JS Bach (1685 - 1750) | Art of the Fugue | BWV 1080 | Gustav Leonhardt | Cembalo

JS Bach | Art of the Fugue | BWV 1080 | Gustav Leonhardt | Cembalo
Here is Gustav Leonhardt’s rendition of Bach’s Art of the Fugue. For this recording, Mr. Leonhardt played an instrument built by Martin Skowroneck, after a cembalo crafted by J. D. Dulcken (Antwerp, 1745).
Contrapunctus xiii [rectus] and Contrapunctus xiii [inversus]-for two instruments-were recorded along with Mr. Bob van Asperen.
Recording: June 1969, Schloß Kirchheim, Cedernsaal
Recording supervision: Dr. Thomas Gallia, Hubert Kübler
Engineering: Sonopress, Gütersloh
Disclaimer: No copyright strikes were received during content upload. This channel thanks the owner(s) of this copyright-protected content for allowing its use on KZbin.
00:00 Contrapunctus i
04:13 Contrapunctus ii
07:50 Contrapunctus iii
11:27 Contrapunctus iv
18:09 Contrapunctus v
22:09 Contrapunctus vi [per Diminutionem] in Stylo Francese
26:45 Contrapunctus vii per Augmentationem et Diminutionem
31:57 Contrapunctus viii
38:39 Contrapunctus ix alla Duodecima
41:41 Contrapunctus x alla Decima
47:04 Contrapunctus xi
54:58 Contrapunctus xii [inversus]
57:44 Contrapunctus xii [rectus]
01:00:41 Contrapunctus xiii [rectus] Alio modo | Fuga a 2 Clav., with Mr. Bob van Asperen
01:03:10 Contrapunctus xiii [inversus] Alio modo | Fuga a 2 Clav., with Mr. Bob van Asperen
01:05:38 Canon in Hypodiatessaron - per Augmentationem in Contrario Motu
01:09:37 Canon in Hypodiapason (Canon alla Ottava)
01:12:24 Canon alla Decima | Contrapunto alla Terza
01:18:21 Canon alla Duodecima | in Contrapunto alla Quinta

[@Bach6032]

The first piece that I learned on the harpsichord was Contrapunctus I from KdF and this recording was my performance 'model.' Leonhardt left an amazing legacy.

[@hiobaname]

Nothing better the this...❤

[@joseluisgonzalezaraya2441]

Muchas, muchísimas gracias, esta grabación es exactamente lo que buscaba. Un abrazo desde Chile.

[@hiobaname]

To me,the best upload to yt ever...The music and the performance feed the heart and the soul ❤❤❤

[@mewsdo]

Easily the best recorded performance of the piece available. Leonhardt excelled himself with this. But how many people know of this...? Thanks for posting!

[@Verticaldiscourse]

To reassure you, you're not the only one who feels this way. I fully agree! An amazing balance between clarity and gravitas. I particularly admire Contrapunctus 12a and 12b in this recording, quite probably the ultimate recording.

[@TheGloryofMusic]

I also very much like Charles Rosen's recording, and also Lionel Rogg on organ (Contrapunctus VII is spectacular).

[@man0sticks]

I would advise anyone approaching this work for the first time to listen to this rendition before any of the piano versions. It’s probably as close as you’ll get to what it might have sounded like if performed in Bach’s time.

[@canman5060]

This work was never performed in public during Bach's time and the manuscript copy was kept with the Bach's family under the supervision of Bach's second son Carl Philip Emmanuel.

[@MartinRobidoux]

Amen

[@toast_sandwich.]

​@@canman5060 the key word in the paragraph that he wrote is IF preformed in Bach's time.

[@yssimon9058]

@@toast_sandwich.well said :)

[@gerardbegni2806]

@@canman5060 our friend wrote "like it"

[@jorgeaguirre7260]

That unique quality of Bach's works that once you start hearing it connects mind and soul in an instant. Everything goes silent, your attention is immediately drawn to the music. And the performance does perfect justice. Thanks for the upload.

[@Bach6032]

Beautifully said.

[@MegaCirse]

Magnific !! Here, music holds the middle between material nature and intellectual nature. It can strip love of its earthly crust, or give a body to the angel according to the disposition of the listener, his chords are thoughts or caresses 🔥

[@ilirllukaci5345]

Thanks!

[@deprimaconsonantia]

Welcome!

[@peterpeecock7721]

What sort of brain was/is it that can think of such complex music (fugues in up to at least eight parts to my recollection) which draw you in to listening more, not less....

[@PFMAGGAMFP]

Wonderful

[@dejanstevanic5408]

Perfect. TY

[@shin-i-chikozima]

Bach must quench the dryness of the soul of modern people

[@Verticaldiscourse]

And so does Bruckner, albeit in a different way.

[@TheGloryofMusic]

In this later recording Leonhardt omits the unfinished Contrapunctus XIV, which he believed was not intended as part of the Art of Fugue. Thus the AoF should be considered a completed work.

[@canman5060]

I wish I can hear the completion of Contrapuntus 14 completed by him.

[@TheGloryofMusic]

The original edition of the Art of Fugue sold about 40 copies and then the plates were sold for scrap metal, which only confirms the anachronistic nature of Bach's late style.

[@deprimaconsonantia]

Thank you for your comment; would you happen to have any supporting information on it?

[@TheGloryofMusic]

@@deprimaconsonantia I was referencing the notes Charles Rosen provided with his LP recording of Bach's late keyboard works.

[@jorgeaguirre7260]

It was indeed. Was the only master at the time looking back to Palestrina, and other German masters from the late Baroque, re working on cantus firmus and insisting on the beauty, power and expressiveness of the fugue. The other composers where focused on more "mundane" kind of music, farder away from what they considered "too scholar"

[@vaslav4171]

Por eso algunos traducen kunst como elaboracion,o sea en abstracto para los instrumentos pero en concreto para el trabajo de composicion.

[@paololaconi4036]

Migliore esecuzione di kunst der fuge. A seguire l'esecuzione di Isolde Ahlgrimm.

[@tatianagelfeld]

Thanks!!

[@deprimaconsonantia]

You bet!