Controversy over Stretto in Bach’s Fugue

Abstract

The secrets of composer skill, in particular the techniques of counterpoint and canon, attracted the attention of S. Taneyev from an early age. The composer’s short but succinct handwritten text, presented in the article, highlights one of the aspects of this interest associated with the search for a constructive basis – the original structure in the polyphonic works of J. S. Bach. Contrapuntal texture grows from these fragments, and they also serve as an impetus for the creation of a certain polyphonic form. The six-voice canon discovered by young Taneyev, which explains all the strettos in the fi rst fugue of the Well-Tempered Clavier, remained a relevant argument for mature Taneyev – a scientist and composer – in a professional dispute with S. Smolensky.