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Bach: The Art of Fugue / Duo Stephanie & Saar
New Focus Recordings

Bach: The Art of Fugue / Duo Stephanie & Saar

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Details

Composer
BACH, J.S.
Artist
DUO STEPHANIE & SAAR
Format
CD
Label
New Focus Recordings
Released
Jun 02, 2017
Catalog #
FCR181
UPC
747565635086

About

DUO Stephanie & Saar’s third release on New Focus Recordings, The Art of Fugue, is the first ever complete piano duo recording of Johann Sebastian Bach’s final enigmatic work. The duo performs the work’s different movements as either four-hand, two piano or solo piano works. Bach never specified the instrumentation of the work and this new version is a kaleidoscope of textures and colors, a probing journey that seeks answers and illumination. Dated 1748, some scholars see The Art of Fugue as an academic endeavor by an aging master paying tribute to the fugue, which was by then falling out of fashion. Others consider the work as a sort of “Da Vinci Code” of numerology, puzzles and musical coding. The mystery of Contrapunctus 14, notable for both the inclusion of Bach’s name as a theme and for its unfinished state adds to the mythology and cult status that surrounds the work.Bach found fugues to be a source of endless creativity. The Art of Fugue, a collection of fourteen fugues and four canons, is an exploration of the full spectrum of contrapuntal possibilities, all derived from one monolithic theme in D minor. From a purely technical standpoint, Bach’s compositional prowess is in full display as he employs inversion, retrograde, augmentation, diminution, multiple fugue subjects, mirroring and canonic writing- all while creating an intense and emotionally gripping musical experience. Bach was a deeply devout Lutheran, and while Th Art of Fugue has no direct religious connotations, the work’s reverence for “musical math” and the severity of the techniques used are in line with Bach’s devotional output. Bach’s need to exhaust as many possibilities of permutations from one theme is in essence a quest to find meaning, an unending spiritual journey reaching towards the divine.

Tracklist 20 tracks

  1. Disc 1
  2. 1 Contrapunctus I 03:35
    Track
    1
    Title
    Contrapunctus I
    Duration
    03:35
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Ensemble
    DUO Stephanie & Saar
  3. 2 Contrapunctus II 02:30
    Track
    2
    Title
    Contrapunctus II
    Duration
    02:30
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Ensemble
    DUO Stephanie & Saar
  4. 3 Contrapunctus III 03:37
    Track
    3
    Title
    Contrapunctus III
    Duration
    03:37
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Ensemble
    DUO Stephanie & Saar
  5. 4 Contrapunctus IV 03:00
    Track
    4
    Title
    Contrapunctus IV
    Duration
    03:00
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Ensemble
    DUO Stephanie & Saar
  6. 5 Contrapunctus V 03:34
    Track
    5
    Title
    Contrapunctus V
    Duration
    03:34
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Ensemble
    DUO Stephanie & Saar
  7. 6 Contrapunctus VI a 4 in Stylo Francese 04:02
    Track
    6
    Title
    Contrapunctus VI a 4 in Stylo Francese
    Duration
    04:02
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Ensemble
    DUO Stephanie & Saar
  8. 7 Contrapunctus VII a 4 per Augmentationem et Diminutionem 05:12
    Track
    7
    Title
    Contrapunctus VII a 4 per Augmentationem et Diminutionem
    Duration
    05:12
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Ensemble
    DUO Stephanie & Saar
  9. 8 Contrapunctus VIII a 3 08:02
    Track
    8
    Title
    Contrapunctus VIII a 3
    Duration
    08:02
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Ensemble
    DUO Stephanie & Saar
  10. 9 Contrapunctus IX a 4 alla Duodecima 02:20
    Track
    9
    Title
    Contrapunctus IX a 4 alla Duodecima
    Duration
    02:20
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Ensemble
    DUO Stephanie & Saar
  11. 10 Contrapunctus X a 4 alla Decima 05:38
    Track
    10
    Title
    Contrapunctus X a 4 alla Decima
    Duration
    05:38
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Ensemble
    DUO Stephanie & Saar
  12. 11 Contrapunctus XI a 4 06:46
    Track
    11
    Title
    Contrapunctus XI a 4
    Duration
    06:46
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Ensemble
    DUO Stephanie & Saar
  13. Disc 2
  14. 1 Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080: Contrapunctus inversus XII a 4, forma recta (arr. for 2 pianos) 03:48
    Track
    1
    Title
    Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080: Contrapunctus inversus XII a 4, forma recta (arr. for 2 pianos)
    Duration
    03:48
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Ensemble
    DUO Stephanie & Saar
  15. 2 Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080: Canon II, alla Ottava 03:47
    Track
    2
    Title
    Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080: Canon II, alla Ottava
    Duration
    03:47
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Saar Ahuvia
  16. 3 Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080: Contrapunctus inversus XII a 4, forma inversa (arr. for 2 pianos) 03:42
    Track
    3
    Title
    Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080: Contrapunctus inversus XII a 4, forma inversa (arr. for 2 pianos)
    Duration
    03:42
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Ensemble
    DUO Stephanie & Saar
  17. 4 Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080: Canon III, alla Decima in Contrapunto alla Terza 06:24
    Track
    4
    Title
    Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080: Canon III, alla Decima in Contrapunto alla Terza
    Duration
    06:24
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Stephanie Ho
  18. 5 Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080: Contrapunctus inversus XIII a 3, forma recta (arr. for 2 pianos) 02:24
    Track
    5
    Title
    Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080: Contrapunctus inversus XIII a 3, forma recta (arr. for 2 pianos)
    Duration
    02:24
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Ensemble
    DUO Stephanie & Saar
  19. 6 Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080: Canon IV, alla Duodecima in Contrapunto alla Quinta 05:46
    Track
    6
    Title
    Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080: Canon IV, alla Duodecima in Contrapunto alla Quinta
    Duration
    05:46
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Saar Ahuvia
  20. 7 Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080: Contrapunctus inversus XIII a 3, forma inversa (arr. for 2 pianos) 02:26
    Track
    7
    Title
    Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080: Contrapunctus inversus XIII a 3, forma inversa (arr. for 2 pianos)
    Duration
    02:26
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Ensemble
    DUO Stephanie & Saar
  21. 8 Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080: Fuga a 3 Soggetti (Contrapunctus XIV) (arr. for piano 4 hands) 09:15
    Track
    8
    Title
    Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080: Fuga a 3 Soggetti (Contrapunctus XIV) (arr. for piano 4 hands)
    Duration
    09:15
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Ensemble
    DUO Stephanie & Saar
  22. 9 Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080: Canon I, per Augmentationem in Contrario Motu 06:51
    Track
    9
    Title
    Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080: Canon I, per Augmentationem in Contrario Motu
    Duration
    06:51
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Stephanie Ho