The Art of Fugue: Bach Fugues for Keyboard, 1715-1750 [Hardcover]

Joseph Kerman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 25, 2005

Fugue for J. S. Bach was a natural language; he wrote fugues in organ toccatas and voluntaries, in masses and motets, in orchestral and chamber music, and even in his sonatas for violin solo. The more intimate fugues he wrote for keyboard are among the greatest, most influential, and best-loved works in all of Western music. They have long been the foundation of the keyboard repertory, played by beginning students and world-famous virtuosi alike. In a series of elegantly written essays, eminent musicologist Joseph Kerman discusses his favorite Bach keyboard fugues--some of them among the best-known fugues and others much less familiar. Kerman skillfully, at times playfully, reveals the inner workings of these pieces, linking the form of the fugues with their many different characters and expressive qualities, and illuminating what makes them particularly beautiful, powerful, and moving.
These witty, insightful pieces, addressed to musical amateurs as well as to specialists and students, are beautifully augmented by a CD with new performances made specially for this volume. In addition to the complete scores for all the music discussed in the book, the CD features Karen Rosenak, piano, playing two preludes and fugues from TheWell-Tempered Clavier--C Major, book 1; and B Major, book 2--and recordings by Davitt Moroney of the Fughetta in C Major, BWV 952, on clavichord; the Fugue on "Jesus Christus unser Heiland," BWV 689, on organ; and the Fantasy and Fugue in A Minor, BWV 904, on harpsichord.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"It is sweet and fitting that Joseph Kerman, who has given us such insight into William Byrd, one of music's inspiring octogenarians, should have celebrated his own eightieth birthday by completing this rich and constantly surprising study of Bach's fugues. As ever, Kerman's hearing is sharp, his thinking precise and original, and his prose elegant and sapid. Who would have thought that one could write about fugues with such warmth and love, and with such an exhilarating sense of joy?" - Michael Steinberg, author of The Symphony: A Listener's Guide"

From the Inside Flap

"It is sweet and fitting that Joseph Kerman, who has given us such insight into William Byrd, one of music's inspiring octogenarians, should have celebrated his own eightieth birthday by completing this rich and constantly surprising study of Bach's fugues. As ever, Kerman's hearing is sharp, his thinking precise and original, and his prose elegant and sapid. Who would have thought that one could write about fugues with such warmth and love, and with such an exhilarating sense of joy?"--Michael Steinberg, author of The Symphony: A Listener's Guide

"Joseph Kerman's writings on Bach are astonishing, stimulating. . . they help the musician and listener to encounter the sometimes impenetrable music of Bach in a way which is marvelous and accessible."--Stephen Kovacevich

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 196 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (July 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520243587
• ISBN-13: 978-0520243583
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,274,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another gem from Joseph K, September 10, 2005

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Eric Wagner ""Read more, learn more, chan... (Freetopia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Art of Fugue: Bach Fugues for Keyboard, 1715-1750 (Hardcover)

I loved this book. The technical analysis seemed very dense, but I suspect I will return to this book again and again for the rest of my life, learning more and more about Bach.

I love how the book includes a beautiful cd of many of the pieces analyzed, and how the cd-rom includes the scores for all of the pieces analyzed. What a wonderful learning tool. Bless you, Joseph Kerman, for all of your wonderful books.

16 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book, Deceptive Title, Terrible Performances, July 11, 2007

By 

Artusi (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of Fugue: Bach Fugues for Keyboard, 1715-1750 (Hardcover)

I find Joseph Kerman's writing almost universally elucidating. This book is no exception, although -- when Kerman ventures into areas of performance practice for which he is not prepared -- some small errors are made. Nothing, for example, about the Gigue to the G-minor English Suite suggests a two-manual harpsichord (something about the exoticism of the harpsichord's second manual always arouses pianists, making them want to insist on its necessarity; Elwood Derr makes the same error in discussing the Inventions). But Kerman's lapses are tiny.

But his lapse in taste in choosing second-rate performers for the accompanying CD is more irritating. Karen Rosenak is an unknown quantity who will likely remain unknown. Davitt Moroney is a voice from the past whose mechanical and lifeless manner of playing some still feel is appropriate to fugal counterpoint. I don't in the least, finding his playing, instead, absolutely anaesthetising.

One last quibble: the title is misleading. One expects a book on Die Kunst der Fuge and gets, instead, a compendium of analyses and music-critical pieces on all sorts of Bach fugues, from Gigue-fugues to Die Kunst der Fuge itself and everything in between. The writing suggests an erudite, specialist audience (it is musicology of the best kind: insightful and clearly written. But it is surely not intended for a lay audience) of the kind that might have preferred that he shine his considerable light on the whole of Art of Fugue, or the whole of Well-Tempered Clavier.

Still, I find this a worthwhile purchase. But, by all means, place the accompanying CD straightaway in the dust bin.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Kindle Version does not include necessary support for this book, December 5, 2009

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Pat (Decatur, Georgia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Art of Fugue: Bach Fugues for Keyboard, 1715-1750 (Kindle Edition)

The printed version of "The Art of Fugue" includes a CD of the music analyzed in the text. While a reader can supplement the Kindle from her/his own collection, you should be aware that the writer assumes that (a) you have the CD and (b) you have the sheet music for the pieces focused on.

Pat