Webern: Complete Published String Quartets - Bach: The Art of Fugue Richter Ensemble

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080:
• 1Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: Contrapunctus I (Version for String Ensemble)03:18
• 2Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: Contrapunctus II (Version for String Ensemble)02:59
• 3Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: Contrapunctus III (Version for String Ensemble)02:44
• 4Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: Contrapunctus IV (Version for String Ensemble)03:01
• Anton Webern (1883 - 1945): 5 Sätze, Op. 5:
• 5Webern: 5 Sätze, Op. 5: I. Heftig bewegt02:48
• 6Webern: 5 Sätze, Op. 5: II. Sehr langsam02:30
• 7Webern: 5 Sätze, Op. 5: III. Sehr bewegt00:46
• 8Webern: 5 Sätze, Op. 5: IV. Sehr langsam01:38
• 9Webern: 5 Sätze, Op. 5: V. In zarter Bewegung03:17
• Johann Sebastian Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080:
• 10Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: Contrapunctus V (Version for String Ensemble)03:23
• 11Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: Contrapunctus VI a 4 in stylo francese (Version for String Ensemble)03:16
• 12Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: Contrapunctus VII a 4 per augmentationem et diminutionem (Version for String Ensemble)03:31
• Anton Webern: 6 Bagatellen, Op. 9:
• 13Webern: 6 Bagatellen, Op. 9: I. Mäßig00:36
• 14Webern: 6 Bagatellen, Op. 9: II. Leicht bewegt00:29
• 15Webern: 6 Bagatellen, Op. 9: III. Ziemlich fließend00:20
• 16Webern: 6 Bagatellen, Op. 9: IV. Sehr langsam00:55
• 17Webern: 6 Bagatellen, Op. 9: V. Äußerst langsam01:14
• 18Webern: 6 Bagatellen, Op. 9: VI. Fließend00:42
• Johann Sebastian Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080:
• 19Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: Contrapunctus VIII a 3 (Version for String Ensemble)04:28
• 20Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: Contrapunctus IX a 4 alla duodecima (Version for String Ensemble)02:25
• 21Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: Contrapunctus X a 4 alla decima (Version for String Ensemble)04:00
• 22Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: Contrapunctus XI a 4 (Version for String Ensemble)04:01
• Anton Webern: String Quartet, Op. 28:
• 23Webern: String Quartet, Op. 28: I. Mäßig04:01
• 24Webern: String Quartet, Op. 28: II. Gemächlich01:45
• 25Webern: String Quartet, Op. 28: III. Sehr fließend02:13
• Johann Sebastian Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080:
• 26Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: Contrapunctus inversus XII a 4. Forma recta (Version for String Ensemble)02:12
• 27Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: Contrapunctus inversus XII a 4. Forma inversa (Version for String Ensemble)02:25
• 28Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: Contrapunctus inversus XIII a 3. Forma recta (Version for String Ensemble)02:16
• 29Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: Contrapunctus inversus XIII a 3. Forma inversa (Version for String Ensemble)02:19
• 30Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: Contrapunctus XIV. Fuga a 3 soggetti (Version for String Ensemble)07:45
• Total Runtime01:17:17

Info for Webern: Complete Published String Quartets - Bach: The Art of Fugue

It is no secret that twentieth century composers revered Bach for his contrapuntal genius. Anton Webern said himself: “You find everything in Bach: the development of cyclic forms, the conquest of the realm of tonality―the attempt at a summation of the highest order.” By presenting Bach and Webern side by side, the Richter Ensemble strives to highlight hidden connections between the two composers. The program begins with Bach’s final work, The Art of Fugue, where Bach is at the apogee of his career. Bach displays his mastery of counterpoint in each fugue while expressing starkly different human emotions from ecstasy to absolute desperation, with succinctness and purpose. In the works for string quartet that span his career, Anton Webern utilizes the same traditional contrapuntal techniques that with the utmost concision grasp toward the ideal. Although inarguably modern in a style that stretches from free atonality to dodecaphonic, the expression is just as varied and powerful. The Richter Ensemble invites a new perspective, experience, and soundscape by performing these works on gut strings.

Richter Ensemble

Richter Ensemble
is a new chamber music initiative in which the members share a mutual passion for bold artistic expression. Emphasising flexibility and freedom, the group works mainly as a string quartet, but can expand to a larger chamber orchestra. It is fervent about highlighting hidden connections in music ranging from the 17th to the 21st centuries, demonstrated through its innovative programming. Benefitting from members' vast experiences of performing with leading period ensembles, the Richter Ensemble presents a fresh palette of colors by playing uniquely on gut strings. It seeks to bring spontaneity and new light to every performance and is enthusiastic about collaborating with artists from other fields such as dance and visual media (i.e. projections, installations, art exhibitions, and film). The ensemble has a particular affinity for music from Fin-de-siècle and the Second Viennese School, and strives to reintroduce that music to audiences through a new lens.

Richter Ensemble gave its first concert with a programme of late Beethoven’s string quartets and music by Biber at the Refractions Festival at Owlpen Manor (UK) in the Fall of 2017. Enthusiastically received, it has since performed widely in the United Kingdom, Europe, Brazil and the United States. In the 2018-19 season the ensemble toured Southern California, Massachusetts, appeared at the Spokane Bach Festival (USA), and served as quartet-in-residence at the Oficina Música de Curitiba (Brazil) and at San Diego’s summer festival Opera NEO (USA). Highlights of the 2019-20 include concerts and masterclasses in Los Angeles (USA), return appearances in Brazil and the UK, and the ensemble debut at the Great Lakes Music Festival (USA) and the Kretinga Early Music Festival in Lithuania.

In 2018 the Richter Ensemble embarked on a project of recording the complete Second Viennese School string quartets on gut strings, thereby proposing a unique interpretation of that repertory.

“It was a musical experience at once fiercely stimulating and deeply relaxing.”

“We could hear clearly the subtleties of every player, and the incredibly imaginative and expressive turn of every phrase of Bach’s inexhaustible invention.” The Spokesman Review, Spokane WA

Booklet for Webern: Complete Published String Quartets - Bach: The Art of Fugue