Reflections

It is said that Bach's mental agility with fugue and counterpoint enabled him to listen to a subject alone, and immediately imagine the devices and forms of fugal procedure that would suit it's "innate" character. Like finding the sculpture within the marble. This fugue is dominated by three ideas and they are all exposed within the first 4 measures (about 8 seconds of sound): subject, subject "tail" motive and primary countersubject. It is the summary, the schematic, the closed oyster shell, the innate nature of the marble. From this beginning flows a lyrical treatise on these objects of meditation. Every measure of the continuous stream is in some way derived from these essential materials.

This fugue is written for four voices. Bass, alto, tenor and soprano. At first, this might suggest that the arrangement of voices and the overall amplitude range (or span) would be static. One might expect a constant "thickness" from high to low, in range, in texture, in ensemble. If you listen for this quality alone, the sense of high and low, the overall placement of voices and how they span that range, you will discover an astonishing variety, versatility, and most essentially, change, over time. The bundle of four voices (imagine a bunch of wires or ribbons) is bound together in the twisted tryst that is the nature of fugal counterpoint. Stretch them out like a cable (or a hose or a braid). Over time, they snake up and down together, sometimes emphasizing the treble, sometimes the bass. Other times, the threads spread far apart and span a wide range with much space in between, ballooning, bulging, expanding. Occasionally, voices come and go, making a temporarily lighter texture of three or fewer voices.

On this dimension alone, the fugue is a narrative. Call it the melody of texture, the words uttered by but the shape of the ensemble. This is quite a different level of coherence than "merely" melody, harmony and rhythm. But it is there, nonetheless. It is accessible to and always active within our earsense.