J. S. BACH Jonathan Berkahn - Victoria University - Victoria ...

duly follows in the dominant suddenly revises our expectations, however, for it is
nothing other than the material of the lower stave of Ex.3.2 (slightly altered), with the
first subject discreetly but unmistakeably present in the bass (Ex.3.3):
At once Haydn’s plan becomes clear; this is to be a triple fugue, of sorts—every
thematic event has its origin as part of a single contrapuntal combination. Sure
enough, the upper voice of Ex.3.2 reappears in b.51—now accompanied by the first
subject—and all three are worked together in the ensuing imbroglio. At this point one
might reasonably expect the usual clear cadence on the dominant. Instead, the passage
in bb.53-54 is repeated a tone lower to land us in C major, after which we travel
through A minor and E minor, then back to G major in quite a lengthy preparation for
the recapitulation.
If the line between (sonata) exposition and development is so blurred as to be
non-existent, the beginning of the recapitulation (Ex.3.4) is also curiously equivocal.
The preparation and articulated cadence in bb.89-91 is quite unmistakeable. But the
entry in b.91 smooths over the break, and the sense of tonal arrival is obscured by the
frequent presence of C-sharps, and the fact that no root-position tonic chord appears
until seven bars later.
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