Fuga IX from "The Art of the Fugue"

By J.S. Bach (1685-1750), trans. by Irving Rosenthal

Performed by Three Stands Apiece:
Dominic Giardino, Clarinet 1
Anonymous, Clarinet 2
Joe Clark, Clarinet 3
Sammy Lesnick, Bass Clarinet

Performed in OSL 101 on April 13, 2013.

"The Art of the Fugue" is Bach's final piece, a masterwork surveying the fugal and canonic writing characteristic of the Baroque period. All 19 fugues and canons are based on the same theme in D minor. In this fugue, the theme enters in augmentation after the lively fugal theme is firmly established.

Disclaimer: Spoken program notes may or may not have any basis in what is generally regarded as "reality".

"This next piece we'll be performing was written by none other than Johann Sebastian Bach, also known as the father of all music and sound. Now, before Bach, music didn't exist and therefore there was no practical practice of conducting or any sort of organisation. So, Bach first started writing these things called fugues to have conductors be able to practice giving cues to people. In a fugue, you have a theme stated, and then the theme will be stated again, and it really provides the perfect opportunity for a conductor to really hone in on those abilities.

Now, I mean, I could talk all day about these sort of things. I'm personally a huge fan of Bach. I mean, without him, there wouldn't have been anything otherwise. So let's go ahead... His birthday was in 1640, December 14th, I believe. He... was born in a small town..."