But as the final fugue in "Falstaff," performed here with impressive clarity and zest, teaches us, the only answer is to laugh at ourselves.

The final fugue, Shostakovich felt, was a risk since fugues were considered formalistic.

The only expression of overt grief would seem to be the hell-bent final fugue.

And the final choreographic fugue implied that struggling, falling, rising and rejoicing are all part of the human condition.

The vertigo of the final fugue, set to the text "All the world is a jest," especially, shook the conscience like the voice from the whirlwind.

The final fugue gradually increases in intensity and volume.

Bach died before completing the final fugue.

The final fugue, unreasonably difficult to bring off convincingly, wanted more rhythmic steadiness.

In the final D-major fugue by Bach, he made little of the work's repetitive material.

The final fugue is organic and bold.