Bach's Art Early on, I knew that I would eventually have to grapple with Bach's Art of Fugue. However, while working on other keyboard pieces by Bach, I consciously decided to postpone this work for the time being. Initially, the pieces seemed rather uninspiring, but the idea that Bach could ever have composed anything trivial seemed inconceivable to me. Then, when performances at the Royal Festival Hall in London were scheduled for the 2012–13 season, I resolutely began to intensively study The Art of Fugue in 2012.
After many years with Bach's music, it was advantageous to delve into this work only now. Compared to the Goldberg Variations or parts of the Well-Tempered Clavier, I found The Art of Fugue particularly demanding. Unlike those works, there are no relaxing preludes, but rather a series of fugal masterpieces. The rigor and depth of the work impressed me both intellectually and emotionally and definitively dispelled my initial doubts about its fascination.
From 1748 onward, at the age of 63, significant changes became apparent in Bach's handwriting. It is unclear whether he was still able to write at the end of 1749; his last surviving signature is dated December 11. Long-standing eye problems, and likely also diabetes, severely affected him. Eye surgery performed by Dr. John Taylor in March 1750 led to a deterioration of his health from which he never recovered. Shortly before his death, his sight briefly returned, after which Bach suffered a stroke and died on July 28, 1750, at the age of 65.
During the last months of his life, the copper plates for the printing of The Art of Fugue were prepared. However, the work was composed earlier, around the same time as the second part of the Well-Tempered Clavier and the Goldberg Variations. An autograph score containing twelve fugues and two canons was almost entirely completed in 1742 by Johann Christoph Altnikol, Bach's pupil and son-in-law, and is now located in Berlin. Bach regularly made revisions and additions, later adding further pieces and altering the arrangement as preparations for publication were underway.
It is striking that Bach's counterpoint became increasingly complex, even though the prevailing taste favored a more gallant style. For example, Johann Adolf Scheibe criticized Bach's music in 1737 as overloaded and incomprehensible. However, Bach remained true to his compositional ideals and created works of even greater complexity.
In 1751, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach wrote in his announcement of The Art of Fugue: "This work, in which the entire art of fugue is treated in detail on a single theme, was hitherto unknown to those who know the history of music… It is expressly arranged for both piano and organ."
One challenge for the performer is that the entire work is in D minor and predominantly written in alla breve time. Playing all the movements with the same expression would result in a significant loss of character; each movement demands its own interpretation. To grasp the musical essence, I sang the individual parts and noted breath marks at appropriate points.
Contrapunctus 1 opens the work not with technical virtuosity, but with clear thematic entries. A transitional section in bar 32 heightens the drama, while the overall mood remains lyrical and expressive.
In the second Contrapunctus, Bach alters the character of the theme through dotted rhythms. In bar 44, a thematic ascent introduces a new sound, while in bar 61 the bass voice must be emphasized. The tenor enters hesitantly in bar 69; The piece ends on the dominant in bar 78.
Contrapunctus 3 has a calm and lyrical quality, with variations on the theme and accompanying motifs.
Contrapunctus 4, one of the most successful works in the cycle and composed in Bach's final years, thrives on the inversion of the theme and the resulting complex harmonies. The expanded theme in bar 61 and the double quotations are particularly noteworthy. The piece should be played at a flowing tempo.
The other contrapuncti are also analyzed in detail, always focusing on the unique structures and characteristics that make Bach's Art of Fugue such an extraordinary work.
The canons and the concluding chorale form high points that both round off the work and add a spiritual dimension.
For the interpretation and analysis of The Art of Fugue, a deep understanding, passion, and respect for Bach's creative genius and his distinctive compositional vision are essential.