Humor in Eighteenth-Century Dress: The Comic Form of Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge, Op. 133.

Authors

• Stephen Husarik, University of Arkansas - Fort SmithFollow

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge (Op. 133), previously interpreted as a work shaped by comedic design, can also be understood as an “algorithmic fugue” in which the subject undergoes a systematic process from deformation to restoration. Rather than relying mainly on traditional contrapuntal devices such as inversion and augmentation, Beethoven reshapes the theme through syncopation and paired slurred pulses, then expands these alterations into increasingly exaggerated fugal textures. Drawing on sketches and manuscript sources, this paper argues that the process resembles the moves of a Rubik’s Cube, with each transformation contributing to an eventual solution. In the closing measures, Beethoven reverses the distortions by restoring the subject to its original legato form while transferring the altered figures to the countersubject above. The result is a clear pattern of disruption and resolution that gives the work a comedic trajectory—not through humor or musical jokes, but through the restoration of order. The Grosse Fuge thus emerges as a radical reimagining of fugal procedure, one in which expressive disorder becomes the means of achieving formal unity.

Recommended Citation

Husarik, Stephen (2026) "Humor in Eighteenth-Century Dress: The Comic Form of Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge, Op. 133.," HAYDN: Online Journal of the Haydn Society of North America: Vol. 16: Iss. 1, Article 4.
Available at: https://remix.berklee.edu/haydn-journal/vol16/iss1/4