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Home , Chorale, The Art of Fugue

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concert program vii: Die Kunst der Fuge

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685–1750) August 6 and 7 Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of ), BWV 1080 (before 1742; rev. ca. 1745 and 1748– 1749) (arr. Samuel Baron) Tuesday, August 6, 8:00 p.m., Stent Family Hall, Menlo School Contrapunctus I (simple fugue) Wednesday, August 7, 8:00 p.m., Stent Family Hall, Contrapunctus II (simple fugue with “French” rhythm) Menlo School Contrapunctus III (simple inversion fugue) Contrapunctus IV (simple inversion fugue with countersubject) PROGRAM OVERVIEW Contrapunctus V ( fugue) The music of has provided generations Contrapunctus VI (“in stilo francese”) of listeners with an inexhaustible source of nourishment. It has Contrapunctus VII (“per augmentationem et diminutionem”) captivated us with its sheer sonic beauty; its technical perfection Contrapunctus VIII (triple fugue) ceaselessly provokes our intellectual curiosity; and in its magi- Contrapunctus IX (“alla doudecima”; double fugue) cal expression of the inexpressible, Bach’s music, above all else, Contrapunctus X (“alla decima”; double fugue) uplifts the soul. There is no clearer or more distilled illustration of Contrapunctus XI (triple fugue) these qualities than . Bach’s final work, left unfin- Contrapunctus XIIa (“mirror” fugue 1: rectus) ished at the time of the composer’s death, occupies a hallowed Contrapunctus XIIb (“mirror” fugue 1: inversus) place in the classical music literature. This monumental cycle of Contrapunctus XIIIa (“mirror” fugue 2: rectus) and canons, arranged for string quartet and wind quintet, Contrapunctus XIIIb (“mirror” fugue 2: inversus) PROGRAMSCONCERT represents the summation of Bach’s artistry. Contrapunctus XIV (“Fuga a 3 soggetti”; unfinished) Canon I: Canon alla ottava Canon II: Canon alla decima Canon III: Canon alla doudecima SPECIAL THANKS Canon IV: Canon per augmentationem in contrario motu Music@Menlo dedicates these performances to the following Appendix: Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein ( fugue), BWV 668a (based individuals with gratitude for their generous support: on Vor deinen Thron tret’ ich hiermit, BWV 668) August 6: Libby and Craig Heimark Tara Helen O’Connor, flute; Alan Kay, clarinet; James Austin Smith, oboe; Marc Goldberg, bassoon; August 7: Mr. Laurance R. Hoagland Jr. and Mrs. Grace M. Nicole Cash, horn; Orion String Quartet: Daniel Phillips, Todd Phillips, violins; Steven Tenenbom, viola; Timothy Eddy, cello Hoagland and also to Eileen and Joel Birnbaum

Closing bars of the unfinished quadruple fugue from The Art of Fugue, with the final note by Philipp Emanuel Bach. Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin/Art Resource, NY

www.musicatmenlo.org Program Notes: Die Kunst der Fuge

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH cially noticeable in the second half of The Art of Fugue, when after the (Born March 21, 1685, Eisenach; died July 28, 1750, Leipzig) colossal struggles of Contrapunctus XI, we enter the realm of two-voice Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080 (arr. Samuel canons. Bach is working here with smaller and smaller resources yet creat- Baron) ing greater and greater subtlety. The collection of mirror fugues is unearthly in its magical construction. And then, the grand final (yet incomplete) fugue Composed: before 1742; rev. ca. 1745 and 1748–1749 was to have crowned the entire structure and was signed by the author. Posthumously, 1751 Published: The manuscript of the final fugue in The Art of Fugue breaks off unfin- Other works from this period: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2, ished. It is, however, no mere fragment; it is longer than any of the other BWV 870–893 (ca. 1740); , BWV 988 (1741); Mass in fugues by far. It appears to be a triple fugue, the third subject of which is a b minor, BWV 232 (1747–1749); Musical O#ering, BWV 1079 (1747) chromatic motive made up of the letters of Bach’s name. After the exposi- Approximate duration: 1 hour, 20 minutes tion of this subject, it is combined with the previously heard subjects of the same fugue. This combination is quite startling. At this point, where we The fugue is music’s most challenging genre, requiring a balance of invention and would expect there to be some further development of the three subjects discipline in the highest degree. Many great composers would write fugues, and in combination, the manuscript breaks off. the weight of their work was measured by their skill in this difficult genre. The Art What was the design of this fugue intended to be? It seems fairly of Fugue is a project that J. S. Bach worked on over a period of many years and certain that the composition would have been a quadruple fugue, with a was left uncompleted at the time of his death in 1750. In the words of Samuel subject, as yet unstated, which could combine with the other three sub- Baron: “The plan that Bach had in mind seems to be nothing more or less than an jects. It was discovered late in the nineteenth century that the very first enormous cycle of compositions (most of them fugues), all in the same key and all subject of Contrapunctus I could combine, like clockwork, with the three deriving from a single motive. This cycle of works was to demonstrate the entire subjects of the last, incomplete fugue—which could hardly be an acci- craft, technique, and art of contrapuntal writing as brought to its highest point of dent. The significance of this discovery is that it enables us to see the final development by J. S. Bach, the acknowledged master of fugue.” design of the entire work. The Art of Fugue was to be a cycle, returning The Art of Fugue was published in so-called open score, with each voice at the very end to its beginning. Then all the developments, all the off- in a different clef and on a different staff. Composers of the day often wrote shoots and variants of the original subject become the branches and leaves their keyboard works in open score so that the player could marvel at the of a mighty tree, establishing both the unity and the variety of contrapuntal . The ambiguity of the open score and the complexity and sheer composition. This undoubtedly was Bach’s didactic purpose. variety of the musical styles piqued Samuel Baron’s imagination to arrange The inclusion of the B–A–C–H motive (the notes which we know as the work for a string quartet and a wind quintet. The first performances of B-flat, A-natural, C-natural, and B-natural) has puzzled many students of the his transcription were given by the New York Woodwind Quintet (of which cycle over the years. In my opinion, it is an internal signature, akin to some Baron was a longtime member) and the Fine Arts String Quartet. Renaissance masters of painting who painted their own likenesses into a cor- Baron describes The Art of Fugue as follows: ner of their canvases. It had a special significance to Bach, because of the melancholy of his situation as a master of contrapuntal writing at the very The transcription has as its primary goal the rendering of the coun- moment when the entire discipline was beginning to lose its central signifi- terpoint in maximum clarity. is suited by its very cance in the education of musicians and indeed in the taste of the musical nature to intimate discussions and exchanges. It is the medium for publics of Europe. This irony was not lost on the old man. He knew that even CONCERT PROGRAMSCONCERT CONCERT PROGRAMSCONCERT development and unfolding of ideas through close examination his own sons, who were pursuing very active and brilliant careers in music in from different points of view, represented by individual voices, and various parts of Europe, were not writing the kind of music that he had written in this cycle, by different individual compositions. At the same time his entire life. He was the acknowledged master of contrapuntal skills but was an attempt is made through the team of string and wind instru- living in isolation, and his life work was drawing to a close. ments to give scope to the great range of expression, of dramatic Bach never finished The Art of Fugue and when the work was pub- power and contrast, which is found in these works. lished, it included the “Vor deinen Thron tret’ ich hiermit.” This prelude was not a new composition; it was a chorale prelude which he I believe that a complete performance of The Art of Fugue reveals a had composed some years previously with the text “Wenn wir in höchsten larger plan. The plan is a traversal of possibilities from the simple to the com- Nöten sein” (“When We in Deepest Need Are”). Here, he gave it the new plex, from the straightforward to the arcane. The master introduces us to the title (“Before Thy Throne I Stand with This”), chosen from one of the interior more and more rarefied levels of abstract musical thought and technique. Each verses of the chorale. But how fitting was this title! Bach, at the end of his life, technique of contrapuntal writing is introduced and then elaborated. For places himself before the throne of God with this very work, the summation example, the devices of augmentation and ; these are exploited of his entire life as a musical artist. It is a composition of unsurpassed serenity. brilliantly in Contrapunctus VI, which has the additional distinction of being a Should the chorale prelude be thought of as a part of The Art of French . But Contrapunctus VII tops this accomplishment by dem- Fugue? Strictly speaking, it is not a part it, but its connections to it are onstrating that the motives can be simultaneously played at three different real. For one thing, it is transcribed in open score exactly like the pages of levels of metrical pulse. This is practically an entire solar system of rhythms, The Art of Fugue. And both the chorale prelude and The Art of Fugue share with planets (in this case, musical motives) orbiting at their own rates of speed. the sense of final dedication and the end of a life. The final chorale prelude Bach’s pattern of demonstrating the techniques and devices of is a brief, serene, and moving composition of final resignation. contrapuntal writing in the order of their complexity and subtlety is espe- —Samuel Baron (edited by Tara Helen O’Connor and Daniel Phillips)

Music@Menlo 2013