Reflections

There is something of the tortoise and the hare in this fugue. The subject (the tortoise) begins with quarter notes, revving up just a bit into eighth notes. The pattern begins again from the start with the second subject entry, but suddenly the first voice takes off like a jackrabbit (the hare), sprinting at the speed of 32nd notes, zigzagging up and down, pausing for a brief moments, twirling into trills, running into longer and longer lines as the fugue progresses. Still, and always, the subject comes and goes, pursuing its steady path at a literal fraction of the speed. There is humor here. The subject is stodgy, a bit angular, quite serious. The countersubject and its fragments throughout the episodes seem punchy, leering, running circles around the poor subject in mirthful taunt. The recurrent motive above seems particularly apt.

Is there a winner? Unlike the traditional tortoise and the hare narrative, this fugue ends when both creatures cross the finish line together, at the same time.