CXXXVI. BACH, J.S. (1685-1750)
Two versions
The Musical Offering, BWV 1079 (1747)
1. Ricercar a 3 (0:36)
2. Canon perpetuus super Thema Regium (6:57)
3. Canon diversi super Thema Regium (8:11)
4. Fuga canonica in Epidiapente* (16:27)
5. Ricercar a 6 (19:08)
6. "Quaerendo invenietis" Canon a 2 - Canon a 4 (26:24)
7. A Sonata sopr'il Soggetto Reale
Largo (30:09)
Allegro (34:28)
Andante (40:40)
8. Canon perpetuus (46:58)
Barthold Kuijken, transverse flute
Sigiswald Kuijken, violin
Wieland Kuijken, viola da gamba
Robert Kohnen, harpsichord
(52:42)
* Epidiapente
Today, it is hard to imagine that J.S. Bach was
not a big deal during his lifetime, aside from some afficianados amongst the nobility and other composers.
In fact, after his death in 1750, the music that was being performed was considered old-fashioned and stodgy. His son,
Carl Philipp Emanuel, had attained a much greater fame than his father at that time.
Thank God for this filial son -- who took possession of all his late father's manuscripts ... but it was not until nearly a century later that J.S. Bach began to receive his due -- in large part because of the attentions of
Abraham and
Felix Mendelssohn ...
**
C.P.E. was employed as a court musician by
Frederick the Great. [what was "great" about him must be left to historians or your own judgment, after checking out the long above-cited Wikipedia article. The Nazis glorified him as a pre-Hitler genius, so ...]
Frederick summoned old Bach to his residence at
Potsdam on May 7, 1747.
He wanted to show the old man his new
Silbermann piano, a recent invention.
Frederick -- a talented amateur musician -- had written out a subject and asked Bach -- on the spot -- to improvise a three-voiced fugue based upon it:
Bach did so. Frederick -- still not quite satisfied -- then asked him to improvise a six-voiced fugue! Bach replied that he'd need to work on it.
Several months later, he completed what we now know as The Musical Offering.
Bach inscribed the piece "Regis Iussu Cantio et Reliqua Canonica Arte Resoluta." (the theme given by the king, with additions, resolved in the canonic style) ...
Note that combining the first letters of the Latin spells RICERCAR!
Read more fascinating details about this amazing work here.
And if you really want to take the plunge and explore, check out Douglas Hofstadter's amazing book, Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. You will find much to appreciate there.
[Yes, that's who Leonard is named for in The Big Bang Theory.]
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