Material will be made available for pdf download on this website in the future, relating to the theoretical aspects of, and basis for, our projects. An early example (for the autumn of 2008) is the material relating to Bach’s Art of the Fugue. This will include discussion of the ordering of the unnumbered contrapuncti and the tantalizing question of the unfinished final fugue: was this left unfinished by Bach on purpose? If so, why? The myth that it was left unfinished on Bach’s deathbed because he died in the middle of it is apparently not historically accurate.

Should pianists attempt to ‘finish’ the unfinished fugue? If ‘finished’, how can this be done without being presumptuous enough to try to pretend to be Bach? Could there possibly be a method by which it can be automatically generated by the main body of the work? These subjects will be expounded by Stefano Greco, who will stress that The Art of the Fugue was sold by Bach’s widow after his death as a treatise, not as a composition. Greco believes that a truly deep analysis of the work and its complex mathematics can reveal many of the secrets of Bach’s compositional techniques, which helped to make his works the greatest works of musical genius of all time. Much of this material will also be made available as notes to the CD.

Brancusi Classics, through its website, will offer large amounts of supplementary material to all users free of charge, in order to facilitate the spread of these discoveries to all music lovers and professionals, for their own use and study in their own ways.

The texts of the essays which were published in the Wigmore Hall recital of STEFANO GRECO’S 16 November 2005 programme ‘The Later Art of the Fugue’ are available now for download at the top right of this page. These consist of ‘Concerning the Fugue’ by Stefano Greco and ‘The Philosophy of the Fugue’ by Robert Temple.

Future download material will relate to Bach’s compositional techniques, as well as discussion of Giuseppe Tartini’s theoretical treatises on music, and much else besides. We will be discussing the use of the Golden Section and Fibonacci Series in musical composition in the future, and their use by Bach will be illustrated in detail.

Brancusi’s website will ultimately offer a forum for theoretical discussions of musical composition, as well as discussions of urtexts and points relating to editing (or ‘de-editing’) of scores. These sections of the website are intended for professionals in the field of music, and may be accessed by anyone free of charge. There will be no subscription charges for any website material in the future. Rare early texts will be made available to everyone, scanned and downloaded as pdf files. Rare scores will also be made available after they have been recorded. Brancusi has a large collection of rare published keyboard scores. Our most recent acquisition is an 18th century score of Handel’s Suites and Fugues, which will be made available for download from this website.

Brancusi Classics has a DINU LIPATTI PROJECT, the first fruits of which are the edited score (from manuscript, part of which was not fully legible) and recording of the Romanian pianist and composer Dinu Lipatti’s FUGUE IN E MINOR. It was never played by Lipatti himself in his short lifetime, as he died at the age of only 33.

It is also the policy of Brancusi Classics to make available free downloads of rare scores, both early printed ones and manuscript scores, from the personal collection of Robert Temple, Director of Brancusi. The scanning of these scores often requires a great deal of care, to clear them of foxing and blemishes, and to facilitate clarity of image and legibility. To the right is the first full score, the first edition of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.