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Before hearing this recording, my relation towards Bach's Kunst der Fuge was one more of respect than affection. I have listened to many recordings, ranging from more old-school/big band approaches (Munchinger, Marriner) to slimmed-down original instruments version (Musica Antiqua Koeln); versions for keyboard (Glenn Gould, Angela Hewitt, Grigory Sokolov), string quartet (Juilliard, Emerson), organ (Walcha), and much else. But all of these tended to present the piece as somber, slow, funereal deathbed music; abstract transcendent celestial music of the spheres. It left me impressed but, honestly, *bored* by the monotonicity of key (each piece is in d minor), melodic content (all the themes are variations on the motto announced at the very beginning of the piece).
Then I was lucky enough to be on a long Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Los Angeles, where the on-air music selections including this curious album featuring a string quartet who (from the description) wished to bring the Kunst der Fuge into the 20th century. What could that mean? I gave it a try, and was completely absorbed. I listened to the album (all 2 hrs of it) more than two times through. What do the Delian quartet do? Well, apparently the thesis underlying this album (and the juxtaposition of Bach with the music of Monteverdi) is that Bach's piece hearkens back to the italianate style of the early 17th century, a passionate, florid, fanciful style with unexpected twists and turns, with rhetorical cadences. The Kunst der Fuge is played in a fleet, light manner, with the *melodic* material emphasized rather than the contrapuntal, with different lines taking turns to take the lead. At last, this was *inviting* music, "music for a while", far from the solemn cathedral processions of previous recordings. The different themes emerge with their own personality, their own speed and dynamic. Not all is light and gaiety; the Delians know how to be solemn as needed (esp in the sublime Contrapunctus 14, left incomplete by Bach). Highly highly recommended. Here is a Kunst der Fuge which *engages* the listener, not just impresses him!
