Christopher Brown’s 24 Preludes and Fugues was completed in 2019 after 8 years of work. The full set is ingeniously divided into four books – each of six preludes and fugues – based around one of the notes of the name BACH (B flat, A, C and B natural in German notation). Each book starts and ends in the minor/major tonality of the 4 keys. In addition are persistent references to the cryptogram of Dmitri Shostakovich, DSCH (D, E flat, C and B), whose own masterly set of 24 Preludes and Fugues also casts a strong influence.
Each Prelude and Fugue is dedicated to family and friends of the composer, as well as several institutions with which he has been associated in his career. Many of the dedicatees requested references to specific pieces of music that had special meaning for them. The result is a wide-ranging, colourful collection of music in a huge variety of styles and moods, bound together by a clear thematic structure and underpinned by deeply assured contrapuntal techniques, the result from a lifetime dedication to the study and performance of the music of J.S. Bach (the composer has for many years taught fugue and other baroque techniques at Cambridge University).
Nathan Williamson received a copy of the score during the covid lockdowns, and decided that the restrictions imposed might afford the opportunity to broach a new challenge of premiering such a magnum opus. As he mentioned in a short film around the release: The day to day was very unpredictable, and the sense of doing something outrageous, unknown, a little bit over the top, really appealed to me… At a time when as musicians we’re being increasingly encouraged to stick to form, to go to the mainstream, this is what creativity is: when you don’t really know what it is you’re going to achieve… of course there are moments when one questions, but you’re supposed to question, you’re supposed to do something different, you’re supposed to do something new.
Live performances of the work were gradually forthcoming, firstly online and then increasingly in person, with different sections of the work heard alongside music of Bach and other contemporary British composers. Lyrita Recorded Edition then agreed to support the recording of the complete work, with the resulting boxed set released in 2024.
I cannot declare my admiration strongly enough… I found the set an indescribable experience. I have the same admiration for Nathan Williamson, whose playing is nothing short of jaw-dropping. Steve Arloff, MusicWeb International
Click to purchase