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Glenn Gould, a brilliant 20th-century
Canadian pianist, seen here recording
Bach’s keyboard music, was noted for
his skill in clearly articulating the
texture of the preludes and fugues.particularly evident in the Goldberg
Va riat ions, a set of 30 keyboard
variations published in 1741, which
were, he said, for “connoisseurs to
refresh their spirits.”
Based on a repeating base
line, Bach composed every third
variation as a canon, but with one
extra dimension. The first canon
begins with both voices starting
on the same note. In the next canon,
however, although the second voice
is playing the same tune as the
first, it plays it one note higher; here
incredible skill is required to create
melodic material that works and
sounds pleasing to the listener’s
ear. The next canon presents the
second voice two notes higher,
and this continues until, in the last
canon, the voices are nine notes
apart. Apparently not content with
this plethora of canons, Bach had
14 more sketched out in his copy
of Goldberg Variations, built on the
first eight notes of the bass line.In The Musical Offering, his last
major keyboard work, written for
the newly invented piano, Bach
wrote a collection of 14 canons
and fugues based on a theme
purportedly composed by the King
of Prussia, Frederick II. Rather than
always writing out the music in full,
here Bach presents some musical
conundrums that have come to be
called “riddle fugues.” In these, he
writes out only the main melody,
sometimes as an acrostic, and
then, in Latin, briefly states what
kind of canon it should be and in
how many voices. The performer
has to work out how to play the
piece. He even includes a so-called
“crab canon” where the theme is
played backward and forward at
the same time. Interestingly, the
six-part fugue from this work,
known as the “Ricercar a 6” is
written on six staves—one staff
per voice—rather than in an
arrangement for two hands. Bachpresented The Art of Fugue in the
same way, perhaps to suggest that
it was pure music without being
tied to any particular instrument.Unfinished legacy
The Art of Fugue is the culmination
of Bach’s contrapuntal interests.
Written as 14 fugues and four
canons, each one uses the same
principal theme in some way
to generate music of extraordinary
subtlety and variety. The last
fugue, or “contrapunctus” as he
calls them, presents a series of
three different subjects, each
worked out in four voices before
moving to the next. The final one
presents one of the most poignant
moments in the history of music.
Bach introduces a four-note theme
that spells out his name (in German
notation B = B-flat and H = B, so
BACH = B-flat A C B), but before
he finishes working it out, the
manuscript trails off. ■BAROQUE 1600 –1750
It’s the most difficult thing
I’ve ever approached. You’ve
got to keep it going; how
do you do that? ... There’s
never been anything more
beautiful in all of music.
Glenn Gould
Pianist (1932–1982)US_108-111_JS_Bach_Fugue.indd 111 26/03/18 1:00 PM