Fantasia und Fuge a-moll

Here is the complete work.

I have deliberately added the Fantasia again,
1. so that the work can be heard in its entirety, and
2. because a mistake crept in with the tempo, which I have now tacitly corrected.

Without wanting to boast, I think that the fugue is pretty much the best I've managed so far (cough, cough ......)

It is rhythmically and harmonically extremely complicated. Triplets coincide with "normal" quaver/sixteenth note movements, syncopations as far as the ear can reach, ornaments ...... This piece is not only unplayable for the average organist, it also demands a lot of listening. In addition to the fugue theme, there is a harmonic twist that I personally love so much (from bar 17) - the minor dominant, which by definition should not actually exist: G major (tonic) <-> D minor (minor dominant). And because it is so strange, it also seems interesting, exotic perhaps ....
Well then, in the 2nd START we hear the inversion of the theme, which works quite well together with the running counterpoint. In general, you can recognise the true quality of a fugue theme when you place it upside down from back to front, and perfection would be achieved if the theme itself is quasi similar, i.e. if, for example, you can place the theme itself in an augmentation of the theme so that - and this is important - it sounds as beautiful or harmonious as possible ......

The middle section of the fugue is taken from the Fantasie, it may sound a little rushed, well at least it leads into a coda that lives up to its name. The minor dominant is back and the triplets rattle the pedal, oh God, I can't imagine for the life of me how an organist can remain seated on the bench during this piece, after breaking a leg he would surely fly down from the gallery in a high arc ..... Enough black humour .....

Have fun with my 8-minute composition!