Bach - Fugue in B Minor, "Little"

Johann Sebastian Bach is a bright dividing line in music, in many ways similar to Thomas Aquinas in philosophy.  Before, everything was one way; after, everything was different.  I'm not sure why, but listening to Bach often reminds me of Aquinas - probably it's the mixture of the divinely inspired with the pure, human, creative genius that leads to a sense of astonishment that something like this could be created.

Bach is well known for his fugues - indeed, Toccata and Fugue is so well known as to be it's own Hollywood horror flick trope.  But probably his greatest was the "Little" fugue in B Minor.  It was called "Little" to distinguish it from the "Great" Fugue in G Minor, which was longer.

A Fugue is a piece that starts with a theme - a melody, if you will.  This theme is repeated and echoed back from different "voices": singers, instruments, or organ "hands".  The voices  play back and forth, either expounding the theme or embellishing and accompanying it.  Listening to the voices mesh and work together it is like watching the workings of a fine Swiss mechanical watch.  It's intellectual entertainment that - at its best - also feeds the soul.

This is a particularly interesting performance of the Little Fugue, where the notes of the piece are shown visibly, and color coded by voice.  It's almost like listening and watching the watch whir and click.  It's certainly not the music that Aquinas would have heard, but since he was the smartest guy of the millennium, I expect that he would have understood the fusion of divine and mortal inspiration.



This piece is also interesting in just how influential it has been through the ages, and remains to this day.  Here's Styx's version, from their album Styx II:



And if all that isn't enough, here's Toccata and Fugue:



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