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"Ricercare" from "The Musical Offering" by Johann Sebastian Bach  (listen)

"The Musical Offering" is a set of variations written upon a theme submitted to Bach by Frederick the Great.
   
The "Ricercare" is a fugal work in six-voice counterpoint.    Bach wrote the 6-voice "Ricercare", to prove that a six-voice fugue could be played on a keyboard by a single musician. Bach didn't specify specific instrumentation for many sections of the work and left the choice of instruments to the arranger. Thus, a Theremin arrangement of this work is no more or less a transcription than it is for any other set of instruments.
To record the "Ricercare" for six Theremin tracks proved to be quite a challenge, yet the haunting beauty and understated virtuosity of the work inspired me to press on.  The Theremin is uniquely suited to realizing wave upon wave of contrapuntal sound.  I hope you enjoy this cerebral and spiritual work from one of the greatest composers who ever lived.


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