Yuji Takahashi
The [Electronic] Art of Fugue (Complete Album Download)

I’ve heard a lot of synthesizer renditions of Bach, so trust me when I say that this one is different.

There were a lot of electronic interpretations of Bach in the 1970s, obviously trying to capitalize off of Wendy Carlos’ Switched-On Bach. Nearly all of them (even the good ones) are pale imitations of that album that lack the sophistication and multi-layered approach that Carlos took when crafting her masterpiece. A reminder, synthesizers back then could only produce one note at a time. To create a proper Bach arrangement meant countless playbacks and tape dubs. Not everyone was up to it. Additionally, nearly everyone at the time was sticking to the similar Moogs that Carlos used. So you ended up with a lot of derivative works.

Yuji Takahashi’s take on Bach is a bit different, probably because Takahashi himself is a bit different. Takahashi is a classically-trained pianist, but he also holds an interest in the avant-garde and experimental. He started putting out albums in the late-60s, his earliest stuff being interpretations of John Cage works, while also releasing avant-garde and experimental works of his own. Even early on in his career he was working in left-field. In 1974 he put out an album with Masahiko Satoh, another acclaimed Japanese pianist, that consisted of performances on synthesizers and prepared pianos. I have no idea what that sounds like but I sure as hell bet it sounds different.

A year later, he released this. As far as I can tell, it’s the first electronic interpretation of Bach’s The Art Of Fugue, which is just one of many reasons why it stands out among the other classical Moog albums of the day. Not only is the material odd, but his arrangements are slightly more off-kilter than what you might hear on other electronic Bach albums.

A lot of that has to do with the instrumentation that Takahashi chose to use. Takahashi doesn’t just limit himself to the “traditional” Moog synthesizers of the day. Added into the mix is an EMS Synthi 2. The Synthi is a strange beast that can produce very unique sound effects, such as stark popping sounds and tones that have a unnatural drop off or arpeggio effect. Used poorly, the Synthi just creates seemingly random noises. Used correctly, it can be Pink Floyd. It has some range. Here, Takahashi uses it to pushes the limits of “music” from time to time, especially on “Contrapunctus XI,” but he shows enough restraint with the device that it never becomes grating, just supremely odd. And the more “normal” sounds of the traditional Moog help reign him in when things get dangerously close to pure noise.

I first bought this on LP a few months back, but that copy was pretty banged up. And it’s hard to digitally restore a record that uses harsh sound effects like the ones used here: they often get removed alongside the record’s scratches and crackles. Thankfully, the record was re-issued on CD a few years back and I managed to find one at not-too-crazy prices. These files are taken from that CD.

If this ain’t your thing, don’t fret. Next post will feature nothing but hot summer jams.