Rethinking J.S. Bach's The Art of Fugue by Milka Anatoly P.; Sheinberg Esti;

Author:Milka, Anatoly P.; Sheinberg, Esti;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2017-03-16T04:00:00+00:00

Table 11.5 Probable repositioning of the mirror fugues, avoiding juxtaposition of similar tempi, topics and presentation of themes

Order of appearance Fugue Genre Presentationof theme

1 Cp122,1 Sarabande inversus

2 Cp[13]2,1 Gigue rectus

3 Cp[14F] Grave rectus

Repagination

Sticking to the last variant would require a change in the pagination of the first two mirror fugues. Since these fugues occupied separate page spreads, this change would have a purely formal character. However, the canons positioned after Cp[14F] would pose a more complex challenge.

The insertion of the new mirror fugue (Cp[14F]) would create repagination problems of the three ensuing canons, because Cp[14F] was significantly longer than Cp[14]. This called for considerable additional work by both composer and engraver, because after composing the fuga recta, the inversa had to be inscribed and then a clean copy prepared, followed by the engraver copy. The problem lay not only in the increased amount of work, but also in predicting the pagination: knowing exactly how many pages would be needed for this fugue would be possible only after the engraver copy was ready.

At this point, the strenuous procedure of changing page numbers had to be done. It was hard because the changes had to be introduced in all nine pages on which the canons were already engraved. The entailed repagination of engraved plates was expensive and demanded the engraver attention and absolute accuracy.6 Sometimes musicians preferred to make such corrections by hand on the printed run, in black or red ink, rather than engrave corrections into the plates. Master engravers preferred to etch the page numbers as the last step in the engraving process.7

For the repagination of the two mirror fugues Cp12 and Cp[13], the engraver had only to confirm (or reorder) their sequence and the sequence of their parts, while for the repagination of the canons he had to know the exact number of pages required for the new fugue that would follow Cp[13] and appear before the four canons. Bach, however, would be able to supply these particulars only once the fugue had been completed. It is unclear, however, if Bach had, at this point, the necessary information.

Alfred Dürr took a step toward a possible answer. Analysing vulnerable points in Wolfgang Wiemer’s hypothesis concerning the three engraving phases of The Art of Fugue,8 Dürr notes: ‘Da nun aber die Kanons zur ersten Stichphase gehören, ist es schwer zu sagen, ob Bach zur Zeit ihrer Niederschrift schon sicher wußte, daß die letzte Fuge vor den Kanons auch wirklich mit einer Recto Seite enden würde.’9

Indeed, if Bach indicated that the first canon should start from an uneven page, it means he knew that the engraver copy of the fugue preceding this canon would end on an even page. Bach’s calculation, however, was not precise, which indicates that the engraver copy was not ready as yet, and all that he had at hand was a compositional manuscript, or at the very best a clean copy.

On the other hand, the numbers written by J.S. Bach on the engraver copy of the Canon in Augmentation (P 200/1–1) suggest that Bach did know the positioning of the canon’s pages.

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