Old man Johann Sebastian Bach begat 20 children by two wives. Those that lived to adulthood turned out pretty good. Rather, it was one of the children Bach created that went bad, his last one, Die ...

In the last years of his life, J.S. Bach embarked on a daunting project: a cycle of fugues and canons, about 80 minutes in length, entirely derived from a single cellular strand of melody. He ...

Classical music is often described as “pure”, “timeless” and “intellectual”, three epithets guaranteed to make most music-lovers reach for the off button in panic. Fortunately they’re not true. If ...

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. The last time I had the chance to hear a live performance of Bach's The Art of Fugue in Sydney was when the late Norman Johnston played ...

Lucie Skeaping delves into the riddles that lie behind Bach's late great masterpiece the Art of Fugue. Considered to be the definitive exploration of musical counterpoint, there are still many ...

If the fugue is the most complex way to structure music, Bach's "Art of the Fugue" is the most enigmatic example of that complexity. It is the summa of the composer's contrapuntal endeavors, but it ...

Whether Bach ever envisaged such a concert presentation is highly unlikely, since this systematic, 75-minute cycle of fugues and canons is all constructed on one theme and all in the key of D minor.

How string quartets engage with the musical challenges and opportunities of performing ‘old’ four-part music – whether Purcell’s Fantasias or The Art of Fugue – depends largely on how a perception of ...