image: Mladen Pikulic
Musicians of the Concertgebouw Orchestra perform Bach’s monumental eighteen-part cycle in an arrangement for string and reed instruments.
Why does the final fugue stop just when the name ‘Bach’ is spelt out in note names?

About this concert

The fugue is the ultimate challenge among all compositional forms, and Johann Sebastian Bach was the acknowledged master of the fugue. In his The Art of the Fugue, he explored all the possibilities. The work is a sampling of compositional techniques and probes every corner of the human psyche. Yet the piece is shrouded in mystery: why didn’t Bach finish the fourteenth – and final – fugue? And why does it end precisely when the name ‘BACH’ is spelled out in the note names (B flat, A, C, and B natural – in German, B flat is B and B natural is H). Since Bach didn’t specify which instruments should play the piece, there are editions for many combinations. Tonight, the work will be played in an arrangement for oboes, bassoons, and strings.

Musicians of the Concertgebouw Orchestra perform their own programmes in the Recital Hall as part of the Close-up chamber music series. Each of these concerts is unique and performed only once as part of the series. It’s the very best way to experience the individual qualities of the orchestral musicians! These intimate concerts are organised by the Friends of the Concertgebouw and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Dates and tickets

About this concert

The fugue is the ultimate challenge among all compositional forms, and Johann Sebastian Bach was the acknowledged master of the fugue. In his The Art of the Fugue, he explored all the possibilities. The work is a sampling of compositional techniques and probes every corner of the human psyche. Yet the piece is shrouded in mystery: why didn’t Bach finish the fourteenth – and final – fugue? And why does it end precisely when the name ‘BACH’ is spelled out in the note names (B flat, A, C, and B natural – in German, B flat is B and B natural is H). Since Bach didn’t specify which instruments should play the piece, there are editions for many combinations. Tonight, the work will be played in an arrangement for oboes, bassoons, and strings.

Musicians of the Concertgebouw Orchestra perform their own programmes in the Recital Hall as part of the Close-up chamber music series. Each of these concerts is unique and performed only once as part of the series. It’s the very best way to experience the individual qualities of the orchestral musicians! These intimate concerts are organised by the Friends of the Concertgebouw and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

A preview