My favorite Fugues by Bach.

1. BWV 903 Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue

2. BWV 831 French Overture

3. Prelude and Fugue in A minor

4. "Little Fugue" in G minor

5. "Great Fugue" in G minor

If anyone is interested in my favorite Bach fugues here are my favorites, and the performances that I adore. Comment your favorites!

My favourite fugue must be these two: The fugue in the C# minor prelude and fugue WTC I since I freakingly love C# minor, and there are 5 voices and three subjects there! There are many recordings I love on this one, but I freakingly love the one by Nikolayeva:

https://youtu.be/ICb-JdD_AQw&t=2m54s

I also love the contrapunctus XIV in Die Kunst der Fuge, sadly Bach didn't complete the supposed quardruple fugue! But I like the completion by the Netherlands Bach Society:

Great topic!  Thanks for sharing your favorites!  My favorite is by far the fugue fantasia in E minor the "Wedge" fugue:

Without any hesitation, the Gratias Agimus Tibi from the Mass in B Minor.

Here is a fugal diagram for interest:

As can be seen here, the piece reaches an extraordinary level of motivic saturation (think BWV 874) - but what sets this fugue particularly apart, is the journey it takes the listener on, and the emotions it evokes upon the listener. On the surface, it is one of the best conceived and executed example of a continual crescendo. But dig deeper and you find yourself looking at a complex feat of musical engineering founded on a basis of theory and logic - not feelings alone. This to me is the absolute embodiment of the beauty of Bach, and what makes Bach special.

And on the opposite side of the spectrum - the opening choral fugue from BWV 105 (as a Prelude - Fugue pair!):

I say "opposite" here because of the piece's fundamental simplicity in its construction. It is only knowing the context - that Bach had composed this entire cantata in the span of roughly three days, that it becomes clear why this is impressive. Under the time constraint, Bach generated some key musical ideas (for this fugue: a 5-bar long quadruple counterpoint) and germinated them in very simple, but highly effective ways.

Then there's...this thing from BWV 108. It's just flat-out weird. The first section for example, is stuck in an endless loop of permanent V-I progressions (at quaver speeds!). I love it though, for the unique sound it has!

19 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

My favourite fugue must be these two: The fugue in the C# minor prelude and fugue WTC I since I freakingly love C# minor, and there are 5 voices and three subjects there! There are many recordings I love on this one, but I freakingly love the one by Nikolayeva:

She's one of the best, when I hear her play Bach, it's so peaceful. Like a child playing a game, there's only innocence and ease.

18 hours ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

Great topic!  Thanks for sharing your favorites!  My favorite is by far the fugue fantasia in E minor the "Wedge" fugue

 

And great pick sir, this is one epic fugue. Thank the heavens for gerubach (and smallin).

14 hours ago, muchen_ said:

Without any hesitation, the Gratias Agimus Tibi from the Mass in B Minor.

Here is a fugal diagram for interest:As can beseen here, the piece reaches an extraordinary level of motivic saturation (think BWV 874) - but what sets this fugue particularly apart, is the journey it takes the listener on, and the emotions it evokes upon the listener. On the surface, it is one of the best conceived and executed example of a continual crescendo. But dig deeper and you find yourself looking at a complex feat of musical engineering founded on a basis of theory and logic - not feelings alone. This to me is the absolute embodiment of the beauty of Bach, and what makes Bach special.

And on the opposite side of the spectrum - the opening choral fugue from BWV 105 (as a Prelude - Fugue pair!):

I say "opposite" here because of the piece's fundamental simplicity in its construction. It is only knowing the context - that Bach had composed this entire cantata in the span of roughly three days, that it becomes clear why this is impressive. Under the time constraint, Bach generated some key musical ideas (for this fugue: a 5-bar long quadruple counterpoint) and germinated them in very simple, but highly effective ways.

Then there's...this thing from BWV 108. It's just flat-out weird. The first section for example, is stuck in an endless loop of permanent V-I progressions (at quaver speeds!). I love it though, for the unique sound it has!

 

The mass is beautiful, although I never really quite listened to it closely yet. Thank you for specifying the fugue, now you have sparked me interest in it. I gotta say that most of fugues are a journey, slowly building up to the climax when all the voices re-enter >.<. But I see your point.