Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Marie-Claire Alain :: Bach: The Art of Fugue

Johann Sebastian Bach, Marie-Claire Alain
Bach: The Art of Fugue
Genre: Classical

Track Listings (13) - Disc #1
1. Die Kunst Der Fuge BWV 1080: Contrapunctus BWV 1080.1
2. Die Kunst Der Fuge BWV 1080: Contrapunctus BWV 1080.3
3. Die Kunst Der Fuge BWV 1080: Contrapunctus BWV 1080.2
4. Die Kunst Der Fuge BWV 1080: Contrapunctus BWV 1080.4
5. Die Kunst Der Fuge BWV 1080: Contrapunctus BWV 1080.5
6. Die Kunst Der Fuge BWV 1080: Contrapunctus BWV 1080.6, a 4
7. Die Kunst Der Fuge BWV 1080: Contrapunctus BWV 1080.7, a 4
8. Die Kunst Der Fuge BWV 1080: Canon alla Duodecima BWV 1080.17
9. Die Kunst Der Fuge BWV 1080: Canon in Hypodiaspason BWV 1080.15
10. Die Kunst Der Fuge BWV 1080: Canon in Hypodiatessaron BWV 1080.14
11. Die Kunst Der Fuge BWV 1080: Canon alla Decima BWV 1080.16
12. Die Kunst Der Fuge BWV 1080: Contrapunctus BWV 1080.12-1 a 4
13. Die Kunst Der Fuge BWV 1080: Contrapunctus BWV 1080.12-2
Track Listings (7) - Disc #2
1. Die Kunst Der Fuge BWV 1080: Contrapunctus BWV 1080.13-1, a 3
2. Die Kunst Der Fuge BWV 1080: Contrapunctus BWV 1080.13-2
3. Die Kunst Der Fuge BWV 1080: Contrapunctus BWV 1080.9, a
4. Die Kunst Der Fuge BWV 1080: Contrapunctus BWV 1080.10, a 4
5. Die Kunst Der Fuge BWV 1080: Contrapunctus BWV 1080.11, a 4
6. Die Kunst Der Fuge BWV 1080: Contrapunctus BWV 1080.8, a 3
7. Die Kunst Der Fuge BWV 1080: Contrapunctus BWV 1080.19

CD Details

All Artists: Johann Sebastian Bach, Marie-Claire Alain
Title: Bach: The Art of Fugue
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Elektra / Wea
Release Date: 7/6/1993
Genre: Classical
Styles: Forms & Genres, Improvisation, Historical Periods, Baroque (c.1600-1750), Instruments, Keyboard
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPC: 745099194628

Synopsis

Amazon.com essential recording

Everything about The Art of Fugue is controversial. Did Bach finish it or not? If not, should a completion be attempted, or should the finale fugue be left in its unfinished state? What order should the various pieces be played in? Where they intended to be listened to at all? And if "yes," what instrument would Bach have preferred? The answers to all of these questions are: "We don't know, and it really doesn't matter." Supremely practical musician that he was, Bach never wrote a note that he didn't intend to be heard, and if he didn't specify an instrument, that's because the music works just like the fugues themselves--backwards, forwards, upside-down and sideways. Marie-Claire Alain is one of the great Bach players of her age, and this performance is in every way worthy of her. --David Hurwitz

CD Reviews

Alain shines in Bach's masterwork

09/29/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of Bach's masterworks, that is. I find that Alain's playing of Bach flowers fully on "The Art of Fugue," essential music by the Master of Leipzig, played with sensitivity and chilling honesty by Alain. I have several versions of "Fugue," and I place this one at the top. Loved it."

Another Pinnacle

Avid Reader | Franklin, Tn | 10/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Marie-Claire Alain has added yet another astounding CD to the Bach oeuvre. I had already purchased the same organists "Complete Works" to which I would have liked to have given 10 stars. This interpretation (organ, of course) seems quintessentially Bach, the breathing of the pipes accompanying the incredibly beautiful notes that seem to shimmer. Somehow, the entire work seems almost "organistic" althought there are no clear directions left by the composer for the particular instrument. The clarity and subtle buildings of sound tones is truly an act of artistry. And the summation with the synthesis of the many themes into coherent whole is breathtaking. This recording is one that I have listened to many times and have never tired of a single selection."