More fun from Herr Bach! Let's take a look at something he wrote just three years before his death: The Musical Offering, or Das Musikalische Opfer. The Offering is a collection of fugues and canons, a trio sonata calling for a flute, violin, and a basso continuo (I'll explain that in a minute), and two ricercars.
Before I go on to the good stuff, I'll briefly explain what basso continuo (pronounced: bass-oh continue-oh) means. In the Baroque era (basically defined as the time between 1600 and 1750, and ending with Bach's death) it was common practice to have a solo or small ensemble of solo instruments accompanied by any instrument capable of playing chords, like a harpsichord, guitar, lute, or organ, or any bass instrument, like a cello, bassoon, or double bass, or, in some cases, a combination of these. The continuo instrument was "realize" their music, which was basically a line of bass notes plus symbols that told them what kind of chord to play over the bass notes. This means that continuo parts were largely improvised. (There was actually a lot of improvising going on in the Baroque era, but that discussion must wait for another nibble.)
Continuo-ing with the Offering canons: Bach wrote a couple of interesting canons (canons are like fugues, which, you'll remember, are two or more voices, with staggered entrances). Some of the more interesting ones are called "crab canons". These pieces can be read forwards, backwards and upside down (progression, regression, and inversion.) A musical palindrome.
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