J.S. Bach: Musical Offering, BWV.1079 / Kuijken Bros., Kohnen, Leonhardt

J.S. Bach: Musical Offering, BWV.1079 / Kuijken Bros., Kohnen, Leonhardt

On this CD:

1. Musikalisches Opfer (Musical Offering), BWV 1079
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Robert Kohnen, Barthold Kuijken, Sigiswald Kuijken, Wieland Kuijken, Gustav Leonhardt, Marie Leonhardt

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
This extraordinary collection of music was an "offering" Bach made to Frederick the Great, King of Prussia (1740-1786). At a command performance in 1747, Frederick suggested a melody and Bach improvised on it at the organ. Greatly impressed, the king rewarded the composer handsomely; Bach promptly went home to Leipzig and prepared an entire set of pieces based on the royal theme as a "musical offering" to the monarch. Frederick was himself a flutist and sometime composer, so Bach filled his offering with craft as well as art, no doubt knowing that his technical skill would be appreciated.

A Musical Offering contains 10 ingenious canons, including a "perpetual" canon (these could, in theory, go on forever), "crab" canons (as one instrument plays its part, a second plays the same melody backward), and a "puzzle" canon (the musicians must figure out where the second voice is intended to enter); two ricercare (like fugues but less strict); and a trio sonata for flute, violin, and continuo. This 1974 recording was the first major Musical Offering recorded on period instruments, and the performers include Dutch early-music legends Gustav Leonhardt and the three Kuijken brothers. They give an elegant account of these erudite pieces--Leonhardt makes the opening Ricercar a 3 Voci sound almost majestic (on a harpsichord, no less)--and the Kuijkens play the trio sonata sweetly and soulfully. --Matthew Westphal

J.S. Bach: Musical Offering, BWV.1079 / Kuijken Bros., Kohnen, Leonhardt, Music, Johann Sebastian Bach, Gustav Leonhardt, Robert Kohnen, Barthold Kuijken, Sigiswald Kuijken, Wieland Kuijken, Marie Leonhardt, Chamber, Chamber Music, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music

J.S. Bach: Musical Offering, BWV.1079 / Kuijken Bros., Kohnen, Leonhardt

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