This album was recorded in the upper dormitory of the Royal Abbey of Fontevraud, a historic site that served as one of the largest and most powerful abbeys in the Western world.
Instruments
The violin used in this recording was made by Laurentius Storioni in Cremona in 1789, and the cello by Barak Norman in London around 1710.
Compositional Technique
The Musical Offering's pieces are structured like parts of an oratorical discourse, based on Quintilian's ancient treatise 'De Institutione Oratoria'.
Compositional Technique
The Latin inscription 'Regis Iussu Cantio Et Reliqua Canonica Arte Resoluta' (By command of the King, the theme and other things resolved according to the art of the canon) forms the acrostic 'RICERCAR'.
Compositional Technique
The 'royal theme' given to Bach by Frederick II is used in almost all pieces of The Musical Offering, even subtly appearing in the slow movement of the sonata.
Composition History
Bach, at age 62, visited Frederick II of Prussia in 1747, where the king presented him with a theme on which Bach improvised a fugue.
Composition History
The Musical Offering, BWV 1079, was dedicated to Frederick II of Prussia and sent to him by Bach two months after his visit.
