Bach is definitely one of the most “covered” composers of all time, and during the time that he lived in Leipzig from 1723 until 1750, he wrote a strange body of work that seemed to be created for the sole purpose of being covered and remixing.

The Art of Fugue is a collection of fugues and canons that was arguably intended as an intellectual exercise rather than for performance – based on the fact that Bach left The Art of Fugue without directions as to what instruments should play the various parts!

There are many versions of the pieces, from piano to symphonic performances to quartets, but Slovenian industrial band Laibach decided to see what would happen if they mixed their modern sound with our German friend’s music. What they end up with is a strangely relevant version of Bach’s piece.

Laibach offers some thoughts on the philosophy behind the recordings:

Since the work is very much based on mathematic algorithms, Laibach decided to use computer and computer program as the key »instrument«, providing a very special electronic interpretation and showing that J.S. Bach with his work could as well be understood as the pioneer of electronic, techno, computer music.

Here’s a sample of the music on the album Laibachkunstderfuge:

You can download the entire album in mp3 format here.

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