Woodwind Ensemble,Woodwind Quartet Alto Saxophone,Baritone Saxophone,Soprano Saxophone,Tenor Saxophone - Level 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.534350 Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. Arranged by Paul Wehage. Baroque,Concert,Standards. 242 pages. Musik Fabrik Music Publishing #3368447. Published by Musik Fabrik Music Publishing (A0.534350). The Art of the Fugue is considered to be one of the greatest musical creations everundertaken. A series of fourteen fugues (last of which is not complete) and four canonswhich are all based on the same d minor theme would perhaps seem, at first glance, to be apendantic academic exercise. However, in the hands of a composer such as Bach, themonothematic material is magnified through repetion which creates a sound universe whichis all it’s own.The work is also shrouded in mystery, as there are no tempo indications in the manuscript,no indications of the instrumentation which Bach intended and no clear indication as to theorder of the movements. An ordering was given to the work after the composer’s death bythe composer’s son, C. P. E. BACH which attempted to underline the pedogogical aspects ofthe composition (as a sort of a textbook for studying fugues and counterpoint). The orderused in this arrangement respects this ordering as it was given by Bach’s heirs. It wouldseem probable however, that this order was not that intended by Bach.The editor hopes that this new version of the Art of the Fugue will be useful in allowingSaxophonists everywhere to perform this great work. For those who might have scruplesabout performing this work on the saxophone, it is best to follow the example of our pianistfriends, who perform this work and others on an instrument that Bach himself said that hedisliked.
