Reflections

The subject entries in this fugue group into pairs creating a powerful sense of subject and answer, call and response. As you follow the pairs, you will notice two things. First, the pairing creates a deep sense of completion and closure. It becomes an expectation which deepens into a longing. When the pairing is delayed, there is unresolved tension, sweetening into release when the answer finally occurs. The longing becomes a potent force when the pairing is separated by an episode. Notice that the pairing persists even during subject inversion: like the subject, the answer is also inverted.

Most often, the subject and its answer differ in a fundamental aspect. The first subject begins on the tonic note (B) and finishes with a tonic harmony (B major). It itself, it is complete, resolved and paradoxically closed. The answer begins on the 5th degree of the scale (F-sharp) and finishes on a dominant harmony. It is incomplete, unresolved, suspended and open. Although the answer creates a sense of closure against the previous subject (the pairing), it raises new question harmonically. The question is only answered by the subsequent entry of a new subject in the tonic, the beginning of a new call and response pair. You might say that there are two levels of pairing here: first, the call and response, second, pair followed by pair. These linkages highlight the continuous fabric of the fugue with a nested sequence of gestures, each its own local point of arrival and repose within the larger arc of momentum.

There are two particularly poignant moments in this fugue. First, when a slightly delayed subject answer appears in the minor mode. While the answer satisfies with its expected closure, it is tinged with a sorrowful, resigned feeling that invests the answer with a new profundity. After another episode, a final pair appears in the major mode again. Again, pair answers pair as minor returns to major. And again, within the final pair itself one finds the poignant call and response. The first subject seems to make a tentative claim in the major, "is it so?". The second and final subject entry provides the answer; it substantiates and fulfills the claim, "it is so".

This pairing of subject entries into a natural dialog is a common aspect of fugues with even-numbered voices. It is often fundamental for the harmonic resolution of the music. Here, it forms a crucial aspect of the narrative. Consider a simple verbal schematic:

subject (tonic)
subject (answer) (dominant)

subject (tonic)
subject (answer) (dominant)

episode

subject (tonic)
episode
subject (answer) (tonic)

subject inversion
subject inversion (answer)

subject (tonic)
(brief episode)
subject (answer) (minor)

episode

subject major (tonic)
subject major (answer) (dominant)
cadential episode