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

The distinction that Kirkendale drew between fugue and fugato seems also to
have been held by Haydn. At least, the only baryton fugues to which he himself gave
the title are all through-composed: three examples, occurring rather late in the series,
belonging to the Trios no.97, 101, and 114. The first one (Trio no.97) is particularly
engaging—its bouncing sequences of descending thirds should not disguise the fact
that it is quite a thorough exploration of the possibilities of its subject. Haydn even
works it in stretto (hardly a difficult task, given the subject, but effective all the same),
and all the episodes are thematically related. In common with many other Viennese
fugues (indeed with the whole southern European fugal tradition) the precise extent of
the subject is ambiguous at first; but once one accepts that it really only consists of
three two-bar sequences, the rest being codetta, then it all makes sense. A peculiarity
of the counterpoint is the unexpected absence of the downbeat during a recurring
sequential passage (Ex.3.9); is this an intentional Haydnesque ‘joke’, or merely a by-
product of the texture?
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