Bach, J.S.: Die Kunst der Fuge – Martha Cook (2 CDs) Passacaille

The Art of Fugue, Johann Sebastian Bach’s ultimate keyboard cycle, is baroque music’s most audacious exploration of the combinatorial possibilities of a single theme. It’s fugues and canons were not intended to resound in a concert venue or even in a church, but to be played in an intimate domestic setting on the harpsichord or clavichord. Martha Cook’s version, nourished by the dictum and parables of Luke 14:27-35, presents what is, for her, the ideal solo harpsichord version of the work – incorporating the pieces known from the posthumous version as well as the canons alla decima and alla duodecima. A Resident of France since 1980, Cook has performed with Mark Minkowski, Philippe Herreweghe and Rene Jacobs, and has participated in lyric productions at the Opera de Lyon, Opera de Paris (Bastille), and the festivals of Aix-en-Provence, Innsbruck, and Utrecht. Notable chamber music partners have included Wieland Kuijken, Bob van Asperen, Davitt Moroney, Nima ben David, and Francois Lazarevitch.

– Disc 1 –
1 Contrapunctus 1
2 Contrapunctus 3
3 Canon Alla Decima in Contrapunto Alla Terza
4 Contrapunctus 2
5 Contrapunctus 4
6 Canon Alla Ottava
7 Contrapunctus 5
8 Contrapunctus 9: Alla Duodecima
9 Contrapunctus 10: Alla Decima

– Disc 2 –
1 Contrapunctus 6: In Stylo Francese
2 Contrapunctus 7: Per Augmentationem Et Diminutionem
3 Canon Alla Duodecima in Contrapunto Alla Quinta
4 Contrapunctus 8
5 Contrapunctus 11
6 Canon Per Augmentationem in Contrario Motu
7 Contrapunctus 14: Fuga a 3 Soggetti