In 1723, J. S. Bach was appointed music director and cantor at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, a position he held for the rest of his career. (Bach was the second choice for the position, as the more famous Telemann had already refused the job). His official duties were immense; during his first six years in Leipzig, Bach composed four cycles of cantatas and the St. John and St. Matthew Passions. Eventually, he had written enough that he was able to turn his attention elsewhere. From 1729 to 1737 (and again from 1739 to 1741), Bach served as the director of the Leipzig Collegium Musicum, a group of professional musicians and university students founded by Telemann in 1704. He also published several more abstract, erudite works, including four volumes entitled Clavier-Übung (Keyboard Practice), which hold the Six Partitas for Keyboard (Vol. I), the Italian Concerto, the French Overture (Vol. II), and the Goldberg Variations (Vol. IV). Another late work along similar lines is the mysterious and unfinished Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of the Fugue) .
The Art of the Fugue consists of 14 fugues and four canons based on a single theme, heard plainly in the subject of Contrapunctus I (Counterpoint 1). The first of the four “simple fugues,” Contrapunctus 1 is a four-voice fugue on the opening subject. Yet, even within this seemingly rigid framework, Bach creates a narrative arc that builds in intensity and gently backs away. The Art of the Fugue contains several mysteries along with this genius counterpoint. When was it written? Printed in 1751 a year after his death, the incomplete score contains a note where the music stops that says, “While working on this fugue, in which the name BACH appears in the countersubject, the author died.” Watermarks on paper and different versions indicate Bach may have been working on The Art of the Fugue at least nine years before his death, however. Furthermore, each fugal voice is notated on a separate staff. Was the work meant to be played on a keyboard instrument, or did Bach intend it for an ensemble? An advertisement dating from 1751 suggested that the collection was “arranged for use at the harpsichord or the organ,” and the range of the individual voices do not match any wind or string instruments that existed during Bach’s time. Yet, in leaving a score so neatly transferrable to a group of instruments, Bach seems to invite musicians to try, and this is precisely what has happened. From string quartet to saxophone quartet, from the Swingle Singers to an industrial band, The Art of the Fugue has come to life in many guises and at many different times.
Program notes by © Jennifer More 2024