Fugues
Bach’s ‘Toccata & Fugue in D minor’ (BWV565) – see Figure 9 – and Handel’s ‘Fugue no.6 in C minor’ (HWV610); see Figure 10.
Conclusion
My analysis of fugues by these two composers shows is that fugues can be as fixed or free in terms of structure and development of ideas as the composer wishes. Beyond including Exposition and Development sections, there is no ‘correct’ way to write a fugue and tools, such as ‘episode’, ‘stretto’, ‘coda’ etc. , are all compositional devices at the disposal of the composer to shape each composition. Bach’s style of fugue writing tends to exhibit a strict (fixed) structure using the Exposition- Development-Recapitulation form. However, he finds artistic freedom in his use of episode. In contrast, Handel’s structure tends to be freer than Bach’s, only including a Recapitulation section in some compositions, yet is more fixed in his use of short, transitional episode. There is no way to rank whose methods are more ‘free’. However, Bach is more playful in how he manipulates raw, fixed motifs and Handel more flexible in how he pieces them together.
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