Bach: Contrapunctus 14(The unfinished fugue)

The last fugue from Die kunst der fuge Little listening guide: The first subject is inverted at . The inversion of the first subject is then used on several occasions throughout the fugue. At the second theme is introduced. At Bach introduces his name, B-A-C-H(B-flat, A, C, B-natural), as the third and final fugue subject. At all three subjects are combined in a mosaic before the music dissolves into nothingness. From Wikipedia: “A handwritten manuscript of the piece known as the Unfinished Fugue is among the three bundled with the autograph manuscript P200. It breaks off abruptly in the middle of its third section, with an only partially written measure 239. This autograph carries a note in the handwriting of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, stating “Über dieser Fuge, wo der Name B A C H im Contrasubject angebracht worden, ist der Verfasser gestorben.“ (“At the point where the composer introduces the name BACH [for which the English notation would be B♭–A–C–B♮] in the countersubject to this fugue, the composer died.“) This account is disputed by modern scholars, as the manuscript is clearly written in Bach’s own hand, and thus dates to a time before his deteriorating health and vision would have prevented his ability to write, probably 1748–1749.“ Source: #The_Unfinished_Fugue --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: I do not own this soundtrack. Performer: Pierre-Laurent Aimard Recording: Vienna, Konzerthaus, Mozart-saal, 9/2007 Executive Producer: Marita Prohman Recorded by Teldex studio Berlin. Recording engineer Tobias Lehmann 2008 Deutsche Grammophon GmbH Hamburg Pictures used: :ESO_-_The_Carina_Nebula_(by).jpg#file ESO/IDA/Danish 1.5 m/, J-E. Ovaldsen, C. Thöne, and C. Feron. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Image credit: NASA : NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team [Public domain] : Sephirohq [CC BY 3.0 ()]