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Fugue on a Theme by Bach
By Bradford Wright June 2020
 
S A T GB
 
 
This fugue is based on a somewhat obscure short theme by J. S. Bach that can be found in The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1: Fuga No. 4 in C-Sharp Minor, m. 49-50, BWV 849. It uses essentially all of the fugal techniques. You might try to spot some of them. It is an approachable piece, playable for fun or in concert.
-- Bradford Wright
 
 
The composer went half-way through one of Bach’s lesser-known fugues from Book 1 of the Well-Tempered Klavier and plucked out the Secondary Subject. From this mere shred of a motive, he spins out a whole new fugue, sporting all our favorite fugal treatments including inversion, diminution, augmentation and even retrograde. Stepped down to the very recorder-friendly key of C, this fugue is at once cerebral and non-threatening except for a brief sojourn into A major and back. There are a couple high C’s in the soprano and the bass line needs a Great Bass to hit the lowest notes.
-- Glen Shannon
 
 
No. of Recorder Parts:
4
Difficulty:
Moderate
Occasion:
Any
Libraries:
New Music for Recorder
Date Added:
06/26/2020
Style:
Social/Casual, Concert, Neo-Renaissance/Baroque/Classical