PROGRAM
JS BACH: Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080 (1738-42)
The last concert of the Biennale de Quartets de Barcelona is dedicated to the counterpoint magnum opus, L'art de la fuga by JS Bach. It was published in 1751, a year after the composer's death. Throughout fourteen fugues – the last, unfinished – and four canons, Bach rigorously deploys a great variety of contrapuntal techniques. That is why it is considered that Bach created The Art of Fugue with a pedagogical intention; that is to say, to condense and exemplify the theory of counterpoint that he had been developing in previous compositions. The main theme of the work is simple, both melodically and rhythmically, and Bach repeats and transforms it with surprising skill.
interpreters
Cuarteto Casals
Benjamin Allard, harpsichord
