WTF Bach 104: Bach (Almost) Spells His Name in a 5-Voice Triple Fugue
“Bach the master surgeon leaves no scar.”
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There are only two five-voice fugues in The Well-Tempered Clavier, and only two triple fugues. This fugue is both— a five voice triple fugue. Should I be tempted to add some (perhaps too convenient) theological rhetoric to this fugue, an analysis might read like this:
Three subjects in one fugue? Why yes, the trinity in music! The themes enter, Son, Holy Spirit, and God the Father. See first God the Son, a man, very nearly B-A-C-H:
The first entrance of the Pentecostal waves comes, aptly, from the top down. The Holy Spirit is rendered:
God the Father finally makes an appearance, with his perfect interval, and three repeated notes:
On the final page, the Holy Spirit vanishes, leaving father and son in an impressive stretto:
N.B. I’m not convinced Bach had any of this in mind. At least since Schweitzer, however, people have seen the image of the triune God in Bach’s triple fugues. I believe at this time in Bach’s career, he had not quite codified his theological word painting, so if in fact Bach was thinking of the trinity, it is in any case represented more clearly in the triple fugue from Book Two, in f-sharp minor. There, the themes enter in order (as they do in the ‘Saint Anne’s’ Prelude and Fugue BWV 552) Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Biographical and theological readings aside, this is a striking and important fugue. Its prelude is no less beautiful. A most interesting revision comes at bar 14. The earliest version reads:
Only two bars, dominant to tonic. In revision, Bach seamlessly adds an additional two bars, stretching (and perhaps smoothing) out the harmonic rhythm. Bach the master surgeon leaves no scar:
People Mentioned:
Albert SchweitzerMieczysław HorszowskiShirley PerleSeymour LipkinPierre Hantaï
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Concepts covered:
The Well-Tempered Clavier (BWV 846–893) is one of the great monuments of Baroque music, counterpoint with theological tone painting. A remarkable triple fugue: the C-sharp minor fugue from Book I (BWV 849) (another triple fugue is the F-sharp minor fugue from Book II BWV 883). The C-sharp minor stands out as a five-voice fugue and triple fugue, an extraordinary rarity in the keyboard literature. Some interpreters have seen theological symbolism in the three subjects—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—Bach’s mastery of structure, harmonic rhythm, and Bach in revision. The development of contrapuntal technique, musical spelling, such as the B-A-C-H motif
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