Art of Fugue, Bach Fugues for Keyboard; 1715�1750

Author

Kerman; Joseph

Year

2005

Publisher

University of California Press

Language

English

Pages

Link

Last Update

08-Jan-2026

Keywords

Music

Description

The Well-Tempered Clavieris an exemplary collection of twice twenty-four preludes and fugues for keyboard in which Bach exhibits his unsurpassed contrapuntal virtuosity and also the seemingly infinite types, forms, and characters that may emerge—at his hands, and at his hands alone—from the art of fugue.

Some pieces are sketches for jeweled miniatures, some for vast frescos. Some are intimate and lyrical; some quiver with the intensity of passion that is equally intensely controlled; some fringe on the pedantic; and some are frankly sublime. Part of their fascination resides in the many possible attitudes from which they can...