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

einforces them. Its texture is impossibly lax and casual for an authentic work of J. S.
Bach. One might argue that Bach’s early fugues are much less strict in this respect
than later examples (a standard and plausible defence for many doubtful works), and
this is true up to a point; but such details as the subdominant answer (the tonal scheme
of the whole movement is skewed in that direction), the extended sequential codettas
during the exposition, the simple minded tonic-dominant passagework in bb.73-82, 40
and the unaccompanied pedal entry in b.109 41 are highly uncharacteristic of J. S.
Bach’s music of any period. Comparison with the fugue in D major BWV 532, in
many ways quite a similar work, bears this out. A greater textural, harmonic and tonal
sophistication is present throughout; however primitive the accompanying
counterpoint becomes, it is never reduced to simply following the subject around in
thirds and sixths (cf BWV 565 bb.32-34, and just about every other entry) 42 or
hovering redundantly on the same note (bb.52-53; doubly redundant because this note
is also present in the subject). The subject of BWV 565 is itself uncharacteristic of
Bach, in that it lacks the sense of completion and character most of his subjects
possess—it sounds like the sort of figuration that might occur during the course of a
movement, but lacks a clear thematic profile. There are subjects that seesaw in this
violinistic manner (BVW 543 in A minor, BWV 548 in E minor), but never simply
between the dominant and a stepwise line of quavers. As this would suggest, the
entries are uncharacteristically static harmonically. Significantly, the episodes sound
more convincingly like J. S. Bach than any of the entries, especially bb.49-51, 54-57,
95-102 and 111-114, where harmonic interest is much higher. The closing section
(b.127 onwards) also sounds a lot more like early Bach, showing much greater
harmonic inventiveness than the opening (the progression between bb.132 and 133 is
especially effective and original). Only the concluding chords, so effective on a big
40 Ibid., 333.
41 Ibid., 333.
42 Ibid., 334.
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