Fantasia Contrappuntistica - Plan of The Work

Plan of The Work

Fantasia contrappuntistica is written in twelve parts, and takes about 25 minutes to perform:

1. Preludio corale
2. Fuga I
3. Fuga II
4. Fuga III (on B-A-C-H)
5. Intermezzo
6. Variazione I
7. Variazione II
8. Variazione III
9. Cadenza
10. Fuga IV
11. Corale
12. Stretta

The first ten pages of the introductory "Preludio corale" are nearly identical to the Third Elegy with a few small cuts and alterations, including the removal of all German expression marks or their translation into Italian. In the third fugue, there is a returning melody composed of four notes, which are B♭, A, C, and B♮. These four notes spell Bach in German, where the H is the B♮, and are commonly known as the B-A-C-H motif.