This 2005 double-disc from the
Aurelia Saxophone Quartet on Challenge Classics has its obvious quirks: Die Kunst der Fuge, as played on soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxes, is guaranteed to sound a little outré; and the 15 contemporary works that follow it, riffing in various ways on J.S. Bach's monument to fugue, may well run counter to expectations. But that is the charm of Fugue in C of Dog by this creative Dutch saxophone ensemble, which previously put out innovative recordings of
Debussy's and
Ravel's string quartets, and lively arrangements of Domenico Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas. Not that these unusual offerings are intended to be jokes. The level of musicality in
Aurelia's rendition of Bach's contrapuntal masterpiece is astonishingly high, and the contemporary meditations and take-offs are emotionally compelling as often as they are witty or aesthetically challenging. Bach's fugues and canons require a serious commitment to line, a smooth execution, and an evenly blended tone from the group, and the complexity of some of the contrapuncti brings out the musicians' deep virtuosity. The second disc of modern pieces -- by an international symposium of composers asked for their own reflections on Bach's polyphonic compendium -- may be best appreciated by connoisseurs of jazz and avant-garde chamber music, since the expressions and techniques of the pieces are decidedly more adventurous than imitative of the late Baroque. The audio reproduction is vibrant and warmly lifelike, and levels are at times fairly hot, so some volume adjustments may be necessary, especially on disc 2.