Colourful BACH is a project set up by a team lead by Márta Ábrahám violinist, and composer Barnabás Dukay, both teaching at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary. Together with Swiss violinist Eveline Meier they work persistently researching J. S. Bach’s violin fugues. Their many years of meticulous analytical work originates from the endless admiration and devotion towards Bach’s music.
The name Colourful Bach refers to the beautiful network system of Bach’s compositional solutions and the unparalleled elegance of his musical language as well as the colours in the score. The forms (divisions) and tools (colours) of visual representation were developed by Ábrahám, Dukay and Meier, based on a unique analytical method that they have developed themselves. They have invented a hieararchical system by using different colours to separate and highlight the individual voices. In this way a system emerges, as a result of the inter-relation and level of importance between the different voices.
Over the last 300 years, since the fugues were composed, Bach’s Six Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin have become the “everyday bread” of violinists, violists and guitarists, they are the cornerstones of their repertoire. The Colourfol Bach edition is the fruit of many years of research. It is special because of its revolutionary new approach to learning and interpreting the three violin fugues.The method is excellent for educational purposes. It provides guidance to the world of polyphonic editing not only for violinists or other instrumentalists, but also for composers. By recognizing the Bach’s directing principle and intentions, the hierarchical order of the violin fugue’s structure becomes simple and traceable. The coloured sheet music gives violinists and other musicians the opportunity to deepen themselves in an analytical and interpretive intellectual work before their individual performing concept. It makes the reading of the score transparent. What you see, what you hear!
Frequently asked questions
- Is it true, that Bach's 3 violin fugues are related to the three major Feasts of the Christian Church?
- Have you ever wished to know exactly, how the voices relate to one another in a fugue?
- Did you know that the fugue as a genre is very flexible, yet at the same time the strict rules of fugue writing almost completely binds the composers' hands?
- Have you ever wondered how many themes are in the violin fugues?
- Have you ever longed to be able to account with every single note of the fugue?
- Have you ever felt yourself "structurally lost" in the black score?
- Did you know that Bach accomplished the impossible by writing 3-4-part fugues for an instrument like the violin which is "unsuitable "for playing polyphonic music?
- Did you know that every single fugue by Bach has a unique structure?
Article
With the tricentenary Complete Edition 1720-2020by Ábrahám and Dukay a new chapter has opened in the interpretation of Bach's violin fugues.
The new publication of BioBach Music Publishing Company is a real world premiere.
The Complete Edition of J. S. Bach's three fugues for solo violins with coloured notes, illustrations and explanations is edited by violinist Márta Ábrahám and composer Barnabás Dukay, both well known Bach scholars. After their book Excerpts from Eternity published in 2017, their August 2020 release is unique of it’s kind. The first part of this gap-filling series features the score of Bach’s longest instrumental fugue, from the Sonata for Solo Violin in C major (BWV 1005).
Over the last 300 years, since they were composed, Bach’s Six sonatas and partitas for solo violin have become the “everyday bread” of violinists, violists and guitarists, they are the cornerstones of their repertoire. This special edition, the fruit of many years of research offers a revolutionary new approach to learning and interpreting the three violin fugues.
The sheet music presents the layout of the fugue’s structure (Thematic - Interlude) by separating and highlighting the individual voices. In this way you can see a system emerging, as a result of the inter-relation and level of importance between the different voices.
By recognizing the composer’s directing principle and intentions, the hierarchical order of the violin fugue’s building becomes simple and traceable. The forms and tools of visual representation were developed by the authors based on a unique analytical method that they have developed themselves.
The coloured sheet music gives the opportunity for all violin teachers and students to deepen themselves in an analytical and interpretive intellectual work (before the performing concept). This is an indispensable tool from 300 years time!
The subject of Márta Ábrahám's doctoral dissertation of her habilitation procedure is The interpretation and teaching methodology of Bach's violin fugues. She has given lectures on this topic in Music faculty of renowned universities in Lithuania, the Czech Republic, England, Israel and Hungary.
BioBach Publisher's primary task is to release sheet music and other publications based on a thorough analysis of J. S. Bach's violin works, which greatly facilitate the performer's interpretation. The coloured sheet music is excellent for educational purposes, as it spectacularly illuminates the structure of violin fugues and beautifully illustrates the unparalleled elegance of Bach’s musical language.
