Johann Sebastian Bach, Techno God

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsAMrT5Bagw

Slovenian industrial Laibach has done a lot of interesting things over their thirty year career, but turning Johann Sebastian Bach into a techno god may top it all.

Their album LAIBACHKUNSTDERFUGE is the Laibachian interpretation of Johann Sebastian Bach’s work The Art of Fugue (Die Kunst der Fuge):

The Art of Fugue is a collection of fugues and canons that display the full gamut of fugal transformational techniques, such as augmentation and diminution. The theory that the work was intended as an intellectual exercise rather than for performance is borne out by the fact that no instruments are specified in the score. But although the Art of Fugue (the title was not Bach’s own) reveals Bach in his most academic and puzzle-solving guise, it is no mere pedantry and there is much here of great energy and inspiration.

Since Bach did not specify any instrumentation, the big question is: what instrument or instruments should the Art of Fugue be played on? There are many keyboard recordings, but versions are available for everything from saxophone quartet to orchestra.

Since the work is very much based on mathematic algorithms, Laibach decided to use computer and computer program as the key »instrument«, providing a very special electronic interpretation and showing that J.S. Bach with his work could as well be understood as the pioneer of electronic, techno, computer music.

The example above is the first track off the album, Contrapunctus 1.

Switched On Bach it ain’t.

Give it a listen and let me know what you think of Johann Sebastian Bach, Techo God – and Laibach’s LAIBACHKUNSTDERFUGE.

via Elkhwind, Laibach, synthgear

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