I'm well into my treatment of the C-major subject, and I'm already salivating over the others.
As I examine them, it occurs to me - and I'm not saying this merely to flatter you, Brandon - that not only are they particularly fine and carefully wrought for their purpose (being exercises in the construction of fugues),
but they are also exceptional examples of how to formulate a subject that is at once interesting, challenging, artful and workable.
How many times have I set out to write a stand-alone fugue or a fugato encorporated into a larger movement, only to realise that the subject I'd chosen didn't lend itself well, if at all, to fugal treatment? Without a good subject, a fugue is nothing but an elaborate house of cards, even if correctly constructed.
This set of subjects is itself an impressive body of work. I grow more impressed every time I look at them, and as I work on treating them, I can feel myself growing as a composer - technically and artistically.
