Fugues

My greatest victory over my wimpy piano technique is to have learned – even off by heart, actually, an achievement of which I'm inordinately proud – the first, C major prelude of Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues.

Pianistic Everests – what are yours? 2011

Strictly speaking, only one of the three Schumann works Thomas Trotter plays here on the Ladegast organ of Merseburg Cathedral in Saxony Anhalt, the Six Fugues on BACH Op 60, was composed for organ.

Schumann: Organ works – review Andrew Clements 2010

SchumannFrom the Abegg Variations to the Six Fugues on B-A-C-H, Robert was obsessed with musical ciphers and symbols.

Magic numbers: composers and their clandestine codes 2010

J.S. Bach may not have been the first keyboardist to couple a prelude with a fugue (Buxtehude beat him by several decades), but his series of Preludes and Fugues that form the Well-Tempered Clavier became a nearly continuous source of inspiration for countless composers who followed.

On CD: Melnikov's Shostakovich 2010

There have been other outstanding recent CDs of the 24 Preludes and Fugues, such as those by the nimble-fingered Canadian pianist David Jalbert on Atma Classique, and the lusciously expressive Lithuanian Mûza Rubackyté, albeit less than ideally recorded by Brilliant CD engineers.

From Despair to Delight 2009

The 24 Preludes and Fugues had to wait a few decades for recordings by Western pianists who plumbed the depths of its essence.

From Despair to Delight 2009

Certainly "The Six Lieder," a magnificent work entitled "Twelve Fugues For String Quartet," the unpublished version of his 1823 "E Flat Major Quartet" - actually I can't think of anything we performed last week that I think unworthy of being in the standard repertoire of classical music.

Unearthing Mendelssohn's Lost Works 2009

Available recordings of Nikolayeva playing the 24 Preludes and Fugues mostly date from the latter days of her career, including two 1987 performances on Melodiya and Orfeo (excerpts); a 1990 studio version for Hyperion (1992); and a recently released DVD in the Medici Arts Classic Archive series (filmed in late 1992).

From Despair to Delight 2009

ANDERSON: On his Facebook page, Mr. Obama also lists Bob Dylan, Johan Sebastian Bach and the Fugues as some of his top artists.

CNN Transcript Feb 26, 2009 2009

Ryan Inzana Returning to Moscow, Shostakovich soon began to sketch out his own 24 Preludes and Fugues, which, apart from some baroque allusions, sound as if they were as much influenced by Mussorgsky, Borodin and Russian folk music as by Bach.

From Despair to Delight 2009