GG: Die Kunst der Fuge (slight return)

[pzumst <pzumst@BLUEWIN.CH>]

Dear f_minorers

I've been listening to GG's recording of Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of the
Fuge) today. It's not a record that I play very often, but when I do play
it something happens that I can't explain.  I would like to bow before this
music and the art of its construction but I can't. 
My back hurts and I don't know how to read sheet music. 
Very serious, a bit abstract, mathematical, dry, but still with a portion
of wit and quite ungouldian. I dare comparing it to seeing a cathedral being
built or the paintings of M.C. Escher (upstairs/downstairs).
This one is a higlight in the GG and and certainly in the Bach catalogue.
Ignore the biographers and critics.
What a pity Goul.never recorded the whole circle.....

On what is the assumption of musiciologists that KdF is a theory/study piece
based on? Bach died before finishing the circle and there are no specific
instructions for tempo, volume or choice of instrument. But that's not enough
to classify it as above (at least by the musicologists)

I need a reference recording to compare it with GG's recording (no cowbells
or saxophones please). If I am correct then there are about 80 to choose
from. Any suggestions ?
rgds 
Pat