Re: hanging with the Art of Fugue (was "portrait in Great Pianists")

[Jim Morrison <jim_morrison@sprynet.com>]

Bradley wrote concerning Cp 13

> instead he goes cubist.  He breaks up the three
> original voices and passes them around, redistributing them around the
> stereo mix.  Oop, there it goes...nope, now it's over THERE...there it
goes
> again!

Is that anything like what Anton Webern did with his orchestral
transcription
of the ricercar from a Musical Offering?  From what I can tell, the
descriptions
of the way the voices jump around sound similar, though of course, with the
Webern
version, the voices clearly jump from instrument to instrument, while in
this two harpsichord
version the swapping of instruments is hard to hear.  Maybe that's the test
of the
true harpsichord connoisseur, can they follow the voices from harpsichord to
harpsichord?

Thanks for the great explanation, Bradley.  Emails like that help me
understand
why keyboardists say the Art of Fugue, while great to listen to, is actually
more rewarding
to play.

By the way, did I miss some kind of joke when you mentioned your
Spinal Tap/Art of Fugue experience in conjunction with my recent adventures
with
Schumann/Rachmaninov/Scriabin/Art of Fugue?  As in, they are the Spinal Tap
of piano music?  :)  Probably not.

Good night,

Jim