Channel Classics: J.S. Bach - The Art of Fugue - Rachel Podger, Brecon Baroque (Super Audio CD / SACD)

Brand new! Factory packaged! As pictured! Buy with confidence!

Product Details:

• Product Type: Super Audio CD (SACD / Hybrid)
• Label: Channel Classics
• Catalog Number: CCS SA 38316
• UPC: 0723385383161
• Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
• Performers: Rachel Podger (violin) - Brecon Baroque
• Additional Artists: Johannes Pramsohler (violin, viola) - Jane Rogers (viola) - Alison McGillivray (cello) - Marcin Świątkiewicz (harpsichord)
• Release Year: 2016
• Genre: Classical - Baroque
• Country of Manufacture: Germany

Product Features

• Format: Super Audio CD (SACD) - playable on all standard CD players
• Audio: Stereo + Multi-channel DSD (Direct Stream Digital)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Tracks: 18
• Language: English, Deutsch, Français (liner notes)
• Condition: Factory Sealed - SACD still in original shrink wrap, never opened

Overview

Bach's Art of Fugue is one of those works that never quite settles. It was left unfinished at his death in 1750, and the question of how to perform it — what instruments, what forces, what choices — has occupied musicians ever since. Rachel Podger's answer, recorded with Brecon Baroque for Channel Classics in 2016, is chamber music: small, intimate, and extraordinarily precise.

Podger leads a five-player ensemble — two violins, two violas, cello, and harpsichord — working through all 18 contrapuncti and canons on period instruments. The DSD recording captures every bow stroke and every decay with a clarity that rewards close listening. This is a SACD hybrid, so the disc plays on any standard player, but the full multi-channel layer opens the music into something considerably wider.

The Art of Fugue is scored here the way Bach likely imagined it — unspecified instrumentation, stripped of orchestral ambition — and Podger's ensemble treats it accordingly. Each voice retains its own weight and independence. The counterpoint never collapses into texture. It remains argument.

A rare collector's release on one of Europe's most respected early music labels, factory sealed and unplayed.

Interesting Facts

• Bach composed Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue) in the final decade of his life, likely between 1740 and 1750; the last contrapunctus breaks off mid-phrase, traditionally attributed to the moment of his death — though scholars debate whether the manuscript was simply left incomplete.
• Rachel Podger was the first woman to hold the position of leader at the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (1997-2002) and is widely regarded as one of the foremost Baroque violinists working today.
• Channel Classics Records was founded in the Netherlands in 1990 and pioneered high-resolution audio for classical music; their DSD recordings are benchmarks among audiophiles.
• The SACD format, developed by Sony and Philips, stores audio at a significantly higher sampling rate than standard CD (2.8 MHz DSD vs. 44.1 kHz PCM), producing a warmer, more spatially detailed sound on compatible hardware.
• Brecon Baroque is the period-instrument ensemble Podger founded in 2007, named after her home county of Powys in Wales; the group specializes in music of the 17th and 18th centuries.
• The back panel displays the van den Hul logo — a reference to the high-quality cable and stylus manufacturer that has long been associated with audiophile recordings on Channel Classics.

Track Listing

Simple Fugues

1. Contrapunctus 1 - violin, 2 violas, cello - 2:47
2. Contrapunctus 3 - 2 violins, viola, cello - 2:27
3. Contrapunctus 2 - violin, 2 violas, cello, harpsichord - 2:58
4. Contrapunctus 4 - 2 violins, viola, cello, harpsichord - 3:38
5. Canon alla Ottava - violin, cello - 2:15

Double Fugues

1. Contrapunctus 9 "alla Duodecima" - 2 violins, viola, cello, harpsichord - 2:26
2. Contrapunctus 10 "alla Decima" - 2 violins, viola, cello, harpsichord - 3:47
3. Contrapunctus 5 - violin, 2 violas, cello - 2:51
4. Contrapunctus 6 "in Stylo Francese" - violin, 2 violas, cello, harpsichord - 3:49
5. Contrapunctus 7 "per Augmentationem alla Terza" - 2 violins, viola, cello, harpsichord - 3:30

Triple Fugue

1. Contrapunctus 8, a 3 - violin, viola, cello - 5:50

Triple/Quadruple Fugue

1. Contrapunctus 11, a 4 - 2 violins, viola, cello - 5:40
2. Canon alla Duodecima - harpsichord - 3:43
3. Contrapunctus 12, a 4 (Rectus - Inversus) - violin, 2 violas, cello, harpsichord - 3:48
4. Canon alla Decima - harpsichord - 4:27
5. Contrapunctus 13, a 3 (Rectus - Inversus) - violin, viola, cello, harpsichord - 4:35
6. Canon per Augmentationem in Contrario Motu - violin, cello
7. Contrapunctus 14 - violin, 2 violas, cello [unfinished]

Publishers

Produced and distributed by Channel Classics Records bv, Netherlands. Recorded in Germany. Contact and further information at www.channelclassics.com. This disc plays on all standard CD players.

We value your feedback! Share your experience with this product to help others make informed decisions. Your review is important to us!