Contrapunctus XIV (unfinished)
E298752
Contrapunctus XIV (unfinished) is the final, incomplete fugue from J.S. Bach’s *The Art of Fugue*, renowned for its complex contrapuntal design and abrupt break that has inspired much scholarly speculation and completion attempts.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Contrapunctus XIV (unfinished) canonical | 1 |
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
fugue
ⓘ
movement of a musical work ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs |
The Art of Fugue
ⓘ
surface form:
Final fugue of The Art of Fugue
Fuga a 3 Soggetti ⓘ |
| catalogueNumber | BWV 1080 (part of) ⓘ |
| completionAttemptsBy |
Dmitri Sitkovetsky
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Donald Tovey ⓘ Ferruccio Busoni ⓘ Helmut Walcha ⓘ Zoltán Göncz ⓘ various contemporary composers and scholars ⓘ |
| composer | Johann Sebastian Bach ⓘ |
| dateOfComposition | circa 1740s ⓘ |
| feature |
contrapuntal combination of multiple subjects
ⓘ
triple fugue ⓘ use of B–A–C–H motif ⓘ |
| genre | contrapuntal keyboard work ⓘ |
| hasTheme |
principal subject derived from earlier Art of Fugue material
ⓘ
second subject with distinctive rhythmic profile ⓘ third subject using B–A–C–H motif ⓘ |
| historicalContext | Bach’s final decade ⓘ |
| inCollection |
The Art of Fugue
ⓘ
surface form:
Die Kunst der Fuge
|
| influenced | later contrapuntal composition techniques ⓘ |
| intendedInstrumentation | keyboard instrument ⓘ |
| intendedNumberOfSubjects | 4 ⓘ |
| key | D minor ⓘ |
| musicologicalSignificance |
central example in studies of fugue construction
ⓘ
frequently analyzed in counterpoint pedagogy ⓘ |
| musicologicalTopic |
Bach’s late style
ⓘ
fugal combination of multiple subjects ⓘ techniques of invertible counterpoint ⓘ |
| notableFor |
abrupt break in the manuscript
ⓘ
complex contrapuntal design ⓘ numerous modern completion attempts ⓘ subject based on the B–A–C–H name motif ⓘ |
| numberOfSubjects | 3 ⓘ |
| partOf | The Art of Fugue ⓘ |
| placeOfComposition | Leipzig ⓘ |
| positionInWork | final fugue of the cycle ⓘ |
| primarySource |
The Art of Fugue
ⓘ
surface form:
Bach’s autograph score of The Art of Fugue
|
| relatedMotif | B–A–C–H motif in other Bach-related works ⓘ |
| relatedWork | other contrapuncti in The Art of Fugue ⓘ |
| scholarlyDebate |
reason for its incompleteness
ⓘ
whether Bach intended to combine all four subjects ⓘ |
| survivesAs | autograph manuscript fragment ⓘ |
| typicalDuration | approximately 8–10 minutes in performance with completion ⓘ |
| workStatus | unfinished ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.