The Bach Fugues

Very few musical forms reveal Johann Sebastian Bach’s genius as vividly as the fugue, a veritable art of musical conversation among independent voices. In this course, we explore how Bach turned this intricate technique into some of the most expressive and profound music in Western music. Through close listening, we trace the fugue across Bach's oeuvre, including representative fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier, the monumental works for organ, the choral movements of cantatas and the Mass in B minor, and various concertos and instrumental works. We then turn to The Musical Offering and The Art of Fugue Bach’s final and most ambitious exploration of the form. This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.