Fed up with endless Bach recordings this year? Hyperion have added some variation to all of the releases for the 250th anniversary of Bach's death by recording Robert Simpson's arrangement of the well-known Art of Fugue for string quartet. The Art of Fugue has been arranged for many media, even for orchestra, but Simpson believed it was essential that the four parts should retain their identities throughout (not possible with colourful orchestral mixtures), and saw the string quartet as the ideal medium for conveying the beauty of four-part counterpoint with perfect clarity and sensitivity.

Sleeve notes are by Robert Simpson, written before his death in 1997, and Howard Smith.