I’d always thought this jingle would make a good fugue subject, and began tinkering with it as a hobby. At first I wasn’t happy with the result—I’m no Bach, so fugue writing isn’t my forte—and I set it aside for a few years. But going through some old computer files, I found my unfinished fugue and decided to give it another go. This is the completed version.
Since posting this, I’ve been told I’m not the first one to write a fugue on this theme, and an internet search confirmed it. Composer Gary Takesian wrote an organ fugue on this theme. He called it “Fugue on a Theme by Al K. Seltzer.” If you’re aware of any others, let me know. I’m curious to hear these novelties.
To jog your memory, or if you’ve never heard this jingle, I’ve included a bit of the original commercial. (Fortuitously, both the commercial and my fugue are in the same key.) The fugue audio file was generated by Finale notational software.
