The Musical Offering
Chamber Series
In the spring of 1747, Bach traveled to Potsdam, where his son, Carl Philipp Emanuel, was employed at the court of Frederick the Great. During the visit, Frederick presented the elder Bach with a theme for a fugue, and invited him to improvise upon it. After returning to Leipzig, Bach turned to the king’s theme as the inspiration for The Musical Offering. One of the most ambitious projects of his final years, Bach’s expanded treatment of the “Royal Theme” displays the full extent of his unparalleled contrapuntal mastery.
...Chamber Series
In the spring of 1747, Bach traveled to Potsdam, where his son, Carl Philipp Emanuel, was employed at the court of Frederick the Great. During the visit, Frederick presented the elder Bach with a theme for a fugue, and invited him to improvise upon it. After returning to Leipzig, Bach turned to the king’s theme as the inspiration for The Musical Offering. One of the most ambitious projects of his final years, Bach’s expanded treatment of the “Royal Theme” displays the full extent of his unparalleled contrapuntal mastery.
