(It.: ‘narrow’, ‘tight’; past participle of stringere: ‘to tighten’, ‘to compress’).
In Fugue, the procedure of beginning a second statement of the subject before the preceding statement has finished, so that the two overlap (in German the technique is known as Engführung). The value of this technique for fugal composition has been recognized since the mid-17th century, when musicians including G.M. Bononcini and Reincken began to advocate its use near the end of a piece as a means of increasing excitement and intensity and thus leading the piece towards a suitable close. Reincken noted further that the composer should feel free to take greater liberties with the subject when composing stretto entries. The Fugue d’école prescribes stretto as a necessary component, but outside that context the technique is by no means always present in a fugue. A well-known example in which stretto plays a prominent role is the C major Fugue from book 1 of the ‘48’ (ex.1). Sometimes a composer will create what may be called a ‘false stretto’ by abandoning the first thematic statement after the second statement has begun. This procedure makes the compositional task much easier and can be at the same time of little concern to the listener, who, after hearing the first few notes, tends to supply the rest of the subject mentally. Although most teaching of fugue recommends that thematic statements not be overlapped in the exposition, this technique, which produces what is sometimes referred to as a ‘stretto exposition’, is occasionally found. A famous example occurs in the ‘Gratias agimus tibi’ (and ‘Dona nobis pacem’) chorus from Bach’s B minor Mass, originally the opening chorus of his Cantata no.29.
PAUL WALKER