J.S. Bach - Contrapunctus XIV - Completion by Yngve Jan Trede (1995) 

I am sure Bach would be really proud of this

This is a very impressive completion, but for me the ultimate completion still belongs to Tudor Saveanu. I love the way Saveanu completes Fugue XIV by using a fourth subject which is identical to the opening subject of Fugue I - rather than by using the slightly more elaborate theme first seen in Fugues V - VII (as per this completion and most other completions I've heard). To go full circle in such a way as Saveanu does feels more Bachian to me than some of the other efforts I have heard.

I met my wonderful student Mr. Trede during winter of 2011 high up here, and I personally gave him an A+ for his homework. We went over it together to see if there were any rooms for improvement.

Great work, bruh. I would have done totally different, but that's what's nice about being a composer, right?

7:13 B A C H

One of the better conjectural conclusions. My favorite remains that of Lionel Rogg, but Trede's feels quite consistent with the style of Bach.

Wow. One of the first, really convincing endings I have heard. Almost no point I felt that it was non-Bachian. 12:40 The Soprano seemed a bit too high - unbalanced - but this might just be the instrument. Other than that, this sounds - well, convincing!

8:51 os when Yngve's completion begins

I am sorry for my inadequate English. YES! Finally here you are again my dear completion written by Yngve Jan Trede. But first a tragic mistake: Soprano bar 367. It should be B natural, not B flat! Yngve Jan Trede is more creativ then me, and he did so much right! Unlike many others, he composed a really completion! In the triple fugue, all three themes switch places in every development, exactly what Bach did in his double fugue. Too many completers overlook that important detail. And he continue the same pattern during the quadruple fugue. Well done, and absolutely correct! Yngve Jan Trede also understood that the second part of the Bach-theme shall shall be removed in inversion, exactly what Bach did. Unlike some/many others, Yngve Jan Trede studying the score very closely. This extencive completion deserves real instruments!

Beautiful! A special thank you for the analysis! It makes it much easier to understand what's going on in this work. What I didn't enjoy was the timbre used in this video. I believe a pianoforte or a soft string timbre would be more appropriate, especially for the high notes.

To those who are commenting on the length of Trede's completion(s), let's keep in mind that of the 384 measures in the video above, 239 are by Bach, which means Trede added 145 measures, and in his second version, he added only 73 measures (shorter than Tovey's!) , for a total of 312.

Every time I hear this fugue (regardless of completions, although it's fun to hear those), I'm amazed at how a piece of music can be so full of crystalline beauty - how each note is in it's place and in no other. The instrumentation here shows that well.

Much respect is due, but your bar 367 is a step too far for me!

Thanks Hollow, for re-uploading this newer 'performance of Yngwe Jan Trede's classic completion of Bach''s ContraP XIV from Art of Fugue. I kinda liked the mellowish organ voicing You had chosen the last time, as it was a little more organic/natural sounding , although this choice of a combination of metallic harpsichord/ organ/ synth, is harmonically clear, and fulfills the possibility that Bach may have intended that it be performed primarily on Harpsic, or organ,.. . but I think it is universal enough to work very well either way. It is always surprising to me that every good completion although using material from Bach in various 'combinations" or permutations come out quite differently!

huge fan of yngwie malmsteen so i want to trust this yngwie did bach justice as well

The moment starting at 9:28 where S2 and S1 combine with the inverted BACH motif to form a Neapolitan sixth is breathtaking. I have no doubt that Bach would have done the same had he completed this piece. Same with the moment at 11:35 where S4 and S2 in perfect stretto produce a single-note line between them.

Previously in this piece, Bach would cadence after all fuge subjects concluded before introducing the next fuge subject. Do you have a cadence similar to the previous ones after bar 239?

In my opinion it visits a few too distant keys for it to be Bach, but it sounds amazing nonetheless!

Is there an English translation of the German anywhere? pdf. is such a sucky format. It is so often not usefuls at all.

Very impressive completion. I think Bach left this unfinished work as a kind of homework assignment for future composers.

By the way, Yngve Jan Trede's 13-page explanation is in English!

This is like integrating 10 times and more in integral calculus !

8:53

A MOST remarkable completion. Bravo. There is never a point at which your continuation loses any sense of Bach's style. How long did it take you to compose it? Has there been any attempt to arrange your composition for a baroque or chamber orchestra or any other instrumentation? The only other long completion which I have found to be satisfying is that by Rudolph Barshai, performed by the Barshai Chamber Orchestra under his baton. I have a recording of it, but it was his live performance of the entire Art of Fugue at the Sydney Opera House in October 1973, including the incomplete Contrapunctus XIV, followed by his completion, which first opened my ears to this astonishing work.

I hope this appears in every Barenreiter Verlag edition of a piece of music someday

This could be a Runescape track

very nice variant

This completion sounds very convincing to me, I wonder what's its current copyright status, since it was never published outside of the DYM journal...

Outstanding! Thank you

It's very well done, but just way way too long. it has been shown pretty conclusively that Bach intended 47 more measures, not 384.

Postgraduate music analysis.

@hollowchatter: Thomas Daniel limits later in the above cited section of his book the meanings of "the most successful of all hitherto published, especially in stylistic terms" a few lines later only. The full "critic" of Trede's completion isn't that a glorification, but points out the shortcomings ("...lack of diversity in the thematic sections...the inversion of all 4 themes compositorical goes astray...no hint whatsoever for a free "accompaniment" of the first soprano entry by the bass... a.s.o").