Fugal Composition: a Guide to the Study of Bach's '48'.(Book Review)(Brief Article)

Fugal Composition: A Guide to the Study of Bach's '48', by Joseph Groocock; edited by Yo Tomita. Greenwood Press (88 Post Rd. W., Box 5007, Westport, CT 06881-5007), 2003. 248 pp. $67.95.

Joseph Groocock's Fugal Composition: A Guide to the Study of Bach's '48' makes a recent and valuable contribution to the subject of counterpoint. While not a must-have for every pianist, it might well prove an essential reference for the serious student of fugue and of Bach's genius Well-Tempered Clavier in particular. A much-respected teacher, composer, keyboardist and conductor, the English Groocock (1913-1997) spent most of his career in Ireland, where he became known as a leader in the field of fugue and counterpoint. After Groocock's death, Yo Tomita, faculty member at Queen's University, Belfast, and creator of the online Bach Bibliography (www.music.qub.ac.uk/ [Tilde]tomita/bachbib.html), reworked the author's unpublished manuscript and debuted the present book in 2003. Tomita adds extensive notes and a highly useful annotated bibliography.

The book's publisher calls the work "eminently readable despite the complexity of its subject" and goes on to praise Tomita for supplying "comparative analyses using current and previous scholarship on every fugue--illustrating where the author supports or challenges other viewpoints."

Following concise and dear explanations of fugal style, answers, counter-subjects and exposition, Groocock ...