the beginning of the subject, the answer may be in the subdominant key, in order to conform to the important general principle that dominant harmony in the subject should be replied to by tonic harmony in the answer.
81. If the whole subject be in the key of the subdominant, the answer will be in the key of the tonic—
Handel. 'Jephtha.'
In this case the relationship of the two keys is evidently the same as that of tonic and dominant.
82. If the subject begin in the key of the subdominant and modulate to the tonic, the answer will begin in the key of the tonic and modulate to the dominant—
Handel. 'Alexander's Feast.'
The subject here ends on the first crotchet of the third bar. It begins in G minor and modulates in the second bar to D minor. The answer begins in D minor and modulates to A minor. The proof that the subject commences in G minor is found in the first note of the answer. If Handel had regarded A as the dominant of D minor, instead of the supertonic of G minor, he would have answered it, according to the laws of tonal fugue, by D and not E.
83. Intermediate modulations (except to the key of the dominant) should be imitated exactly in the answer—
Handel. 'Semele.'