The WTF Bach Podcast

Bonus: Contrapunctus I: all screwed up... 11x

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Mar 15, 2020
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INSIGHT

Eleven Entrances Are Key

  • The first contrapunctus of "The Art of Fugue" has exactly 11 entrances, making eleven a significant number in the work.
  • Presenting the fugue in eleven different ways reveals its intricate structure and themes from multiple perspectives.
INSIGHT

Fugue Voices Shape Harmony

  • Omitting outer voices from the fugue changes its harmonic completion, revealing how essential each voice is to the fullness of the sound.
  • Missing voices create less complete chords and expose the dependency of the fugue's harmony on all parts.
INSIGHT

Middle Voices Are The Guts

  • The middle voices are the musical "guts" of the fugue, often debated over by composers for their significance.
  • Hearing middle voices alone reveals the core polyphonic interplay that drives the entire piece's complexity.
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