A piece where one melody enters in several voices in turn and they chase each other through the whole thing.
In a fugue, a single theme (the subject) is stated alone, then answered by a second voice while the first continues, then a third, and so on, until the lines are woven together. Bach is the master. The pleasure is in following one line while hearing the others around it, like watching several conversations at a dinner table.
Also seen as: fugue, fugues, fugal