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J.S.Bach - The Disklavier Project "Musical Sculpting" CDs
The
Well-Tempered Clavier Book
1 Complete
(2-CD set) $21.98
- Order:
CD
#1: Preludes & Fugues Nos. 1-12 (59
min.) 
CD
#2: Preludes & Fugues Nos. 13-24
(61 min.)
The
Art of the Fugue $12.98
Order:
- 1-11: Eleven Contrapuncti (fugues)
- 12-15: Four two-part Canons
- 16: Double Contrapunctus
- 17-18: Two double Contrapuncti for two-pianos
- 19: Contrapunctus 19 (unfinished) - Last work of Bach
Peter Elyakim Taussig - The "Lost Archives"
The Archival Collection (1972-1982)
The
Romantic Virtuoso
$12.98
Order:
- Chopin: Bolero Op. 19
- Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13
- Mendelssohn: Rondo Capricioso Op. 14
- Mendelssohn: Songs Without Words:
- Funeral March Op.62. No.3
- Tarantella Op. 102 No. 3
- The Shepherd's Complaint Op. 67 No. 5
- Spinning Song Op. 67 No. 4
- Schubert: Impromptu Op. 90
- Smetana: Slepicka
- Chopin: Ballade No. 4 Op. 52
Beethoven Miniatures
$12.98
Order:
Beethoven
- Solo & Orchestral
$12.98
Order:
(with The Vancouver Chamber Orchestra, John
Eliot Gardner, conductor)
Arrangements
& Paraphrases
$12.98
Order:
Early
20th Century $12.98
Order:
Beethoven Piano Trios (2-CD
Set)
$21.98
Order:
(with Steven Staryk, violin and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, cello)
CD#2:
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Shipping & Handling: USA $2.50, Canada $5.00 (Priority Mail
in the US, Air Mail to Canada).
About this unique Musical Sculpting CD
The greatest challenge of playing a multiple-voiced fugue on the piano is to make it sound as if played by individual players. Performers often have to sacrifice the consistency of an inner voice because of the limitation of the human hand, and most listeners find it difficult to follow more than two voices simultaneously.
The process of Musical Sculpting is intended to solve both problems. The individual voices are recorded one voice at a time eliminating technical difficulties and hence any compromises. This process enables me to give each voice an individual character that the voice can maintain throughout the piece. From the listener's point of view this process makes it easier to follow the multiple voices of even such complex fugues as the Contrapuncti of The Art of the Fugue.
This CD was programmed at Yamaha Artist Services in New York and recorded at the Astoria Master Sound studio on a Yamaha Disklavier PRO DCFIIIS
About The Art of the Fugue (Die Kunst Der Fuge)
The Art of the Fugue ranks amongst the great artistic and intellectual achievements of our civilization. It is not only Bach's personal testament, being the final work of his life, but also serves as a summary of the entire preceding era of polyphonic music. The twenty two fugues and canons grow out of a single simple theme into a monumental compositional edifice.
The work was not written for any particular instrument and was initially regarded as too academic for performance. When performed today it is usually played by several musicians to overcome the exceptional complexity of the many voices. Performing The Art of the Fugue on a single piano is not intended as a virtuoso feat. It is an homage to Bach being universally regarded as the greatest keyboard player of his time, a fact evident in many of the fugues.
The 48 preludes and fugues that constitute the four CDs of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier have been in the works since the release of The Art of the Fugue CD in summer of 2001. The first part of this project, consisting of the entire first book of the Well-Tempered Clavier, was recorded on July 19, 2002 at the KAS Music & Sound Studios in Astoria (formerly Master Sound) and is due for release in Spring of 2003. The remaining two CDs covering Book 2 will be recorded in summer 2003 and released during the subsequent months.
The entire project is also being planned as a multi-media DVD. That release will include video commentary on each prelude and fugue, synchronized scrolling music to accompany the audio, and the original MIDI files that created the performance. The video components have already been produced by Emmy award winning TV producers Juan Barrera and Molly McBride of Satya Productions.
About the Well-Tempered Clavier
The Well-Tempered Clavier is undoubtedly J.S.Bach's best known keyboard composition. It consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all twelve major and minor keys, 48 preludes and fugues in all. Book one was composed in 1722 while Bach was holding the position of court music director at the small principality of Coethen. Book two was composed quite a bit later, around 1740 in Leipzig. The main purpose of both books was to demonstrate the feasibility of a relatively new system of tuning keyboard instruments called "equal temperament" which theoretically enabled musicians to move freely between all possible major and minor keys.
A secondary objective was to offer young musicians a systematic learning method that covered all the technical and compositional requirements of musicianship. In this respect the work continued Bach's earlier didactic compositions created mainly for his family.
In lesser hands the project would have emerged as a dry
academic
exercise.
But for Bach this was an opportunity to engage his boundless
imagination
and produce an astonishing panorama of styles, moods, and musical
inventions.
No two preludes or fugues bear the same format and the range of styles
is
breathtaking. It is a work of genius, of consummate craftsmanship, and
yet
Bach's supreme technical mastery is never allowed to draw attention to
itself
and detract from the sheer dramatic or lyrical impact of the music.
Detailed liner notes - Here
Musical Sculpting® is a registered trademark
of
Taussig Media & Technology,
Disklavier-Pro® is a registered trademark of the Yamaha Corporation
of America
©Copyright, Crystal Music 2000-2004
Photos: James Steeber
