The art of fugue: Bach fugues for keyboard, 1715-1750

Joseph Kerman9780520243583, 0-520-24358-7

Fugue for J. S. Bach was a natural language; he wrote fugues in organ toccatas and voluntaries, in masses and motets, in orchestral and chamber music, and even in his sonatas for violin solo. The more intimate fugues he wrote for keyboard are among the greatest, most influential, and best-loved works in all of Western music. They have long been the foundation of the keyboard repertory, played by beginning students and world-famous virtuosi alike. In a series of elegantly written essays, eminent musicologist Joseph Kerman discusses his favorite Bach keyboard fugues–some of them among the best-known fugues and others much less familiar. Kerman skillfully, at times playfully, reveals the inner workings of these pieces, linking the form of the fugues with their many different characters and expressive qualities, and illuminating what makes them particularly beautiful, powerful, and moving. These witty, insightful pieces, addressed to musical amateurs as well as to specialists and students, are beautifully augmented by a CD with new performances made specially for this volume. In addition to the complete scores for all the music discussed in the book, the CD features Karen Rosenak, piano, playing two preludes and fugues from TheWell-Tempered Clavier –C Major, book 1; and B Major, book 2–and recordings by Davitt Moroney of the Fughetta in C Major, BWV 952, on clavichord; the Fugue on “Jesus Christus unser Heiland,” BWV 689, on organ; and the Fantasy and Fugue in A Minor, BWV 904, on harpsichord.

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Table of contents :
Cover……Page 1
Contents……Page 10
Contents of the CD……Page 12
Preface……Page 16
Acknowledgments……Page 22
chapter 1 Fugue in C Major……Page 26
chapter 2 Fugue in C MinorThe Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1……Page 36
chapter 3 Fughetta in C Major,BWV 952……Page 42
chapter 4 Fugue in C-sharp MinorThe Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1……Page 48
chapter 5 Contrapunctus 1The Art of Fugue……Page 58
chapter 6 Contrapunctus 10The Art of Fugue……Page 64
chapter 7 Chromatic Fantasy andFugue, BWV 903……Page 76
chapter 8 Prelude and Fuguein E-flat MajorThe Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1……Page 90
chapter 9 Fugue in E MajorThe Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2……Page 100
chapter 10 Fugue on “Jesus Christusunser Heiland”Clavierübung, Book 3……Page 110
chapter 11 Fugue in F-sharp MinorThe Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1……Page 120
chapter 12 GigueEnglish Suite no. 3 in G Minor……Page 128
chapter 13 Fugue in A-flat MajorThe Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1……Page 134
chapter 14 Fugue in A MinorFantasy and Fugue in A Minor, BWV 904……Page 140
chapter 15 Fugue in B-flat MajorThe Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2……Page 150
chapter 16 Fugue in B MajorThe Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2……Page 158
Afterword……Page 168
Notes……Page 174
Notes to the CD……Page 180
Glossary……Page 184
Bibliography……Page 192
Index……Page 196