Projects

As D. Połoński said regarding the intonation in playing the cello:
“… and then, during a morning stroll all ideas combined themselves into a whole”.

My adventure with J.S. Bach’s incredible piece – “Die Kunst der Fuge” began in almost the same way. I realized, that one may present to the audience the composition “Die Kunst der Fuge” by itself connected with a visualization that reflects the progression of the piece.

While immersing into the literature describing the series of fugues, I noticed an implied meaning connected with gematria, which Bach incorporated in his sacred compositions as well as in “Die Kunst der Fuge”. “The Art of the Fugue” is nothing else than Bach practicing the counterpoint. This composing technique was propagated back during the Renaissance, but Bach for the first time modulated the theme in all keys in the major-minor scale. In contemporary times, the series of fugues was completely gathered and forms a separate musical work of art. This is how I would like to perform this composition along with the Meccorre String Quartet.

The knowledge about “Die Kunst der Fuge” by J.S. Bach and about the circumstances in which counterpoints were created points more and more directly to the context of rhetoric and gematria in his music. Based on essays, knowledge of experts and books, I have isolated the issues of numerology in “Die Kunst der Fuge” and achieved a result, thanks to which the Art of FUGA Project will be one of a kind.

In the foreword, which plays the role of a foreshadowing of the whole concert I wrote only certain information regarding the variously hidden implications which J.S. Bach included in the note transcription. One of the themes that I would like to take advantage of will be connecting J.S. Bach with the Rosicrucian order which was very active during the Baroque period. The epigraphs which they used can be found coded in the note transcription of “Die Kunst der Fuge” in an unaltered state.

Another aspect of the visualization project will be to show the characteristic of Hunolt, who advertised incorporating gametria into music and wrote lyrics to J.S. Bach’s cantatas (similarly to Pikander), which will help me to prove and authenticate the context of numerology in the cantor’s music. As Mitzler said, “J.S. Bach did not introduce much novelty, but he encouraged the practical use of gamatria in music”. Thanks to this statement one may become familiar with the fact that Bach was part of the Mitzler association which studied mathematics in music. At that time Bach presented the association with the currently very well known portrait, in which the composer holds a sheet of parchment which, due to the content of the sheet, has a rhetoric as well as a gematrical meaning.

Similarly, the theme of death will be discussed in terms of the cataract operation, which Bach dismissed in advance. The remaining series of interesting information will be presented in the film made especially for the Art of FUGA Project.

The members of the Meccorre String Quartet will perform the series of “Die Kunst der Fuge” which will be preceded by the reader explaining the visualizations, so that they are later more legible and comprehensible for the audience. The reader will make his appearances from the side of the stage, lit by a point based light, and will present his speech about the gemetria included in subsequent fugues and canons. Especially for the needs of the concert programs will be printed out which will contain the most significant information.

The logistics of the entire project will be, that the texts read by the reader will be included in the concert booklet and also shown on the stage above the musicians. The images and text will mutually complement each other, so as not to cause unnecessary confusion during the attractions connected with the sight of the musicians presenting “Die Kunst der Fuge”.

The performance will partly be done using instruments from the discussed period. This will allow a better highlighting of the acoustic qualities, which along with the accompanying aura and technical visual supplementation will make the concert an unforgettable event which will linger in the audience’s memory long after its end.

Michał Bryła