Klaus Hofmann . Bärenreiter 1996
- ↑ Christoph Wolff (Ed.): Bach, Johann Sebastian: Die Kunst der Fuge, 1987, p. 4.
- ^ The Art of Fugue, Bach's last Harpsichord Work, The Hague 1952. The Art of Fugue, CD booklet, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, GD77013, 1987/1990
- ↑ Quoted from: Thomas Wilhelmi: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Avertissement on the printing of the "Art of Fugue" , Bach Yearbook 1992, pp. 101-105
- ^ Johann Nikolaus Forkel: About Johann Sebastian Bach's life, art and works of art , Leipzig 1802, p. 53.
- ↑ Johann Mattheson: Philological Tresespiel , Hamburg 1752. p 98, in: Philipp Spitta: Johann Sebastian Bach . Second volume, p. 682.
- ↑ Albert Schweitzer: Johann Sebastian Bach , Leipzig 1977, Chapter XVIII. The musical sacrifice and the art of the fugue. P. 379.
- ↑ Bach - Glenn Gould talks about the Art of fugue : “ The interesting thing about that final fugue is, that in it he literally turns his back on every kind of music of his time […], Bach, actually, I think quite deliberately changes his harmonic style […] he reaches back at least a hundred years […] but the other side of the coin is that Bach introduces […] a degree of chromaticism that in many respects reaches out at least into the time of Wagner , at least a hundred years ... it leaves the extraordinary impression of an infinitely expanding Universe ... "(YouTube video, Gould in conversation with Bruno Monsaingeon ), translated:" The interesting thing about this last fugue is that Bach is in it in the literal sense turns away from the entire music of his time [...] Bach changes, I think quite consciously, his harmonious style [...] he goes back at least a hundred years [...] but the other side of the coin is that Bach [...] has a degree of Introduces chromatics, which in many respects min first of all reaching back into Wagner's time, at least a hundred years ahead ... it gives the extraordinary impression of an ever-expanding universe ... "
- ^ Johann Sebastian Bach, new edition of all works. Series VIII, Volume 2: The Art of Fugue, p. 103. Critical report by Klaus Hofmann . Bärenreiter 1996
- ↑ Wolfgang Graeser: Bach's "Art of Fugue" . In: Bach yearbook . tape 21 , 1924, pp. 105-124 , doi : 10.13141 / bjb.v19241436 .
- ↑ Roswitha Schlötterer-Traimer: Johann Sebastian Bach - The Art of Fugue , 1966, p. 11f.
- ↑ Schleuning 1993, p. 238 f.
- ↑ a b c d e Martin Elste : Bach's art of the fugue on records. With a discography of all cyclical recordings. Booksellers Association GmbH, Frankfurt am Main 1981, ISBN 3-7657-1061-X .
- ↑ Düsseldorf: Theater der Klängetanzt Bach's 'Art of Fugue'. In: rp-online.de. RP ONLINE, accessed December 30, 2017 .
