Die Kunst der Fuge

Historical context

Die Kunst der Fuge, unique of its kind, was largely composed in 1749, conceived as a great work of art and a perfectly organic whole developed from a single theme. Bach himself prepared the greater part of it for engraving during his last illness, though it did not appear until about 1752, after his death. The work consists of fugal Variations, or ‘Contrapunctus’, planned on the most elaborate scale, intended to show in what a variety of ways the same theme can be treated fugally. It bears plain traces of an educational purpose, yet it is also a genuine work of art where practical and educational purpose are inseparable from the artistic ideal.

Bach died in mid-1750 before the work’s completion, and his family, uninformed of his intentions, published it in disarray. The last Fugue, which has three subjects and in the third of which the composer signs his name, BACH, was never finished. It is said that Bach intended to introduce four themes and bring it to an impressive conclusion by inverting them all, but he was prevented from finishing by the disorder of his eyes. To make up for the unfinished Fugue, Bach concluded the work with a Choral Prelude upon the tune ‘Wenn wir in hochsten Nothen sein,’ which he dictated to his son-in-law, Altnikol, a few days before his death. Forkel notes its extraordinary skill and the pious resignation and devotion that characterize it. Marpurg, the leading German musical critic of that day, contributed a preface to the edition, containing many just observations on the value and utility of such treatises. Mattheson, in 1752, praised it as a “practical and splendid work” that would “amaze all the French and Italian fugue-makers.” However, being too good for the general public, the work found only a small circulation among those who discerned its merit. Forkel lamented that in Germany, not enough copies were sold to cover the engraving costs.

Drawn from Forkel, Johann Nikolaus, 1749-1818; Terry, Charles Sanford, 1864-1936, Johann Sebastian Bach; his life, art, and work, tr. from the German of Johann Nikolaus Forkel, with notes and appendices (1920); Spitta, Philipp, 1841-1894, Johann Sebastian Bach : his work and influence on the music of Germany, 1685-1750 (1899) — public domain, archive.org.