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JS Bach - The Art of Fugue

£16.33

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Label: Harmonia Mundi

Cat No: HMM902717

Barcode: 3149020946749

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Chamber

Release Date: 9th June 2023

Works

Bach, Johann Sebastian

The Art of Fugue (Die Kunst der Fuge), BWV1080 (string quartet)

Artists

Cuarteto Casals

Works

Bach, Johann Sebastian

The Art of Fugue (Die Kunst der Fuge), BWV1080 (string quartet)

Artists

Cuarteto Casals

About

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.

Sound/Video

Paused

1

Contrapunctus I, a 4
2

Contrapunctus II, a 4
3

Contrapunctus III, a 4
4

Contrapunctus IV, a 4
5

Contrapunctus V, a 4
6

Contrapunctus VI, a 4 in stilo francese
7

Contrapunctus VII, a 4 per augmentationem et diminutionem
8

Contrapunctus VIII, a 3
9

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 ‘ Vor deinen Thron tret’ ich’, BWV 668

Europadisc Review

Among those string quartet groups to have adopted an historically informed approach to the classics, the Spanish Cuarteto Casals rank high. Their recordings of Haydn, Mozart and (above all) their complete Beethoven cycle for Harmonia Mundi are models of period sensibility applied with great expressive engagement on instruments with a modern set-up. Now they cast their attentions even further back, to one of the greatest musical challenges of all: Bach’s Art of Fugue. This is a work that predates the development of the string quartet genre, and although it is written in ‘open score’ (one staff for each individual fugal voice), most experts now consider that it was composed for keyboard performance (harpsichord or organ). That hasn’t stopped many ensembles from appropriating the work to chamber and even orchestral performance, and there’s much to be said for each fugal line being projected by a separate instrument within a collective.

Yet the very nature of Bach’s contrapuntal writing, in which no one line has pre-eminence, and in which the leading voice can switch from part to part at the drop of a hat, suggests a homogeneity of timbre within each piece, and some of the most satisfying ensemble accounts of The Art of Fugue have been from viol consorts and string quartets – however anachronistic both groupings are to the historical context of Bach’s music. In their booklet interview for this new release, the players acknowledge such concerns, but also stress the need for both humility and emotional engagement: ‘we can only accept our inevitable blind spots and play the music as honestly and as deeply felt as possible.’

That their approach succeeds is evident not just in the majestic sweep across the work’s 18 movements (they omit the inverted versions of Contrapuncti XII and XIII, but play all the canons, as well as offering their own compelling completion of the final unfinished Fugue), but also in their attention to balance, articulation, transparency of textures (so essential in this music) and a vibrant expressiveness. The Casals’ wonderfully pure-voiced tone is evident from the outset, with the first four so-called ‘simple’ fugues unfolding with a naturalness that is instantly engaging, each note allowed to ‘speak’ without any cloying over-emphasis. The restrained dynamics of Contrapunctus 1 nevertheless suggest the beginning of a great journey, a sense enhanced by the warm resonance of the recording location at the Castell de Cardona monastery.

From this restrained opening, the work blossoms with a marvellous radiance: the forthright approach to Contrapunctus 4 – played with a bullish spring in its step – implies an eagerness to progress to the next stage of the journey: the stretto fugues of Contrapuncti 5-7 (including the keenly dotted French-style Contrapunctus 6 and the fabulously-wrought Contrapunctus 7, which combines versions of the main subject played at different speeds). The dense complexity of Contrapuncti 8, 10 and 11 is conveyed with astonishing clarity. Contrapunctus 11 – one of the work’s great glories – is taken faster than it’s often heard, exchanging the customary effortful knottiness for a free-flowing forward momentum which fits in perfectly with the group’s overall conception.

After these complexities, the sparer textures of the canons – each a minor miracle of contrapuntal artistry – have a contemplative austerity that nevertheless maintains a compelling expressive engagement, hinting at flights of fantasy in the philosopher’s study. As the players themselves observe, The Art of Fugue ‘is a piece which rewards awareness, attention, and empathy’, as much on the part of the listener as the player(s). Crowning the cycle is the Casals’ completion of the final ‘Fuga a tre soggetti’, with a D major final chord held for just long enough to hint at resolution without any triumphalist subtext. And then follows their performance of the chorale ‘Vor deinen Thron’, BWV 668, included in the first edition of the work (whose text and ordering is broadly followed throughout). Whether or not it was part of the ailing Bach’s own intentions, it acts for these players as ‘a benediction or farewell to this masterpiece’, and it wraps up the 69-minute disc perfectly.

The Cuarteto Casals are keen to emphasise that ‘One could listen to each individual fugue multiple times and with each listening, deepen one’s understanding of the processes at work and their implicit affective meaning.’ But their performance also has a commanding trajectory, a mastery of the whole as well as its endlessly fascinating individual elements. For those wanting a quartet version of this ‘overwhelming display of musical wizardry’, this is now a clear first choice, and may even convert a few diehard ‘keyboard only’ purists (as it did us!).