Anyone who knows me knows of my love for counterpoint and imitation. So the idea of a six-voice fugue has held its obvious attraction for me for a long time. J. S. Bach only wrote one of those, his Ricercare a6, as one of the movements in his monumental “Musical Offering,” BWV 1079.

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He referred to the Ricercare a6 as his “Prussian Fugue,” indicating the degree to which the distinction between the two forms had been blurred by the time of its composition. Organists typically drag this thing out at very slow, solemn tempi — transcribed for brass it makes sense to move it along a bit

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This is along blow for a sextet — but doable. There are few breaks in this nearly seven-minute piece, but if you can pull it off as a sextet is sure to mightily impress.

 

Ricercare a6 sells for $18.00 for the hard copy, $15 for the pdf’s

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Ricercare a6 is not recorded, so the mP3’s are FINALE MIDI audio extracts (not a great sound, but you can get the idea of what the piece sounds like).

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I also have this available as a double-quintet on my Larger Brass page (LINK) and even as an octet on my Brass Octets and Nonets page(LINK);