Program Note:
This four-voice fugue is entirely derived from its subject. In the exposition, the subject is sounded in the tenor, alto, bari, soprano, and finally in triple octave homophony. There are five distinct ideas in the subject: the intervallic motive consisting of an ascending minor sixth and descending minor second, the trill, the tongue slap, the air noise, and the cadential intervallic motive consisting of a descending perfect fourth followed by an ascending minor second. These ideas are all fragmented throughout the development. Tempo is also an integral developmental tool in this piece: metric modulation between tempo areas gradually accelerates the music. In the recapitulation, the subject fragments will be heard in stretto, along with one final triple octave homophonic statement.