Handel Fugues Are Not Strict Bachs Fugue Are Art

J.S. Bach: The Art of the Fugue
for harpsichord or pedal-harpsichord.
Including a note by Isolde Ahlgrimm

"The Art of the Fugue" (Die Kunst der Fuge), as its name implies, was intended and effectively provides, a complete treatise on the fine art of fugal composition, dealing with every type of fugal treatment from the simplest to the most complex.

It may be supposed that Bach had intended to have this work published nether his educational activity. He had since 1720 been publishing periodic treatises on dissimilar styles of composition "for connoisseurs and amateurs" nether the series championship Clavierübung or Keyboard Practice. The 1749 Musical Offer, though dedicated to King Frederick and based on a Royal Theme, in fact became under Bach's hands a treatise on Canonic Composition. Of the significant forms of composition electric current in bizarre times covered by Bach, only the Fugue, maybe the most important, was left outstanding. The Master died before he was able to publish the work. Indeed some scholars believe that the work was left unfinished, equally Bach was working on a complex fugue when he died, and although the editor of the original "Consummate Bach Edition" regarded this fugue as having no connection with The Art, Gustav Nottebohm showed ("Die Musikwelt" Berlin, 1880/i) that with some manipulation the master theme of The Art could be made to fit, thus adding to the already existing uncertainties regarding instrumentation and the order in which the fugues should be performed.

When in 1922 Wolfgang Graeser brought "The Fine art of Fugue" into the limelight of publicity by promoting its first public performance in Leipzig, he did something memorable. Thank you to Graeser, this extraordinary work has taken its place in the public consciousness alongside of Bach'southward greatest, and a number of practical arrangements accept appeared in addition to Graeser's. Orchestration can indeed provide an boosted clarity of part-writing together with a variety of tone-color. However Graeser'southward, and some other arrangers' justification that Bach did not indicate what instruments he intended to use, was erroneous.

The fact that "The Art of Fugue" was originally published in 3- or four-part open up score (most of this work, though left unfinished past Bach, was engraved nether his supervision), was no indication that an orchestral, or fifty-fifty a chamber music performance was intended. He did the aforementioned, for instance, with the six-role Ricercare in "A Musical Offering ", written for pedal harpsichord or organ. His "connoisseurs and amateurs" during the baroque menstruation were quite accepted to read from an open up score, and the advantage of this organisation was that the player/student could conspicuously see the individual voices. Ability to play from open scores died out in the 1800s.

Bach implied without whatsoever ambiguity that "The Art of Fugue" was written for the keyboard. Nor had anybody ever doubted this until the appearance of Graeser's edition. Equally Tovey put it in his edition of this piece of work (Oxford University Printing), "no rule of counterpoint is kept more meticulously past Bach than the solitude of the office-writing to the stretch of two hands throughout."

Many serious scholars had already supported this stand up. Gill, Husmann, Rietsch, Schmieder, Steglich, to mention only a few, had produced convincing arguments demonstrating beyond all question that "The art of fugue" was originally equanimous for a keyboard instrument, i.e. the harpsichord. Both Schmieder and Steglich explicitly advocate the use of a pedal. The only problem with this assertion is that it is somewhat subjective: information technology depends on the hand-bridge of the individual player, for this piece of work does comprise a number of chords which the average hands cannot span. However, the fact that this applies to other keyboard works by Bach (The Well-tempered Clavier, Sonata in D, Aria Variata alla Maniera Italiana) led Ms Ahlgrimm, herself being endowed with merely an average medium mitt-span, to conduct her own researches. She was in fact able to found that Bach's hands were large enough to cope with the spans occurring in "The fine art of fugue".

During the subscription concerts which Ms Ahlgrimm held in her Vienna apartments, run into illustration from 1952, she dealt with these bug in detail, and we quote below from her extensive notes which she provided for her recitals of this work.

In his "celebrated-literary manual of famous personalities" (Leipzig 1794), Hirsching made the following remarks in regard to Bach: "His fist was enormous. He was able, for case, to bridge a twelfth with the left hand, while playing grace notes with the centre fingers." It is strange that no i has mentioned this fact to date in connection with "The art of fugue", especially as the widest span necessitated by this work is actually a twelfth for the left manus. As far as Bach was concerned, therefore, the argument that it is unfeasible has been refuted once and for all. Although such large hands are rare, there take e'er been musicians renowned for their extraordinary spans. Bach's student Goldberg, for example, is said to accept had very large hands and, reporting on J. Wölffl'due south contest with Beethoven, Seyfried commented that both possessed the same technical skill, but Wölffl had the reward of having large hands (he played twelfths with the aforementioned ease as octaves). César Franck was one of the few who could play some of his own compositions without having to resort to arpeggios. Many gimmicky pianists can too span a twelfth with the left hand.

It is quite clear therefore that Bach experienced no difficulty with the spans of "The art of fugue" and was able to perform the work manualiter. On the other manus, "The well-tempered Clavier" (the last passage of the fugue in A pocket-sized, as well as in the Aria variata alia maniera italiana and the Sonata in D, last movement) contains passages which could non mayhap be performed by any human manus, yet no one has ever questioned the fact that these works were written for the harpsichord, as has been the case with "The art of fugue".

What were the instrumental possibilities at Bach'south disposal? He owned a pedal harpsichord and it may be justifiably assumed that many of Bach's organist contemporaries likewise possessed such instruments. Those passages in Bach's works, which can only be performed by recourse to the pedal, offer proof that Bach took the use of the latter into account in his compositions. Information technology goes without maxim that the pedal - its application having thus been presupposed - was used more frequently than was strictly technically necessary for mastering broad spans. The limited span of the boilerplate hand cannot possibly have been the but reason for introducing the pedal, which peradventure as well served to enhance artistic expressiveness. The assumption that Bach presupposed the utilise of a pedal in "The fine art of fugue" (although he himself was capable of executing the requisite spans) is demonstrated virtually conclusively past the way in which he handles the final passages of the individual counterpoints, often ending in seven parts. The pedal is almost indispensable for a truthful artistic estimation, while it also permits an artist with smaller hands to perform passages formerly considered "impracticable".

Moreover, Bach'south contemporaries and direct descendants classed this work among the of import literature for keyboard instruments, a fact discussed in an article entitled "Fugue" past Kirnberger in the "General theory of the fine arts", edited by J. G. Sulzer (2nd edition, 1792), one of the nigh popular German books on art at that fourth dimension. The author mentions 17 composers of clavier fugues, while Bach's "The art of fugue" ranks first among the works expressly written for the clavier. The composers were listed in the following gild: Bach, Kirnberger, Kuhnau, Pachelbel, Froberger, Pisendel, Telemann, Mattheson, Handel, C.P.East. Bach, Schale, Marpurg, Graun, Königsberger, Fr. Couperin, Clairembault and Dandrieu. Our library includes ii editions of the "Organ and harpsichord school" by Father Sebastian Prixner (1789, and one of a later date). The written report of Bach'due south "The art of fugue" is recommended in both editions of this piece of work. The 1789 edition makes the post-obit remarks: "As far as the practical operation of a fugue is concerned, we would advise Eberling's fugues as being the most suitable for imitation. Furthermore, we would recommend Friedr. Wilhelm Marpurg's treatise on fugues in the Quarto Edition Berlin 1754 (containing more than a dozen references to "The fine art of fugue"!), every bit well as 'The art of fugue' by Sebastian Bach in the Quarto Edition, Leipzig 1752. Using the Eberling or Bach pattern the beginner - much to his do good - volition be able to elaborate a short and pleasant theme and subsequently play it on the organ."

These passages in the Sulzer and Prixner books are most revealing in their references to the keyboard musical instrument. Moreover, they serve to disprove the widespread belief that the publication of Bach'southward last piece of work constitute no repeat. "The art of fugue" exercised considerable influence amid wide circles during the class of the 18th century - Prixner, for instance, lived at St. Emmeran (Landshut - Bavaria) - and it was only the romanticists of the early 19th century who were at a loss to know what to exercise with this work. By that fourth dimension fugue-playing had fallen into disuse and pianists were unable to perform this work without a pedal. "The art of fugue" was revived again in the 20th century, this fourth dimension in symphonic disguise. We believe that with the present performance on the pedal-harpsichord, "The fine art of fugue" can finally be understood and appreciated in its original grade. (Isolde Ahlgrimm-Fiala).

The order in which the fugues ("contrapuncti") were to be performed was likewise left unclear by Bach, though he gave indications in an earlier MS of 1742. Here, Bach arranges the fugues in order of growing complexity, a procedure which seems thoroughly logical and in accordance with what might exist causeless as Bach'due south intention. We have interspersed the Canons in society to provide groups of convenient listening length.

The Unfinished Fugue on a theme BACH, though of dubious clan with The Art, has been added since many who enjoy The Art are accepted to hearing it, and it is a fine piece of music in its own right, albeit incomplete. We complete our recording with another "irrelevant work" following the instance of Bach's sons in their own edition hurriedly prepared after their male parent's death. The following words are to exist plant on the inner comprehend of the original edition: "Due to his eye complaint and sudden decease, the composer of this work was unable to finish the last fugue, the theme of which features his proper name (B-A-C-H). To brand amends for this shortcoming, nosotros have added, for lovers of Bach's music, the four-role chorale, dictated extempore by the blind master to ane of his friends."

Though the appreciation of fugal writing and counterpoint in general was overtaken by the rococo fashion of Haydn and Mozart, moving thence into the romantic menses, the following sentence, quoted from Marpurg's "Treatise on the fugue" (1753), provides convincing prove of what musical circles thought of "The art of fugue" shortly modify Bach'due south death: "The harmony and melody of the themes, the main composition and the inversion in this difficult work, catamenia every bit naturally as if it were a free limerick."

Bach's Art of Gugue and Musical Offering recorded by Isolde Ahlgrimm, pedal-harpsichord, with the Amati Soloists (Musical Offering) available as downloads from the The Baroque Music Library

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Source: http://www.baroquemusic.org/AhlgrimmArtofFugue.html

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