The (working) first chapter to Greg's book. It's a comical synopsis of piano recital programming told through the perspective of an innocent, 300-year-old fugue.
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The Cat’s Fugue was heard once, at the very least, by members of the Court (distinguished by Princess Maria Barbara and Prince Ferdinando VI) in one of their lavish palaces in Madrid, La Granja, or Aranjuez. Encouraged by his receptive patrons, he published it among his 30 Essercizi in Italy later that year and prefaced it with these words:
READER,
Whether you are a dilettante or a professor, do not expect to find in these compositions any profound intention, but rather an ingenious jesting of the art to prepare you for bold playing on the harpsichord. … Show yourself more human than critical, and thus you will increase your own pleasure. … Live happily!
During the 70 years that followed, Scarlatti’s works remained in demand, and The Cat’s Fugue was reprinted in a handful of the numerous editions of the composer’s works. Professionals utilized the fugue for personal study, and we can assume the amateur keyboardists of the day, usually of the bourgeoisie, took up The Cat’s Fugue for sheer enjoyment. Nevertheless, the closest the Cat ever found itself to a true public performance were those times when a hapless acquaintance drew too near a keyboardist raring to display his or her hard-earned skills. After all, like all keyboard works of the day, this was a cat perfectly content with its domestic life. Grand social displays were absolutely inappropriate for such small and intimate creatures like this fugue - a fugue composed for nothing more than a single harpsichord. The Cat became increasingly shy as the century elapsed; the inventive use of dissonance within her meters certainly had its allure, but her adherence to outdated fugal procedures likely deterred all but the most determined. By the time the fortepiano had replaced the harpsichord, those interested in The Cat’s Fugue and otherworks of such a distant past became a dwindling number. The musical world had evolved.
The cat’s original promenade began to lose its luminous glow of immortality and instead sauntered slowly toward the junkyard of musical waste. Daquin’s Coucou, Couperin’s Voluptuesuse, and Handel’s Blacksmith followed alongside.
Should a pianist memorize everything on a piano recital? Give your two-cents on the "Audience Advice to Performers" page!
