Best Fugue

Beethoven's String Quartet in C-sharp minor Op. 131 (1826) opens with a slow, grave fugue and unfolds across seven continuous movements, considered among the most profound works in the chamber repertoire.

Mozart's Symphony No. 41 in C major 'Jupiter' (1788), his final symphony, culminates in a coda combining five themes in simultaneous invertible counterpoint, widely regarded as his supreme symphonic achievement.

The Kyrie fugue serves as the opening choral movement of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem in D minor (K. 626), which he left unfinished at his death in 1791. The movement is structured as a double fugue utilizing the text "Kyrie eleison" and "Christe eleison," demanding substantial vocal coordinati...

The finale of Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major, Op. 106, widely known as the Hammerklavier, is a large-scale fugue composed in 1818. Marked "Allegro risoluto," the movement is built on a three-voice fugue subject distinguished by wide leaps and strict contrapuntal developme...

The concluding movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Op. 110, contains a complex fugue composed in 1821. The fugue is structurally integrated with a preceding "Arioso dolente," alternating between melancholic lyrical passages and rigorous counterpoint. Notably, the...

The Grosse Fuge (Große Fuge) in B-flat major, Op. 133, is a single-movement string quartet fugue composed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1825. It was originally conceived as the final movement of his String Quartet No. 13, Op. 130, but was detached at the publisher's request and published independently...

Contrapunctus XI is a triple fugue from Johann Sebastian Bach's The Art of Fugue (Die Kunst der Fuge), BWV 1080, compiled in his final years. It serves as a structural reworking of Contrapunctus VIII, utilizing three distinct subjects that are introduced and developed simultaneously. A defining feat...

Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp minor (BWV 849) is the fourth piece in the first book of Johann Sebastian Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, compiled in 1722. The prelude establishes a somber, flowing character that transitions into a rigorous five-voice fugue. The fugue is noted for its length, elabora...

The Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor (BWV 903) is a solo keyboard work by Johann Sebastian Bach. The fantasia section is structured as an improvisational, recitative-like piece heavily reliant on descending chromatic sequences. It is paired with a strict, mathematically precise fugue that uti...

The Fantasia and Fugue in G minor (BWV 542) is a major organ composition by Johann Sebastian Bach. Commonly referred to as the "Great" G minor to distinguish it from his smaller works in the same key, the piece features an opening fantasia built on complex harmonic sequences. The subsequent fugue ut...

The Prelude and Fugue in E minor (BWV 548) is a large-scale organ work by Johann Sebastian Bach. The composition is nicknamed the "Wedge" fugue due to its subject, which begins on a single note and expands chromatically outward in a wedge-like shape. The prelude functions as a substantial, rhythmica...

The Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor (BWV 582) is an organ composition by Johann Sebastian Bach. The passacaglia section is constructed over an eight-measure repeating ground bass in the pedal, which undergoes twenty continuous variations. This theme is then transformed into the subject of a fugue t...

Contrapunctus VIII is a component of 'The Art of Fugue,' an unfinished collection of contrapuntal works composed by Johann Sebastian Bach during the final years of his life. Designated as BWV 1080/8, it represents the first triple fugue within the sequence of the collection. The piece systematically...

The eighth pair in Johann Sebastian Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier Book I (1722), this work is set in E-flat minor. The prelude features flowing, expressive lines over a steady harmonic progression, while the fugue unfolds in three voices with a chromatic subject. It is one of the more somber and intr...

The twenty-second pair in Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier Book I (1722), this B-flat minor prelude and fugue is notable for containing the only five-voice fugue in the entire collection. The fugue's dense contrapuntal texture creates a solemn and weighty character. It represents one of the most complex...

This work is the concluding piece of Dmitri Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, composed in 1950–51 for solo piano. The cycle was modeled on Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and traverses all 24 major and minor keys. The D minor fugue is notable for its substantial length and three-voice coun...

Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BWV 544, is a large-scale organ composition by Johann Sebastian Bach, likely written during his Leipzig years. The prelude is built on a descending chromatic bass pattern and sustained, lyrical lines, while the fugue features a double-dotted subject and extends over a s...

Toccata and Fugue in F major, BWV 540, is an organ work by Johann Sebastian Bach, likely composed during his Weimar period (1708–1717). The toccata is built on extended sustained pedal points and brilliant manual flourishes, while the fugue is a double fugue with two distinct subjects treated in inv...

Contrapunctus I is the opening movement of Johann Sebastian Bach's Art of Fugue, BWV 1080, a collection of fugues and canons on a single subject composed in his final decade. It presents a straightforward four-voice fugue in D minor that states the work's principal subject in its original, unadorned...

The twelfth pair in Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier Book I (1722), this F minor prelude and fugue is among the more serious and weighty entries in the collection. The prelude builds tension through persistent rhythmic figures and chromatic harmonies, while the four-voice fugue features an expressive su...

Composed in 1850 by Franz Liszt, this work for organ is based on a chorale melody from Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera Le Prophète. The fantasy section employs the chorale as a cyclic thematic element, culminating in a triple fugue of considerable length and complexity. At approximately 30 minutes in perf...

Bruckner's Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major (completed 1876) ends with a finale that combines a chorale and a double fugue of monumental scale, unique in its structural ambition among 19th-century symphonies.

Prelude and Fugue in B-flat minor, BWV 891, is the twenty-second pair in Johann Sebastian Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier Book II, assembled around 1742. The prelude is characterized by a driving rhythmic figure and syncopations, while the four-voice fugue builds on a descending chromatic subject that...

Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 546, is a large-scale organ work by Johann Sebastian Bach, likely composed during his Leipzig years. The prelude features a majestic dotted-note theme and is structured in two major sections, while the fugue develops a subject marked by a distinctive rising fourth i...

This fugue concludes Giuseppe Verdi's final opera, Falstaff, which premiered at La Scala in Milan in 1893. Set to the words 'Tutto nel mondo è burla' ('All the world's a joke'), it is a double fugue sung by the entire ensemble cast in the final moments of the opera. It stands as one of the rare exam...

Contrapunctus V is the fifth movement of Johann Sebastian Bach's Art of Fugue, BWV 1080, composed in his final decade. It is the work's first counter-fugue, meaning the main subject appears simultaneously in its original form and in inversion (turned upside down melodically). The movement also intro...

Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major, BWV 564, is an organ work by Johann Sebastian Bach, likely composed during his Arnstadt or Mühlhausen years (1703–1708). It is one of the few Bach organ works structured in three distinct movements. The central adagio displays clear influence from Italian concer...

The Ricercar a 3 is a keyboard fugue composed by Johann Sebastian Bach for his 1747 collection, the Musical Offering, BWV 1079. The piece is based on a musical theme provided to Bach by Frederick the Great during Bach's visit to Potsdam. It is one of two ricercars in the collection, the other being...

The Prelude and Fugue in G-sharp minor (BWV 887) is a keyboard composition by Johann Sebastian Bach, cataloged as the 18th pair in the second book of his Well-Tempered Clavier. Compiled around 1742, the work exhibits the highly contrapuntal and chromatic style typical of Bach's later years. The fugu...