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

entries, a sizeable codetta before the third. It is always at least as long as the subject,
and in Fugues no.2 (C minor) and 3 (D major) it is as long as the subject and answer
together. What Friedemann Bach has done here is to extend this idea a little further,
and created a peculiar type of hybrid melodic structure. The basic thematic unit is not
the subject itself, but a combination of the subject, the answer, a brief sequential
passage, and perhaps a cadence (Ex.1.10). Examples occur in bb.1-5, 6-11, 12-15, 16-
18, 19-25, and 33-38. The resulting composite falls exactly half way between being a
fugal exposition and being a tune. It is a fragile compromise, and a fragile piece. All
the ear has to grasp is the sense of movement, the flux of tension and relaxation from
moment to moment; but in this case it is enough. 69
The fugue in F minor is the last in this set, and at 202 bars is more than twice
as long as any of the others. This is at least potentially a problem, especially given that
the material—‘that last infirmity of the pedagogic mind ... the chromatic scale’ 70 set
against ordinary contrapuntal boiler-plate—has little more character than that of the
preceding fugue (Ex.1.11).
69 The elementary subject and its free development recalls some of J. S. Bach’s inventions and
sinfonias, particularly the inventions in D and G, and the sinfonias in E and G minor.
70 H. Grace, The organ works of Rheinberger (London: Novello, 1925), p.15.
76