Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer: Cuarteto Casals
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Catalogue: HMM902717
Release: 2023
Size: 1.26 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
The Art of Fugue, BWV1080
01. Contrapunctus I, a 4
02. Contrapunctus II, a 4
03. Contrapunctus III, a 4
04. Contrapunctus IV, a 4
05. Contrapunctus V, a 4
06. Contrapunctus VI, a 4 in stilo francese
07. Contrapunctus VII, a 4 per augmentationem et diminutionem
08. Contrapunctus VIII, a 3
09. Contrapunctus IX, a 4 alla duodecima
10. Contrapunctus X, a 4 alla decima
11. Contrapunctus XI, a 4
12. Contrapunctus XII, a 4
13. Contrapunctus XIII, a 3
14. Canon per augmentationem in contrario motu
15. Canon alla ottava
16. Canon alla decima in contrapunto alla terza
17. Canon alla duodecima in contrapunto alla quinta
18. Contrapunctus XIV, a 4 Fuga a tre soggetti
19. Chorale Prelude BWV668 ‘Vor deinen Thron tret’ ich’
Notated on four staves, as though intended for some unspecified set of instruments (or even voices or keyboard?), these thirteen erudite contrapuncti, four canons, and an unfinished triple fugue – incorporating the letters of Bach’s name – are often considered to be his musical testament.
Shrouded in myths traceable to its very origins, The Art of Fugue is a puzzle for the performers and for the listeners alike, but when a brilliant string quartet takes up the challenge, a solution becomes obvious, and the music takes flight.
The German poet Goethe said, and is duly quoted in the booklet here, that a string quartet is “a spirited conversation among four reasonable people.” That is not what Bach’s Art of Fugue is, but string quartets seem impelled to keep performing the work, and audiences buy the move; the rarefied air of the string quartet seems to fit with Bach’s contrapuntal mysteries somehow. This release by the Cuarteto Casals made classical best-seller charts in the late spring of 2023. It is one of the better string quartet attempts, both hewing to and departing from the work’s Baroque character. First violinist Abel Tomás Realp mostly cultivates a glassy sound with little vibrato, as if his line were being played on an organ, but the other players allow themselves to be more expressive. The general approach is deliberate, and the members speak at length in the interview-style booklet about the necessity for deep contemplation in approaching the work. It is almost as if the group is seeking to clarify its contrapuntal intricacies. The music broadens out in the four canons, which are placed at the end right before the final fugue. That is given a little conclusion rather than being left hanging, as in Bach’s unfinished manuscript, and it leads into the chorale Vor deinen Thron tret’ ich, BWV 668, which Bach himself might have intended. The sound from Spain’s Cardona monastery fits with the goals of the performance, which is to add a new layer of mystery to this perennially troublesome work.