J.S. Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge, BWV 1080

Featuring

Robert Costin
Johann Sebastian Bach

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Instruments

The album was recorded on the Metzler organ at Trinity College, Cambridge, which is considered one of the finest mechanical-action organs of its kind in the United Kingdom.

Performer Biography

Robert Costin, the organist on this recording, is a versatile musician renowned for his work as an organist, harpsichordist, and teacher, who has performed at prestigious venues like Westminster Abbey and Notre-Dame de Paris.

Compositional Technique

The unfinished Contrapunctus 14 from "The Art of Fugue" was intended to be a quadruple fugue, breaking off just as three new subjects, including the B-A-C-H motif, combine for the first time.

Composer's Artistic Vision

J.S. Bach's late works, including "The Art of Fugue," are profound meditations on endings, order, and eternity, reflecting his spiritual preparation in the Lutheran tradition of ars moriendi (the art of dying).

Composition History

"The Art of Fugue," BWV 1080, was composed by J.S. Bach between approximately 1740 and 1750, during the final decade of his life.

Compositional Technique

The main theme of "The Art of Fugue" is a deceptively simple, perfectly balanced construct that is fully invertible, meaning its mirror image is as sound as the original.