The 24 prelude-and-fugue pairs of
Bach
's
Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846-893
, were intended to demonstrate the virtues of equal temperament in tuning a keyboard instrument. Yet they had, as great works so often do, a secondary function, namely that they mixed various strands of
's art together. The same is true of the
24 Preludes and Fugues
of composer
Matt Dibble
, completed shortly before his death in 2021. They are an homage to
, certainly, but they also sum up
Dibble
's own art, which extended beyond classical music into jazz, rock, and R&B. These traditions are audible in these works, not as flavorings but rather as indissoluble parts of the composer's background. The notations attached to the names of each piece, for example, Prelude No. 4 on Bm3, are jazz key designations, but the pieces aren't overtly jazzy; instead, jazz furnishes one direction a piece can go at any given time. The fugues do not reflect strict rules of counterpoint but rather evoke the Baroque fugue. It is an intriguing concept, and it is rendered well by pianist
Freddy Kempf
, who never met
but knew about the work as it developed and got a leg up on how to approach what would likely be a troublesomely novel work for any pianist. He is alert to the small details that are at the heart of the stylistic mixes here. The best-selling status of this album, which landed on classical charts in the summer of 2024, should be taken not simply as a tribute to
but as a sign of interest in a genuinely fresh work. ~ James Manheim