Description
Bach's passing resulted in the incomplete status of the Art of Fugue. In his father's manuscript, Carl Philipp Emanuel precisely indicated where the final fugue of the Art of Fugue was interrupted: “While working on this fugue, in which the name BACH appears in the countersubject, the author died.” Our editor, Davitt Moroney, concludes the fugue with an additional 30 measures.
There has been considerable discussion regarding the most suitable scoring for this composition, especially since Bach composed the individual parts in score format and provided no details regarding instrumentation. It is true that strict fugues can be performed in any ensemble arrangement, a practice that has been customary for centuries. However, it is noteworthy that the entire cycle can be effectively executed on the harpsichord or piano, which strongly supports the case for keyboard performance.
