Search - Keller Quartet :: Bach: Art of the Fugue / Keller Quartet

Bach's Stern Counterpoint with Hungarian Panache

Thomas F. Bertonneau | Oswego, NY United States | 11/09/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A surprising number of the "greatest compositions ever written" employ the key of D-Minor: Beethoven's Ninth, Dvorak's "New World," Haydn's "Nelson" Mass, Bach's notorious and oft-transcribed Toccata and Fugue in D-Minor. One cannot fail to list another of Bach's works in this key: The contrapuntally Godlike "Art of the Fugue" - written at the very end of Bach's life, and left incomplete, in fact, on the composer's death-bed. Thought of in the nineteenth century as an academic curiosity of no particular musical interest, "The Art of the Fugue" has come to be widely performed and recorded in many versions, some for keyboard alone, others in arrangements of graduated ambition and complexity. The case for keyboard exposition (harpsichord or organ) rests on the notion that the work is abstract, almost a mental exercise, and that the canons and fugues that it comprises find their most appropriate representation in a homogeneous medium. The case for arrangements begins with the same stipulation of an abstract character, but then claims that the very abstractness licenses a richer instrumental embodiment than the keyboard alone will permit. I know of no version for large symphony orchestra, but there many exist for chamber orchestra, by Roger Vuataz, Hermann Scherchen, and (engagingly) by William Malloch. These combine strings with woodwinds - and with percussion in Malloch's. String quartet arrangements number around a half a dozen or so; they strike the compromise between the "abstractionist" and the "colorist" approaches. The composer Robert Simpson made one, which appears on a recent Hyperion CD. The present ECM CD (from 1998) gives us an unattributed arrangement made presumably by the group that plays it, the Keller Quartet. Their interpretation differs from other quartet-arrangements (say, the Julliard Quartet's) mainly in terms of the tempi, much more varied here than one expects based on experience. The Keller Quartet's "Art of the Fugue" thus has something in common with Malloch's, also marked by varied tempi, many of them rapid indeed. The Keller also takes a slightly idiosyncratic approach to phrasing, shaping Bach's lines according to vocal rather than instrumental requirements. This lends the canons and fugues a more motivic character than it gains in other hands and adds rhythmic accentuation into the interpretive mixture. The notes are the best I've ever encountered and really help a non-specialist listener follow the polyphonic complexities of Bach's D-Minor masterpiece. It's currently a toss-up, in my humble opinion, between this and the Delmé Quartet's reading of Simpson's arrangement on Hyperion."

Art Of The Fugue - Greatest Masterpiece Of Music

A. Michaelson | Bay Area, CA | 07/11/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Bach's Art of the Fugue has gained immense popularity due largely to how mysterious and enigmatic it has been since the piece was first studied. Unforutnately Bach died before every completing the Art of the Fugue. However the piece doesn't seem to be complete from the start, mostly because there are no tempo indications and there is no instrument specified for which this piece is to be played on, thus, one today can go out and purchase versions of this masterpiece played on organ, piano, by a string quartet, a brass quartet, etc. My personal preference is the string quartet, and this particular recording is my favorite string quartet performance of this piece. The Keller quartet do a great job of bringing out the beauty and emotion from the Art of the Fugue without ever playing too romantically. They also articulate the counterpoint better than in any other recording of this piece that I've heard(and not smearing together the opposing melodies is essetial to a good Bach performance). Plus the tempo variance strips the piece of any monotony that may be found in other recordings by artists who play countrapunctus 1-14 at the same tempo. But not only do you get a superb performance with this disk, you also get some of the best liner notes which do a great job of explaining why the piece is so famous and also explain many of the details and nuances of each of the fugues. Plus, being a new recording, the digital sound quality is excellent. Event though I just recently purchased it, this disk has quickly become one of my favorites in my collection."

Something fundamental

Bobby | Boston, MA USA | 10/09/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Skip this one if you're looking for a review replete with comparisons to other Bach works or even those of other classical composers; I am essentially ignorant when it comes to classical music. This is exactly the reason I went out and bought this CD. I've plenty of Herbie and Miles and Jimi and Stevie and Lyle on my shelves, but no classical music. Must broaden musical horizons, I thought yesterday, and went out and bought this because I know who Bach is, because I remember reading in Einstein's biography of Mozart that the fugue is a difficult form, and, admittedly, because I liked the cover photograph.

I lucked out. This CD will have you stretched out on your sofa or your floor or pulled over to the side of the road, looking at the ceiling and trying to come up with synonyms for WOW.

That is the extent of my input on this: As I'd tell anyone interested in but unfamiliar with jazz to start with Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue", I'll suggest to anyone without too much practice in the art of making his or her way through the intimidating CD racks of a classical music department, who worries that the cashier might laugh at his/her selection: Check this one out. Or, for that matter, anyone with that knowledge: for I cannot imagine anyhuman with some iota of emotion--intellect and music theory background need not figure into appreciation of this CD, so fundamental are the feelings it elicits--I cannot imagine anyone not appreciating this recording, realizing it's worth much more than the number printed on the price tag."