To n a l m u s i c a n a l y s i s : Pa p e r A s s i g n m e n t # 1

J . S . B a c h : Fu g u e X I V i n F s h a r p m i n o r ( BO O K 1 )

In the exp osition, the subject is introduced by the tenor

voice, moving in quarter notes, and between bars 4 to 7,
t h e a n s w e r , w h i c h i s a re a l a n s w e r , p ro c e e d s i n t h e a l t o o n
t h e d o m i n a n t ( c # ) . T h e c o u n t e r s u b j e c t i s re g u l a r a n d i s
moving in sixteenths, in contrast with the subject. Then
follows a codetta of one bar, which modulates back to the
tonic (bar 7), and the subject comes again in the bass in
b a r 8 . Aft e r t h i s s e c o n d s u b j e c t e n t r y , t h e re i s a l o n g e r
c o d e t t a ( b r i d g e ) c o m i n g , f o rm b a r 1 1 t o 1 5 , w h i c h s e e m s t o
b u i l d u p t h e fi r s t o n e . I n b a r 1 5 t h e s u b j e c t c o m e s o n c e
again - since it is not on the dominant, it cant be called
a n s w e r . Af t e r t h i s , t h e e x p o s i t i o n i s e n d e d i n a s t ro n g f
s h a r p m i n o r c a d e n c e ( f # : V- i ) .
T h e fi r s t e p i s o d e ( b a r 1 8 t o 2 0 ) f o l l o w s r i g h t a ft e r t h e
ex position. It is part ly built on the coun tersubject (bar 19).
I n b a r 2 0 t o 2 3 t h e S u b j e c t i s i n t ro d u c e d i n t h e a l t o a s
inverted, starting in b minor and coming back to f sharp
m i n o r. T h e re i s n o c o u n t e r s u b j e c t , a l t h o u g h f ro m t h e e n d o f
b a r 2 1 w e c a n re c o g n i z e t h e c o u n t e r p o i n t fi g u re . T h i s w o u l d
b e t h e fi r s t S u b j e c t S t a t e m e n t .
Af t e r t h i s f o l l o w s t h e s e c o n d e p i s o d e , w h i c h i s a l s o s h o r t .
Another
entry
of
the
subject
(the
second
Subject
S t a t e m e n t ) p ro c e e d s i n b a r 2 5 , e n d i n g i n b a r 2 8 w i t h a
s t ro n g c s h a r p m i n o r c a d e n c e ( c # : V- i ) . T h i s t i m e i t i s a l e s s
announced entry, and it is in the soprano, accompanied by
t h e c o u n t e r s u b j e c t i n t h e a l t o.
I n b a r 2 8 t h e re i s a m o d u l a t i o n t o t h e i n i t i a l ke y ( f s h a r p
minor), followed by a new subject entry (Subject Statement
3) in the tenor voice, while the countersubject is given to
t h e s o p r a n o. T h e a n s w e r g i v e n b y t h e b a s s i n b a r 3 2 i s
inverted and the countersubject is absent, but not the
c o u n t e r p o i n t i n g fi g u re .
T h e re i s a n o t h e r e p i s o d e c o m i n g i n b a r 3 5 , b a s e d o n t h e
c o u n t e r s u b j e c t , p re p a r i n g t h e w a y f o r t h e c o d a i n b a r 3 7 t o
the end. The coda is built mostly on the dominant pedal and

i t e n d s w i t h t h e c o u n t e r s u b j e c t fi g u re i n t h e t e n o r v o i c e ,
w i t h a s t ro n g f s h a r p m i n o r c a d e n c e ( f # : V- i ) .

The most important principle of construction in this fugue is

t h e a l t e rn a t i o n o f t h e c h r o m a t i c a n d d i a t o n i c p a s s a g e s . T h e
s u b j e c t i s g i v e n a c h ro m a t i c p ro g re s s ( a l l t w e l v e n o t e s o f
t h e c h ro m a t i c s c a l e a re u s e d ) , e x p re s s i n g u n c e r t a i n t y ,
d o u b t . A l s o , t h e s u b j e c t i s s h a p e d a s a n a rc h , a s w e l l a s t h e
c o u n t e r s u b j e c t : t h e re i s a l w a y s a re t u rn i n g t o t h e s t a r t
p o i n t , o r a fi l l i n g i n t h e s p a c e b e t w e e n t h e s t a r t i n g p o i n t
and its ending.
T h e c o n t i n u i t y i s p r o v i d e d b y re p e t i t i o n o f s i m i l a r fi g u re s
b o r ro w e d e i t h e r f ro m t h e s u b j e c t o r t h e c o u n t e r s u b j e c t .
O v e r t h e c o u r s e o f t h e p i e c e , t h e fl u i d i t y o f t h e f u g u e n e v e r
s e e m s t o b e i n t e rr u p t e d i n r h y t h m . T h e re i s a l s o a g o o d
e v i d e n c e o f a c e r t a i n r h y t h m i c f re e d o m , f o r e x a m p l e i n t h e
manner of building up the second codetta.
A s t o t h e h a r m o n y , t h e re a re p l a c e s w h e re t h e d i s s o n a n c e s
a re s t ro n g , b u t t h e y d o n t s t a y f o r m o re t h a n a m o m e n t a n d
a re i m m e d i a t e l y d i s s o l v e d i n a n o t h e r c a l m i n g d i a t o n i c
p a s s a g e o r e p i s o d e . T h e ke y s c h a n g e f a s t a l o n g t h e c o u r s e
o f t h e f u g u e a n d t h e m o d u l a t o r y t o n a l i t i e s a re o ft e n n o t
established in cadences.
T h e w h o l e f o rm o f t h e f u g u e i s n o t e a s i l y t o b e d e fi n e d ,
s i n c e i t i s n o t a t y p i c a l o n e ( f o r e x a m p l e , t h e fi n a l s e c t i o n
i s n o t a c o m m o n o n e ) - t h e re i s n o re - e x p o s i t i o n a n d t h e
fi n a l p a s s a g e w h i c h c a n b e c a l l e d c o d a d o e s n o t f o l l o w t h e
Subject Statement, but the third episode. Although the
e p i s o d e d o e s n t g r a n t s t a b i l i t y t o w a rd s t h i s f u g u e e n d i n g ,
t h e fi g u re o f t h e c o u n t e r s u b j e c t i s a g a i n e v i d e n t ( t h i s t i m e
p a r t l y d o u b l e d w i t h s i x t h s ) , g i v i n g b a l a n c e a n d s y m m e t r y.
T h e c o d a s p u r p o s e i s t o re m i n d o f t h e s u b j e c t , a n d i n t h i s
c a s e , t h e s u b j e c t i s e x p o s e d e n t i re l y , t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e
c o u n t e r s u b j e c t , g i v i n g a re a l s e n s e o f b a l a n c e t o t h e w h o l e
fugue.
The

In this fugue Bach gives a demonstration of quadruple counterpoint but, it

is not just a demonstration of a compositional technique for its own sake,
but of how to make it playable on the keyboard. The quadruple
counterpoint is presented in full five times in the course of the piece.

Each fugue of the Well-Tempered Clavier reveals Bach's love

affair with counterpoint in something unique to it, something
"new." The novelty of this fugue is in its tryst of styles: old with
new. David Ledbetter has observed the traits of stile antico in
this fugue as pertaining to its meter, cadential trill in the
subject, and "flexibly moulded lines recalling the D sharp minor
fugue" (p. 298). As for the stile moderno, a chromatic ascent to
the dominant sustains one of the more compelling (and daring)
subjects in the 48.2 Also modern in Bach's day were the moving
sighs with which he has begun its countersubject (low voice).
As if to reinforce the contrasting origins--old with new--the
fugue's subject, most like an arch, has been wed to a counter
that is the inversion of an arch. As we shall see, the overall
shape of the fugue is also that of an arch. To Ledbetter's ear
this fugue resembles the first Kyrie of the Mass in B minor in its
rising chromatic line, which is used "to express supplication" (p.
198). He also cites Wessel (1955) who noted that, "progress by
small intervals, and chromatic movement [is] expressive of
sorrow and doubt" (p. 199). Having begun this analysis by
quoting the Irish novelist Edna O'Brien, I shall involve her in yet
another comparison. O'Brien began her biography of James
Joyce with a paragraph that, had it been set in Saxony instead
of Dublin, would have applied equally to J. S. Bach: Once upon a
time there was a man coming down a road in Dublin and he
gave himself the name of Dedalus the sorcerer, constructor of
labyrinths and maker of wings for Icarus who flew so close to
the sun that he fell, as the apostolic Dubliner James Joyce would

fall into a world of words--from the "epiphanies" of youth to the

epistomadologies of later years. The Well-Tempered Clavier is
proof enough that the apostolic Bach was a constructor of
labyrinths. As for a maker of wings, this fugue carries one as
close to the sun as he should dare to go. The warmth of its
second development would have melted the wings of Icarus for
sure. But Bach's fall, unlike that of Joyce's (into a world of
words), was into the labyrinth of tones. The epiphany of Bach's
youth was counterpoint, especially that of the meticulously
prepared dissonance and independent line. His model was the
Renaissance motet. This influence can be discerned in his habit
of tying notes from their consonant to dissonant states as
harmonies unfold about them. As for rhythmic independence,
one might easily deduce it by the variety of eighth-note
groupings in the exposition's bridge passage. Yet Bach's
combination of dissonance and rhythm was, even then,
regarded as antiquated--therefore of the stile antico. The
influence of Palestrina, Heinrich Schtz et al. upon this fugue is
heard in its essentially choral texture. For a composer
sometimes accused of writing choral music in an instrumental
style, this Clavier fugue is unblushingly choral in its conception.
If the fugue's vocal idiom is not immediately apparent, try
singing each of its lines. Of particular beauty is that of the
soprano. Go ahead and sing along! From its entry (m. 15) to its
climax (m. 28) and denouement (m. 37), the soprano traces a
magnificent arch sometimes relieved by receding waves in a
rising tide of shape. The swell begins and ends on the tonic Fsharp and crests on the subdominant B an octave and a fourth
above. This is an Olympian line to be sure, but vocal
nonetheless. The soprano's arch effects a transformation of
density as well. From the crowded polyphony of its beginning,
the texture opens a crack--enough to allow an inversion of the
subject in the alto (m. 20). This entry (easily missed) is
accompanied by no less than near inversion of the
countersubject in the bass (m. 22). 3. The understatement of
inversion in an inside voice is deliberate and should not, as
warned professor Ledbetter, "be spoiled by the temptation to
'bring out the subject', if only to show that the player has
noticed it" (p. 199). In the event that it may have been missed,
the bass voice sings the same inversion with countersubject
recto in m. 32. This fugue is in f-sharp minor. Its first pitch
bisects the octave, and Book I of the Well-Tempered Clavier. It is

an appropriate chapel for the marriage of opposites: stile antico

with moderno, up with down, recto with inverso, choral style
with instrumental genre. It is, in the image of John Ciardi's
poem, "Most Like an Arch this Marriage": Most like an arch--an
entrance which upholds and shores the stone-crush up the air
like lace. Mass made idea, and idea held in place.