W.A. Mozart after J.S.Bach

Adagios & Fugues

In Search of a Lost Time

All too often, it has been overlooked that between Bach’s death in 1750 and the triumphant rediscovery of his St Matthew Passion in 1829, other composers were already engaging with the œuvre of this “Old Master.” Mozart was the most eager among them. Thanks to the discoveries of Baron van Swieten, he was given the opportunity to study The Well-Tempered Clavier in depth and to create arrangements for strings, which are presented on this CD.

Not every fugue is preceded by a transcription of Bach’s original prelude; instead, each is introduced by an Adagio. The provenance of these introductory movements - judging from the manuscripts of that “pre-musicological” era - remains, of course, a matter for lively debate.
(harmonia mundi)

Released on
harmonia mundi, 2014