The Musikalisches Opfer is a special collection of chamber music within the work of Johann Sebastian Bach, written for Frederick the Great of Prussia. Musikalisches Opfer means ‘a musical offering’, and that is precisely how the collection originated. In May 1747, Bach was introduced to Frederick, who had heard that Bach was a great improviser and asked him on the spot to improvise a fugue on a given theme. According to the sources, Bach made a brilliant job of it and showed such enthusiasm about the ‘royal theme’ that he promised to have the fugue engraved ‘on copper’ and printed. No sooner said than done. Two months later, Bach published a series of compositions: a trio sonata, a three-part and a six-part ricercar and ten canons, all inspired by the king’s theme.

The canons in the Musikalisches Opfer are a sort of visual music. Bach wrote them like puzzles, which the player must first solve in order to play them correctly. In these recordings, we wanted to give a literal picture of this ‘visual music’. So for example, wherever a part is doubled, the player will be in view twice. And where a part is mirrored, then the player appears in a mirror too.

The Canon a 2 cancrizans is written as a monophonic piece. Thanks to the title (‘cancrizans’ means ‘moving like a lobster’; i.e. backwards) and the key at the end, it soon becomes apparent that the melody can also be played in reverse, as if you were walking backwards. When you get back to the beginning again, it appears that the two melody lines thus created can be played against one another. So the piece can be played from back to front, from front to back and both at the same time. In this recording, violinist Shunske Sato walks all over the stave, as it were.

Recorded for the project All of Bach on July 7th 2020 at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. If you want to help us complete All of Bach, please subscribe to our channel [ Ссылка ] and consider donating [ Ссылка ].

We thank MWH4impact foundation for their generous support of this recording. MWH4impact aims to achieve social and cultural impact and joins the Netherlands Bach Society in their mission Bach for All. This version of the Musikalisches Opfer demonstrates the impact of innovation on our musical experience. It’s a work of art that matches the goals of MWH4impact.

For the complete playlist of The Musical Offering BWV 1079 go to [ Ссылка ]
For more information on BWV 1079 and this production go to [ Ссылка ]

All of Bach is a project of the Netherlands Bach Society / Nederlandse Bachvereniging, offering high-quality film recordings of the works by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by the Netherlands Bach Society and its guest musicians. Visit our free online treasury for more videos and background material [ Ссылка ]. For concert dates and further information go to [ Ссылка ].

Shunske Sato, violin
Instrument: Cornelius Kleynman, ca. 1684

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