The Sound of "Sirens": Joyce's Fuga Per Canonem and Absolute Music

Beginning with an historical analysis of the fugue and its place in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century musicology, this article examines James Joyce’s claims of having written the “Sirens” episode of Ulysses as a fuga per canonem .  Keeping in mind that the fugue was considered to be the highest form of absolute music at the time that Joyce was writing “Sirens,” this article establishes that Joyce’s implementation of the fugue is in keeping with the spirit of absolute music in that structure and effect are granted equal importance.