J S Bach Fugue No. 1 in C major, BWV 846, from Bach’s Well-tempered Clavier

The Fuga is one of the most complex and original compositions of J.S. Bach. This genre is characterized by the imitation where voices enter like a “relay race”. We can find in it the exposition in the first 6 bars, the counter-exposition at bars 7-10, the six Stretti, a tonic pedal at bars 24-27 and a final coda at three last bars. This Fugue has a “real” answer so it is a “real” Fugue and the particular is that It has no counter-subject. The order in which the voices enter in the Exposition is unusual, as the Subject and Answer do not regularly alternate, but follow one another in the following order: Subject, Answer, Answer, Subject. The Fugue has three complete and three incomplete Stretti. The Stretti at bar 7, Bar 10, and at bars 24-25 are incomplete because all the voices do not take part in them. The complete Stretti in which all the voices take part are in bars 14-15, 16-18, and 19-21.

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