This work is considered spurious due to its transmission solely through later sources and its somewhat unskillful musical content.

The subject includes repeated notes and three motives with different tempi. Such subjects are of the type that old fugue treatises teach as ideal subjects: easy for the listener to grasp and not miss, and easy for the composer to combine with multiple voices. However, the overall sound of this work, rather than being archaic, possesses a bright flexibility reminiscent of Handel, suggesting music from a slightly later period than Bach. Furthermore, the voice writing is not strictly maintained, with a fourth voice appearing and disappearing in various places. Moreover, the intermediate perfect cadence, which invariably appears in Bach's mature fugues, only occurs in this piece after more than four-fifths of the work has passed. And since it is in the remote key of G major, the development had to be somewhat rushed to bring it back to the tonic key effectively in the remaining 12 measures.

Compared to other works by Bach, sequential progressions, parallel motion, and simple repetitions are prominent. The true author is not clear, but it is probably not J. S. Bach. Nevertheless, it possesses a certain expansiveness not found in Bach's overly intricate fugal works, and a sense of reassurance due to the abundance of commonplaces. As it does not demand significant performing technique, it is also an approachable work for practicing fugues.