The lower notes on the bass staff are the real bass of the harmony, given to the orchestra; the upper notes show the voice part. Here is an example of a close stretto, modulating freely from C through F and B flat to E flat. This is distinctly modern in character; the old masters rarely go beyond tonic and dominant keys in a very close stretto.
In this passage from the same fugue, the imitation is closer and more continuous than in the preceding. There are in all nine entries of the fragment of the subject, the last being a sequential repetition of the preceding.
288. The stretto is capable, as will be seen from our examples, of so much variety that it is impossible to deal exhaustively with the subject in such a book as this. It is hoped that enough has been said in this chapter to enable the student to analyze for himself, and to understand any stretti that he may meet with in the fugues he may be playing. He will learn far more by such analysis than in any other way; and it is for this reason that we have dissected and explained so many passages in this and the preceding chapters.
289. As practical exercises on the stretto, let the student take the fugue subjects given at the end of Chapter IV., and try to make as many stretti as he can from them. He will find that some of them will work quite easily in this way, while others will be less pliable. He should try them at various distances, both of time and interval. For his two-part stretti he should also write free parts, making three or four-part harmony.
