A musical composition or section that uses fugal techniques in opposition or contrast to another fugal theme.
From counter- + fugue (Latin fuga, meaning 'flight'). This advanced musical term appears in theory texts starting in the 18th century.
Bach didn't invent counterfugue, but he mastered it—imagine two separate melodies chasing each other in opposite directions, weaving around each other so intricately that your ear doesn't know which to follow, yet it's perfect harmony.
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