Riddle of Bach's Last Fugue. Contrapunctus XIX Theologically Considered with a Conjectural Completion

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Pages:168
ISBN:0-7734-9820-6
978-0-7734-9820-4
Price:$159.95 + shipping
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Suggested trinitarian symbolism of `Contrapunctus XIX' is compared to the established trinitarian symbolism of the great Eb major (St.Anne) fugue, B.W.V.552/2, and suggested trinitarian symbolism of the C# minor fugue of `Well-tempered Clavier' (I,4). Concludes that `Contrapunctus XIX' is a hymn to the Holy Trinity which Bach may have deliberately left unfinished because of an irregularity in the symbolism of the three persons of the Godhead which was the musical-metaphoric equivalent of the heresy of Montanus.

Reviews

". . . the author carefully studies and compares passages for clues as to Bach's motivation for composing and, in some cases, not finishing certain pieces. The most interesting part of the argument is the comparison of the unfinished Contrapunctus XIX with another unfinished fugue, BWV 562. the comparisons are scholarly and well documented." - The Diapason

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