| The Art of Fugue is Bach’s final composition and one of his most challenging. In this album Phantasm and its director Laurence Dreyfus showcase all the hidden beauties of the composer’s magnum opus, arguably the pinnacle of the fugue genre. Printed in open score, the format allows a rendition on viols, as recorded here. Brimming with rich counterpoint and dynamic conversation among the parts, the work can legitimately claim a place within the consort repertoire. Bach manages to paint a finely delineated set of contrasting musical portraits full of revelations and surprises. Far from an academic encyclopaedia of arcane musical techniques, The Art of Fugue thus embarks on a (unfinished) voyage of discovery shared by an inveterate explorer whose thirst for invention knows no bounds. Organist Daniel Hyde performs four movements in this welcome follow-up to Phantasm’s acclaimed Well-Tempered Consort series.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750): The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080:
1 Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: No. 1, Contrapunctus 103:08
2 Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: No. 2, Contrapunctus 202:47
3 Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: No. 3, Contrapunctus 302:45
4 Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: No. 4, Contrapunctus 405:21
5 Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: No. 5, Canon per Augmentationem in Contrario Motu05:32
6 Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: No. 6, Contrapunctus 502:46
7 Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: No. 7, Contrapunctus 6 “in Stylo Francese”03:25
8 Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: No. 8, Contrapunctus 7 per Augmentationem et Diminutionem03:58
9 Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: No. 9, Canon alla Ottava03:01
10 Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: No. 10, Contrapunctus 8 a306:04
11 Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: No. 11, Contrapunctus 9 alla Duodecima02:36
12 Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: No. 12, Contrapunctus 10 alla Decima04:13
13 Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: No. 13, Contrapunctus 1106:00
14 Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: No. 14, Canon alla Decima. Contrapunto alla Terza05:49
15 Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: No. 15, Contrapunctus 12 Rectus02:51
16 Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: No. 16, Contrapunctus 12 Inversus02:51
17 Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: No. 17, Canon alla Duodecima in Contrapunto alla Quinta02:38
18 Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: No. 18, Contrapunctus 13 a4 Rectus02:27
19 Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: No. 19, Contrapunctus 13 a4 Inversus02:33
20 Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: No. 20, Fuga a 3 Soggetti (Incomplete)08:53 |
