fugato

A fugato is a short musical passage written in the style of a fugue. It may also refer to a piece that uses fugal texture but omits some typical features of a full fugue. The term comes from the Italian word for composing in fugal style.1

A fugue itself is a compositional technique in music where a principal theme, called the subject, is systematically imitated by simultaneously sounding melodic lines, known as counterpoint. This intricate form has been of great interest to composers and listeners of Western art music for centuries. While a fugato is a brief excerpt, a fugue can be a complete composition or a substantial section within a larger work.2