And a select fewвЂЉ-вЂЉperhaps a dozen over the last 260 yearsвЂЉ-вЂЉhave written their own ending. What to do when you get to the last notes? Skip the section altogether? Some, like Glenn Gould, punch out the last note like a pistol shot, shocking the listener out of their musical meditation with the harsh reality that it wasnвЂ™t supposed to be over, yet. Performers have to make some hard choices when playing this work. Unfortunately, he had barely begun when death claimed him, and the piece was left unfinished. In the final Fugue a 3, Bach begins an audacious and exhilarating culmination to his massive work, combining three themesвЂЉ-вЂЉthe evolved derivative of the original theme, along with a jaunty second theme, each of which have just had their own extended sections in the pieceвЂЉ-вЂЉwith a theme that spells his own name in notes (this is only possible if you think about the names of notes like the Germans do, go read about it). The work also confronts the ultimate tragedy of music history: Bach died before finishing his most ambitious work, and for centuries musicians have pondered what Bach had in mind when he began the final triple fugue, based on the musical spelling of his name: B-A-C-H. J S BachвЂ™s final masterpiece, the Art of the Fugue, is one of the most challenging, intense and intellectual keyboard works of all time.

Bach fugues youtube