Jonathan Shaw

     Hey look, another Fugue with inspiration from Bach! Which piece was the influence this time?

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     This one in particular was inspired directly from Bach’s harpsichord fugue in BWV 915 which I was absolutely captivated by (and still am!) by its relentless persistence of the fugal subject. And so this piece grew out of that, as you can tell due to the end of the fugal subject stating note for note a part of Bach’s subject. Actually, the entire crux of the subject is nearly identical to Bach's.

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     On the whole, this piece isn’t as weak as I remember, but of course, I am still not happy with it. Though, I am surprised by bars 134 – 137 where there is a sudden shift to a 9/8 metre, or some form of metrical shift. By the end, I remember adding in another voice, by which now the piece is entirely impossible to perform as the hand stretches go far beyond what is comfortable to play  – whoops! This fugue does sound like an expanded remnant of one of the "Melodies" with its never-ending exploration of distant keys and persistent modulations from the tonic.

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     I must apologise to you, Bach, for stealing so many of your beautiful ideas and turning them into fast food music!