CD I: Contrapunctus I Contrapunctus III Canon alla Decima in Contrapunto alla Terza Contrapunctus II Contrapunctus IV Canon alla Ottava Contrapunctus V Contrapunctus IX a 4 alla Duodecima Contrapunctus X a 4 alla Decima
CD II: Contrapunctus VI a 4 in Stylo Francese Contrapunctus VII a 4 per Augmentationem et Diminutionem Canon alla Duodecima in Contrapunto alla Quinta Contrapunctus VIII a 3 Contrapunctus XI a 4 Canon per Augmentationem in Contrario Motu Fuga a 3 Soggetti (Contrapunctus XIV)
The Art of Fugue, Johann Sebastian Bach’s ultimate keyboard cycle, is baroque music’s most audacious exploration of the combinatorial possibilities of a single theme. Its fugues and canons were conceived, not to resound in a concert venue or even in a church, but to be played in an intimate domestic setting on the harpsichord or clavichord.
Martha Cook was inspired by the vision in L’Art de la fugue, une méditation en musique (Fayard, Paris, 2015), her interpretation has been nourished by the dictum and parables of Luke 14:27-35. This recording presents what is, for her, the “ideal” solo harpsichord version of Art of fugue, incorporating the pieces known from the posthumous edition, and the canons alla Decima and alla Duodecima. Recorded: October 30 - November 2, 2013, Prieuré Saint-Denis, Salle capitulaire, Nogent-le-Rotrou / Harpsichord after Johannes Couchet, Willem Kroesbergen, Utrecht 2005
