Description

‘Continuation and Coda to the unfinished Contrapunctus in The Art of Fugue’ was commissioned by CoMA Summer School, and first performed there under the direction of Darragh Morgan on 9th August 2013.
The work does not attempt a ‘correct fugal development’ of Bach’s material, as there is already a splendid example in this manner by Tovey, and probably others as well. It is an essay in ‘empathic time-travel’, and initially follows Busoni’s extension to Bach (from the ‘Fantasia Contappuntistica’), allowing this to then drift gently towards a symphonic Coda in which the final moments are like a Chorale.

Michael Finnissy