Anne pointed out:
> What many people forget is the fact that the Baroque composers did not
> expect performers to play their music exactly as written. It was assumed
> that the player would interpret the music to suit his/ her style of
playing
> or the mood he/she was in.
So, I started with this fugue and surgically removed several bars from the
middle of it. Then I changed the rhythm of the subject, making it dotted.
Then I changed about 40% of the notes and made it atonal, though keeping the
voices running in the same general direction that they were. Then I slowed
down the tempo and played it unsteadily, with the note attacks considerably
out of alignment and all the voices randomly speeding up or slowing down.
More recently I discovered there is an orchestral piece based on this same
fugue: "Rag Time" (1921) by Paul Hindemith.