Track by Track: Johannes Pramsohler on JS Bach – A Musical Offering

Track by Track is a dynamic way for an artist to guide you through one of their albums. Exclusive audio commentary features personal insights and invaluable context, bringing you closer than ever to the music. Towards the end of his life, Bach visited Berlin where the king, Frederick the Great, laid down a challenge. Could Bach improvise a complex fugue on an original theme written by the king—himself a talented flautist? The composer responded with one of his greatest chamber works, The Musical Offering, that takes the king’s complex theme and turns it into a series of ingenious canons and fugues, including an astonishing six-part ricercar. It’s a monumental work with a great story behind it,” says Ensemble Diderot’s violinist Johannes Pramsohler. In this Track by Track, Pramsohler delves into their 2023 recording of Bach’s answer to the royal test.