Bachs almost certainly composed Die Kunst der Fuge for keyboard instrument. He did elaborate the separate voices on separate staves. But this was not unique in the keyboard literature, although it was a bit old-fashioned. The open, unspecified instrumentation stimulated the most diverse arrangements anyway. Hence all those performances on/with harpsichord, piano, organ, orchestra, string quartet,
… saxophone quartet, etcetera. The music lends itself perfectly to this, thanks to the Bachian combination of Platonic abstraction and earthly enjoyment. The three-piece Les inAttendus does an excellent job, despite its unusual combination of accordion, gamba and baroque violin. The musicians do not do anything strange, there is no forced 'embellishment' (a shortcoming of many alternative performances). Everything is in beautiful line and natural breath, like a 17th century consort. Nor is there any attempt to soften the abrupt ending. The unfinished fugue simply breaks off, after which the silence... (HJ)more
