Art of Fugue
J. S. Bach (1685 - 1750)
This composition is steeped in mystery almost as much as op 68.4 by Chopin. It is neither clear
which order the pieces are to be, how many pieces are supposed to be included, when the pieces
where written (the claim that Bach wrote this composition shortly before his death seems unsubstantiated),
what the purpose of the compilation was to be nor what instruments it was designed for.
Particularly, BWV 1080.14 is an issue as it exists in a number of different versions of which one (BWV 1080.14 a)
was included in the Eulenburg edition No 1391.
However, it is clear that both BWV 1080.16 and BWV 1080.14 are extraordinarily in terms of the use of
chromatic sequences and chromatic melodic lines avoiding fairly strictly dissonances.