“Solo” Bach

Artists

Armida Quartett

Martin Funda, violin

Johanna Staemmler, violin

Teresa Schwamm-Biskamp, viola

Peter-Philipp Staemmler, cello

Program

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Contrapuncti I-XII and XIV, from Die Kunst der Fuge, BWV 1080 (1742, The Art of Fugue)

Founded in Berlin in 2006, the Armida Quartett, which makes its debut at the Festival this year, has made its career with a mixture of very classical classics (they have a complete set of the Mozart Quartets on record), some very diverse modern pieces (Sofia Gubaidulina is a regular member of its recitals, such as the Serbian Milica Djordevic or the Bosnian Marko Nikodijević) and a constant return to Bach’s genius. And with Bach they visit Granada, since they will present practically the entirety of The Art of Fugue, one of the deepest and most enigmatic works of the composer, written without specific instrumentation (perhaps keeping the organ in mind), the true summa of the art of counterpoint and variation, which was a fundamental concern of the musician in the last decade of his life. It was just while he was working on the edition of this piece that death surprised Bach. When The Art of Fugue was finally published, the last counterpoint was incomplete. It was then when the romantic legend of this unwithering music began.

Concert with no interval