GG: J.S Bach Edition, Die Kunst der Fuge

[Sean Malone <spm29386@oregon.uoregon.edu>]

Dear List Members,

    Gould did in fact use the Peters Edition of Die Kunst der Fuge (Nr.
218). There are 3 copies among the Gould papers, one of which is heavily
annotated. This edition, which I believe was edited by Czerny, stops at bar
233.  The reason or this is due to the disparity of extant copies of dKdF;
some of which are manuscript copies (in Bach's own hand) and some from print
editions that were handled by his sons and a few of his students. This is
not an *Urtext* edition, meaning that it has been edited past what the
composer had written. Urtext editions are those which duplicate exactly the
source material used for the engraving. In the case of the Peters Edition, a
manuscript source was used that did not contain the combination of the 3
fugue subjects, the last of which being on Bach's name.
    The final Contrapunctus (numbered 14, which Gould interestingly called
"15" in the video) was not found amongst the manuscripts for the main body
of dKdF, which has led some musicologists to argue it was not meant to be
part of the set. Bach himself was involved in the printing up until
Cantrapunctus 12 or 13, so the ordering of those pieces is somewhat
reliable. However, the rest of the pieces, including the canons and
supplementary choral, have been placed in every order imaginable, with each
publisher vehemently defending their choices.
    The final Contrapunctus must undoubtedly be number 14, for it is the
"Bach" number (the letters B A C H add up to 14.) Bach was a numerologist,
supported by numerous instances of numerical manipulation in his music, and
even his life. For example, he waited to join a local musicians' society
until he was the 14th member. It's not uncommon to find 14 entrances of
fugue subjects in his counterpoint, and when you add "JS" to the front, you
get 41, which is the "retrograde" of 14 - that is, 41 is 14 backwards (a
technique of imitative counterpoint, where a melody is presented in its
reverse form.) As well, there are section of the B minor mass in B Major - a
key with 5 sharps, which represent the 5 wounds Christ received on the
cross. In short, nothing happens by chance in Bach's music.
    The 3 pieces of dKdF not included in the main body of manuscripts are
referred to as "Beilage 1-3" Beilage 3 is the final fugue, written in
keyboard notation vs. open score (as the rest of dKdF) and ends at bar 239.
(Located in the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin) The conclusion of the piece was
left unfinished, of course, at Bach's death though there is plenty of debate
that says that Bach's sons handled his papers and estate very poorly and
lost the ending. There is another argument which stated that Bach would have
never started a fugal adventure of this size without trying the themes
against each other first. While this is most likely true, it does not imply
that Bach actually finished the piece, though surely he sketched out the 4
themes together.
    To sum this all up, Bruno Monsaingeon told me something very interesting
in a recent conversation, which may clear up some of the questions on the
list about Gould's ending. Apparently, Gould was never concerned about which
editions he used. He did not concern himself with scholarly accuracy. In
fact, during the filming of "An Art of the Fugue", a messenger was sent to a
local sheet music score to fetch a copy of Die Kunst der Fuge. Upon asking
Gould which edition, he replied "It doesn't matter." (I'm quoting Bruno).
    This was an interesting and startling fact to hear, though it seems to
resonate with Gould's M.O. It's just a shame though, to be left without
every possible note of Bach's monumental masterpiece. A music that reaches
across the centuries; timeless, boundless, and universal. How lucky we are
to have what we have of Glenn Gould's performances - a brief encounter with
eternity.

Sean Malone


> From: khutchin@US.IBM.COM
> Reply-To: khutchin@US.IBM.COM
> Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 19:32:43 -0400
> To: F_MINOR@EMAIL.RUTGERS.EDU
> Subject: Re: J.S Bach Edition
>
> Bradley wrote:
>
> "For years I wondered where GG got that wacky "A-F" ending to the
> unfinished
> contrapunctus of the Art of Fugue, since that's not where Bach left
> it.  Someone informed me recently that this reading is (once again) in
> Peters."
>
>
> Bradley, I remember reading or perhaps it was on the videotape of the Art
> of Fugue that outlined
> a Gould phone call received by Bruno Monsaingeon. It was just before the
> recording/taping of the
> unfinished contrapunctus. As I recall, Gould indicated that he found a few
> miscopied notes in the


PS: This is reference to what Gould felt was "a mistake in contrapuntal
grammar" on Bach's part, somewhere near the entrance of the last subject.

> counterpoint, and that surely, Bach, if given time, would have realized the
> error in transcription.
>
> Ken Hutchins