Bach Offerings A Zeneakadémia saját szervezésű programja

One of the final, enigmatic works by Johann Sebastian Bach is Musikalisches Opfer (The Musical Offering) dedicated to Frederick II of Prussia. Although we know precisely the circumstances under which they came about (in 1747, the elderly Bach paid a visit to the youthful ruler in Potsdam, where he had to improvise on a theme given by the king, on the basis of which he composed the work), it is not clear why Bach not only dedicated the compulsory chamber sonata to the king – well known for his love of light, courtly-style music and his general hatred of scholarly polyphony – but two major fugues and ten extremely elaborate enigmatical canons as well. In academic year 2016–2017, students of the Doctoral School of the Liszt Academy spent two semesters on the course run by music historian Gergely Fazekas dealing with the work as well as the performance practice of Back works in general, and this concert concludes their studies.
The approximately one hour program includes six Bach canons from the series, while the others are new compositions. These are linked to Bach, in some cases directly linked to Musicalisches Opfer moreover sometimes were written especially for the concert. Finally the performing musicians and also the group of Bach-inspired composers overgrew the participant students but two things connect them: the Doctoral School (they are all its current or former students) and their enthusiasm for Bach.