The initial volume in a series of American Bach Society Guides, Bach’s Art of Fugue and Musical Offering is a comprehensive study of two closely related masterworks of the late Baroque fugal style. This compact guide, intended for practitioners, music scholars, and a general readership, summarizes a considerable body of knowledge about these famously cerebral collections in an engaging and accessible style. Bach specialist and keyboard player Matthew Dirst explains the Art of Fugue and Musical Offering’s idiosyncratic musical language while reviewing how both projects took shape during Bach’s final decade. They reflect Bach’s lifelong fascination with learned counterpoint, as demonstrated in elaborate series of fugues and canons in both and in an unusually intricate trio sonata in the latter. Dirst provides commentary on individual movements and groups of pieces and on the historical reception of this music, including its impact on other disciplines. Recurring themes include Bach’s diligent exploration of contrapuntal types and techniques, his embrace of musical games, and his creative assimilation of diverse musical styles.
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