Daniil Trifonov: Bach - The Art Of Life (3LP / Triple Vinyl)

The heart of this double album is Johann Sebastian Bach's late masterpiece The Art of Fugue. It reflects Trifonov's insight into family life and the musical practice of one of the greatest composers of all time. Works by four of Bach's sons and two favorite pieces of the Bach family can also be found on this recording, on which both pieces of light-hearted dance quality can be heard, but also the grandeur and heaviness of the Chaconne in D minor.

The album begins cheerfully with a family portrait in the form of four enchanting works by Bach's sons. Trifonov's suggestive interpretation of Bach's Art of Fugue is based on the idea of ​​the work as a cycle, as a living, organic whole. This corresponds to the inspiration he draws from nature, be it on hikes or while practicing qigong, a form of meditation and movement that also refers to the healing energy of the trees. "The tree is a good picture for the overall concept of the art of the fugue," says Trifonov. "The theme is the trunk, the joints are the branches, the permutations within each joint are the leaves." For Bach's last contrapunctus, which was not completed by Bach, Trifonov wrote a seamless, stylistically appropriate ending.

Tracklisting:

LP 1 – Side A
1 Johann Christian Bach: Sonate Nr. 5 in A Dur op. 17 - I. Allegro
2 Johann Christian Bach: Sonate Nr. 5 in A Dur op. 17 – II. Presto
3 Wilhelm Friedemann Bach: Polonaise Nr. 8 in e-Moll Fk 12
4 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Rondo in c-Moll Wq 59/4 (H 283) (aus Clavier-Sonaten und freye Fantasien nebst einigen Rondos für enner und Liebhaber, Vol. 5)
5 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Allegretto con variazioni (“Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”) Wf 12/2 - Allegretto
6 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Allegretto con variazioni (“Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”) Wf 12/2 - Var. 1
7 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Allegretto con variazioni (“Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”) Wf 12/2 - Var. 2
8 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Allegretto con variazioni (“Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”) Wf 12/2 - Var. 3
9 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Allegretto con variazioni (“Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”) Wf 12/2 - Var. 4. Minore
10 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Allegretto con variazioni (“Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”) Wf 12/2 - Var. 5. Maggiore
11 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Allegretto con variazioni (“Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”) Wf 12/2 - Var. 6. Tempo di minuetto
12 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Allegretto con variazioni (“Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”) Wf 12/2 - Var. 7
13 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Allegretto con variazioni (“Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”) Wf 12/2 - Var. 8. Schwäbisch (non llegro)
14 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Allegretto con variazioni (“Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”) Wf 12/2 - Var. 9. Minore (tranquillo)
15 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Allegretto con variazioni (“Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”) Wf 12/2 - Var. 10. Maggiore (Tempo I)
16 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Allegretto con variazioni (“Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”) Wf 12/2 - Var. 11
17 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Allegretto con variazioni (“Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”) Wf 12/2 - Var. 12. Alla Siciliano
18 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Allegretto con variazioni (“Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”) Wf 12/2 - Var. 13
19 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Allegretto con variazioni (“Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”) Wf 12/2 - Var. 14
20 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Allegretto con variazioni (“Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”) Wf 12/2 - Var. 15 (più andante)
21 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Allegretto con variazioni (“Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”) Wf 12/2 - Var. 16. (Tempo I)
22 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Allegretto con variazioni (“Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”) Wf 12/2 - Var. 17. Minore
23 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Allegretto con variazioni (“Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”) Wf 12/2 - Var. 18. Maggiore (allegro)

LP 1 – Side B
1 Johann Sebastian Bach: Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach (1725) (Auswahl) - Musette in D-Dur BWV Anh. 126 (App. C)
2 Johann Sebastian Bach: Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach (1725) (Auswahl) - Gedenke doch, mein Geist, zurücke BWV 509
3 Johann Sebastian Bach: Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach (1725) (Auswahl) - Minuet in a-Moll BWV Anh. 120 (App. C)
4 Johann Sebastian Bach: Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach (1725) (Auswahl) - Minuet in F-Dur BWV Anh. 113 (App. C)
5 Johann Sebastian Bach: Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach (1725) (Auswahl) - Polonaise in F-Dur BWV Anh. 117b (App. C)
6 Johann Sebastian Bach: Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach (1725) (Auswahl) - (Polonaise) in d-Moll BWV Anh. 128 (App. C)
7 Johann Sebastian Bach: Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach (1725) (Auswahl) - Gib dich zufrieden und sei stille BWV 511
8 Johann Sebastian Bach: Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach (1725) (Auswahl) - Minuet in G-Dur BWV Anh. 114 (App. D) (composed by Christian Petzold (1677–1733))
9 Johann Sebastian Bach: Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach (1725) (Auswahl) - Minuet in G-Dur BWV Anh. 116 (App. C)
10 Johann Sebastian Bach: Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach (1725) (Auswahl) - Polonaise in g-Moll BWV Anh. 125 (App. C) (composed by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788))
11 Johann Sebastian Bach: Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach (1725) (Auswahl) - Minuet in c-Moll BWV Anh. 121 (App. C)
12 Johann Sebastian Bach: Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach (1725) (Auswahl) - Bist du bei mir BWV 508 (composed by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (1690–1749))

LP 2 – Side A
1 Johann Sebastian Bach / Johannes Brahms: Chaconne in d-Moll für die linke Hand (Studien für Klavier Nr. 5) Anh. 1a/1
2 Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - Contrapunctus 1
3 Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - Contrapunctus 2
4 Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - Contrapunctus 3

LP 2 – Side B
1 Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - Contrapunctus 4
2 Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - Contrapunctus 5
3 Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - Contrapunctus 6 a 4 [per Diminutionem] in Stylo Francese
4 Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - Contrapunctus 7 a 4 per Augmentationem et Diminutionem
5 Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - Contrapunctus 8 a 3
6 Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - Contrapunctus 9 a 4 alla Duodecima

LP 3 – Side A
1 Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - Contrapunctus 10 a 4 alla Decima
2 Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - Contrapunctus 11 a 4
3 Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - Contrapunctus [12] [rectus] a 4
4 Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - Contrapunctus 12 inversus a 4
5 Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - Contrapunctus [13] [rectus] a 3
6 Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - Contrapunctus [13] inversus a 3

LP 3 – Side B
1 Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - Canon [in Hypodiatessaron] per Augmentationem in Contrario Motu
2 Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - Canon in Hypodiapason (Canon alla Ottava)
3 Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - Canon alla Decima in Contrapunto alla Terza
4 Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - Canon alla Duodecima in Contrapunto alla Quinta
5 Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - [Contrapunctus 14] (Fuga a 3 Soggetti) (fragment, completed by Trifonov)
6 Johann Sebastian Bach: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring - Chorale from the Cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben BWV 147 (arranged for piano solo by Myra Hess)