Chapter 5

FUGUE IN E-FLAT

MAJOR, NO. VII, IN

THE FIRST BOOK.

[Music: Subject

Counter-subject

Answer]

This fugue in three voices begins with a graceful subject, an-
nounced in the upper voice. In the third measure this is an-
swered by an imitation of the subject in the alto; while the open-
ing voice continues with a contrasting part called the counter-
subject.[40] As the whole subsequent fabric is organically de-
rived from these two motives, both subject and counter-subject
should be played frequently and so committed to memory. Ob-
serve also the contrasts in rhythm and melodic outline between
the subject and counter-subject. In measures 4 and 5 we have
a short sequential passage leading, in measure 6, to the third
entry of the subject in the bass. Then after another sequential
passage, which includes an emphatic assertion of the subject in
the soprano (measures 11 and 12), we enter upon a long episode
which leads, at measure 17, to our first objective point of rest—
a cadence in C minor. With the entry, in this measure, of the
subject in the alto we have an interesting example of what is