# Bach's Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue



## Tapkaara (Apr 18, 2006)

I happened to hear this on the radio tonight. Jaw-dropping stuff, it sounds 150 years ahead of its time.

Anyone else know this piece? Your thoughts?


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## Sofronitsky (Jun 12, 2011)

Glenn Gould said once, after playing it 'That is Bach for people that do not like Bach'.

I thought it was very entertaining, but, like the Toccata and Fugue in D-minor I am speculative as to whether or not it was J S Bach that wrote the piece. Not to pull a 'fake moon landing' or anything like that, it's just kind of suspicious to me.


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## Tapkaara (Apr 18, 2006)

Sofronitsky said:


> Glenn Gould said once, after playing it 'That is Bach for people that do not like Bach'.
> 
> I thought it was very entertaining, but, like the Toccata and Fugue in D-minor I am speculative as to whether or not it was J S Bach that wrote the piece. Not to pull a 'fake moon landing' or anything like that, it's just kind of suspicious to me.


Well, I like Bach quite aq bit and I liked this piece. I cannot agree with Mr. Gould on this.

I have read the theories that suggest that Bach did not write the Toccata and Fugue. Interesting points are made, but it seems all of the major scholarship concludes that Bach did write it.

And Beethoven was black.

A Musical Conspiracy Theory thread, anyone?


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## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

Tapkaara said:


> A Musical Conspiracy Theory thread, anyone?


Ah, remember that old Moon Conspiracy thread, Tapkaara? 

By the way, Bach's _Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue_ is a great piece. I don't see a reason to question its authenticity. There were some other composers in Bach's time or before him who were also doing some crazy stuff with chromaticism (for example, check out the really, _really_ strange _Capriccio Chromatico_ by Tarquinio Merola, who died a decade before Bach was born) but none of it is anywhere near the quality of the Chromatic F&F or any of Bach's other near-atonal work like the f minor fugue from the WTC I. To me, the whole work just screams "GODLIKE!" which of course means it can only have been written by one person - J.S. Bach.


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## Sofronitsky (Jun 12, 2011)

Woah, Air. That kinda just blew my mind. I guess i'll have to learn more about the Baroque era. I've practically ignored it until I started liking Bach not too long ago. Thanks for the info, good night guys.

Edit: Cracking up at the moonlanding thread. Wow, that guy is very passionate about his conspiracy theories.


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## Tapkaara (Apr 18, 2006)

Air said:


> Ah, remember that old Moon Conspiracy thread, Tapkaara?
> 
> By the way, Bach's _Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue_ is a great piece. I don't see a reason to question its authenticity. There were some other composers in Bach's time or before him who were also doing some crazy stuff with chromaticism (for example, check out the really, _really_ strange _Capriccio Chromatico_ by Tarquinio Merola, who died a decade before Bach was born) but none of it is anywhere near the quality of the Chromatic F&F or any of Bach's other near-atonal work like the f minor fugue from the WTC I. To me, the whole work just screams "GODLIKE!" which of course means it can only have been written by one person - J.S. Bach.


I have not heard of Merola. I will have to check this composer out.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

This is a magnificent piece...while I respect and admire Gulda's playing of this, all I have to do is hear Glenn play the first minute of it to know how it truly should be expressed...any other interpretation I've heard is prolly not even worth mentioning...wonderful piece, though...one of my absolute favorites for as long as I can remember


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## Stubbs (Jun 23, 2012)

Surely a speculative attitude toward this work is proper, especially if one does not know the manuscript evidence.
But I would split suspicions this: 
The fantasia does seem doubtful; wild as it is it does not seem clever.
The fugue, on the other hand, is so brilliant it cannot be other than Sebastian.
There are a number of keyboard pieces by Bach that were stitched together by other hands.


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## Taneyev (Jan 19, 2009)

A different thing is Kodaly's transcription of this (only the Fantasy) to solo viola (!!) Atar Arad had a magnificent recording.


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## Andreas (Apr 27, 2012)

Gould hated it, yes. Though he did concede that it probably gave a good impression of the kinds of improvisations Bach used to do. And Gould played it marvellously, too. Though, to me, it seems somewhat out of character compared to his other Bach recordings.

Johann Nikolaus Forkel wrote in his 1802 biography on Bach that the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue was Bach's greatest work, unsurpassed by anything else he ever wrote. I wouldn't agree, but it is a spellbinding piece nonetheless.


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

I love that piece, it was one of the first pieces of classical music that I heard. The fugue is wonderful. 
Here is the piece played by Gulda on the piano:






Gulda in the _clavichord_:


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