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| The third voice (following the subject in the first voice and the answer in the second) will give the subject starting on the same scale degree as the first voice, though usually in a different ]. The second voice gives the counter-subject (if there is one) and the first gives something different. The fourth voice (if there is one) will answer on the same degree (though different octave) as the second again; the fifth the same as the first and third; and so on, until all the voices have entered. In each case, the odd-numbered voices give the subject at the original pitch, the even-numbered voices give the answer at a different pitch, and following the subject or answer there is the counter-subject (if the fugue has one). The last entry of the subject is usually at a higher or lower pitch than all the other voices, as all the other voices are going now and it would get lost if it was somewhere in the middle. This first part of a fugue is known as the ''exposition''. | The third voice (following the subject in the first voice and the answer in the second) will give the subject starting on the same scale degree as the first voice, though usually in a different ]. The second voice gives the counter-subject (if there is one) and the first gives something different. The fourth voice (if there is one) will answer on the same degree (though different octave) as the second again; the fifth the same as the first and third; and so on, until all the voices have entered. In each case, the odd-numbered voices give the subject at the original pitch, the even-numbered voices give the answer at a different pitch, and following the subject or answer there is the counter-subject (if the fugue has one). The last entry of the subject is usually at a higher or lower pitch than all the other voices, as all the other voices are going now and it would get lost if it was somewhere in the middle. This first part of a fugue is known as the ''exposition''. | ||
| The fugue may stop after this initial exposition, but |
The fugue may stop after this initial exposition, but will usually carry on to one or more ''episodes'': sections in which the subject is absent. Material in episodes is often based on some element of the exposition - for example, a melodic motif may be taken and repeated ]. There may also be ''middle entries'': these are entries of the subject by fewer than all the voices in the fugue, often varied in some way. They are often given in keys other than the tonic or dominant, or in a different mode (that is, in D minor instead of D major, or vice versa). They may also vary the subject by giving it in ''inversion'' (upside-down), ''retrograde'' (back-to-front), ''diminution'' (with shorter note values) or ''augmentation'' (with longer note values; the subject in augmentation entering in the bass is quite a common device used at the end of fugues). Sometimes the voices enter in ''stretto'' - at a short distance from each other, one voice starting the theme before the last one has finished its entry (this is also particularly common at the end of fugues). . Sometimes there may be ''false entires'' - entries which begin the fugue subject, but do not give it in full. | ||
| Episodes may be interspersed with repeated expositions in which all voices give subjects and answers as at the beginning of the fugue, though these may be also be varied, by the voices entering in a different order to how they did at the start of the fugue, for example. A fugue may end with a ''recapitulation'' in which the entires of the subject are repeated in the manner it was first introduced. There may also be a ] to conclude the fugue. | Episodes may be interspersed with repeated expositions in which all voices give subjects and answers as at the beginning of the fugue, though these may be also be varied, by the voices entering in a different order to how they did at the start of the fugue, for example. A fugue may end with a ''recapitulation'' in which the entires of the subject are repeated in the manner it was first introduced. There may also be a ] to conclude the fugue. | ||
| ===Double (Triple, Quadruple) fugue=== | ===Double (Triple, Quadruple) fugue=== | ||
| A double fugue is a fugue with two subjects played and developed simultaneously. Sometimes the second subject is initially presented as the counter-subject of the first, while in other examples, the second subject has its own exposition. In this latter case, the work has the structure: fugue on subject A; fugue on subject B; combination of subjects A and B. | A double fugue is a fugue with two subjects played and developed simultaneously. Sometimes the second subject is initially presented as the counter-subject of the first, while in other examples, the second subject has its own exposition. In this latter case, the work has the structure: fugue on subject A; fugue on subject B; combination of subjects A and B. | ||
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| The term ''fuga'' was used as far back as the Middle Ages, but was initially used to refer to any kind of imitative counterpoint, including ]s, which are now thought of as distinct from fugues. It was not until the 16th century that fugal technique as it is understood today began to be seen in pieces, both instrumental and vocal. Fugal writing is found in works such as ''fantasias'', ''ricercares'' and ''canzonas''. | The term ''fuga'' was used as far back as the Middle Ages, but was initially used to refer to any kind of imitative counterpoint, including ]s, which are now thought of as distinct from fugues. It was not until the 16th century that fugal technique as it is understood today began to be seen in pieces, both instrumental and vocal. Fugal writing is found in works such as ''fantasias'', ''ricercares'' and ''canzonas''. | ||
| ===The fugue in the Baroque era=== | |||
| ⚫ | It was in the ] period that the writing of fugues became really popular. ], ], ] and ] all wrote fugues, and ] included them in many of his ]s. Keyboard ]s from this time often conclude with a fugal ]. The ], used by French |
||
| ⚫ | It was in the ] period that the writing of fugues became really popular. ], ], ] and ] all wrote fugues, and ] included them in many of his ]s. Keyboard ]s from this time often conclude with a fugal ]. The ], used by French Baroque composers as well as by Handel to open his oratorios and operas and Bach to open his orchestral suites, features a quick fugal section after a slow introduction. | ||
| The ] ] ] is generally regarded as the greatest composer of fugues. He often entered into contests where he would be given a subject with which to spontaneously ] a fugue on the ] or ]. | The ] ] ] is generally regarded as the greatest composer of fugues. He often entered into contests where he would be given a subject with which to spontaneously ] a fugue on the ] or ]. | ||
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| Bach's most famous fugues are those in the unfinished '']'' and '']''. The former is a collection of fugues (and four ]s) on a single theme; the latter is two volumes written in different times of his life, each comprising 24 prelude and fugue pairs, one for each major and minor key. Bach also wrote smaller single fugues, and incorporated fugal writing in many of his works that were not fugues per se. | Bach's most famous fugues are those in the unfinished '']'' and '']''. The former is a collection of fugues (and four ]s) on a single theme; the latter is two volumes written in different times of his life, each comprising 24 prelude and fugue pairs, one for each major and minor key. Bach also wrote smaller single fugues, and incorporated fugal writing in many of his works that were not fugues per se. | ||
| ===The fugue in the Classical era=== | |||
| Beyond the baroque era, most fugues were incorporated into larger works, rather than being stand-alone pieces. Fugues often appear as the last movement of multi-movement works: all of ]'s Opus 20 string quartets end with a fugue. ] ended his ] and late ] with fugues (although his publisher requested that he revise the quartet and replace the fugal movement, which was then published separately as op. 133, the '']'' ("Great Fugue")). There are also fugal sections in his '']'' and '']''. ] incorporated fugal writing into the finale of his '']'' and his opera '']''. | |||
| During the Classical era, the fugue was no longer a central or even fully natural mode of musical composition. Nevertheless, the three greatest composers of the Classical era, ], ], and ], all had periods of their careers in which they in some sense "rediscovered" fugal writing and used it frequently in their work. | |||
| Haydn's first spell of fugue-writing occurred when he composed his ], (op. 20, 1772) of which four have fugal finales. This was an practice that Haydn only repeated once later in his quartet-writing career, with the finale of his quartet Op. 50 no. 4 (1787). However, a second period of fugue writing for Haydn occurred after he had heard, and been greatly inspired by, the ]s of ] during his visits to London (1791-1793, 1794-1795). As a result, Haydn studied Handel's techniques and incorporated Handelian fugal writing into the choruses of his mature oratorios ] and ] | |||
| For Mozart, one impetus to fugal writing can be clearly identified: the influence of Baron ], in Vienna around 1782. Van Swieten, during diplomatic service in ], had taken the opportunity to collect as many manuscripts by Bach and Handel as he could, and he invited Mozart to study his collection and also encouraged him to transcribe various works for other combinations of instruments. Mozart, evidently fascinated by these works, soon set to writing fugues on his own, mimicking the Baroque style. These included the fugues for string quartet, K. 405 (1782) and a fugue in C Minor K. 426 for two pianos (1783). Later, Mozart incorporated fugal writing into the finale of his '']'' and his opera '']''. | |||
| Beethoven was familiar with fugal writing from childhood, as an important part of his training was playing the preludes and fugues from ]. During his early career in ], Beethoven attracted notice for his performance of these works. However,fugues did not take on a truly central role in Beethoven's work until his "late period." A fugue forms the development section of the last movement of his piano sonata op. 101 (1816), and massive, dissonant fugues form the finales of his ] piano sonata (1818) and ] (1825); the latter was later published separately as op. 133, the '']'' ("Great Fugue")). Beethoven's last piano sonata, op. 111 (1822) integrates fugal texture throughout the first movement, written in ]. Fugues are also found in the ] and in the finale of the '']''. | |||
| An instance of fugal writing in earlier Beethoven occurs in the slow movement of the '']'' (1805). | |||
| A common characteristic of the Classical composers is that they usually wrote fugues not as isolated works but as part of a larger work, often as a sonata-form development section or as a finale. It was also characteristic to abandon fugal texture just before the end of a work, providing a purely homophonic resolution. This is found, for instance, in the final fugue of the chorus "The Heavens are Telling" in Haydn's ] (1798) and the final fugal section of Beethoven's piano sonata op. 110 (1822). | |||
| ===The fugue in the Romantic era and later=== | |||
| Fugues became somewhat less popular in the ] era, although examples of fugal writing are found in the last movement of ]'s '']'', and ]'s '']'' overture. The finale of ]'s opera '']'' is a ten-voice fugue. ] and ] also included fugues in many of their works. The final part of Schumann's '']'' is a double fugue, and his opus numbers 126, 72 and 60 are all sets of fugues for the piano (opus 60 based on the ]). Brahms' '']'' ends with a fugue, as does his first '']''. The writing of fugues also remained an important part of musical education throughout the 19th century. | Fugues became somewhat less popular in the ] era, although examples of fugal writing are found in the last movement of ]'s '']'', and ]'s '']'' overture. The finale of ]'s opera '']'' is a ten-voice fugue. ] and ] also included fugues in many of their works. The final part of Schumann's '']'' is a double fugue, and his opus numbers 126, 72 and 60 are all sets of fugues for the piano (opus 60 based on the ]). Brahms' '']'' ends with a fugue, as does his first '']''. The writing of fugues also remained an important part of musical education throughout the 19th century. | ||
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| ==Perceptions of the fugue== | ==Perceptions of the fugue== | ||
| Fugues are sometimes seen as one of the most profound forms in music, though almost as often they are seen as dry, boring technical exercises (an oft repeated joke is that the fugue is "a composition where the instruments come in one by one and the audience goes out one by one"). The derogatory term ''school fugue'' is sometimes applied to fugues which have no real musical interest and have been merely written to demonstrate technical ability. One |
Fugues are sometimes seen as one of the most profound forms in music, though almost as often they are seen as dry, boring technical exercises (an oft repeated joke is that the fugue is "a composition where the instruments come in one by one and the audience goes out one by one"). The derogatory term ''school fugue'' is sometimes applied to fugues which have no real musical interest and have been merely written to demonstrate technical ability. One musicologist has observed that the fugues of Bach and Beethoven are great "despite" the fact that they are fugues, not because they are fugues. | ||
| Although the fugue is often described as a form and many stand-alone fugues have been written, the critic ] wrote that "Fugue is not so much a musical form as a musical texture". In other words, it can be introduced anywhere as a distinctive and recognizable technique. | Although the fugue is often described as a form and many stand-alone fugues have been written, the critic ] wrote that "Fugue is not so much a musical form as a musical texture". In other words, it can be introduced anywhere as a distinctive and recognizable technique. | ||
Revision as of 23:37, 7 September 2003
- For the use of the word in psychology see fugue state
In music, a fugue is a process in which a subject is stated and developed in imitative counterpoint. Because the fugal process may yield various forms, it is not technically a form (although it is often referred to as such).
The word fugue comes from the Latin fuga (flight) and fugere (to flee). Variants include fughetta (a small fugue) and fugato (a work or section of a work resembling a fugue but not necessarily adhering to the rules of one). The adjectival form of fugue is fugal.
Characteristics and anatomy of fugues
Fugues are said to be in a number of voices or parts (the term voices may be used even if the fugue is not written for singers), that is, independent melodic lines. Fugues are generally in from three to five parts, but eight or even ten parts are possible in large choral or orchestral fugues. Fugues in fewer than three parts are rare, because with two parts the subject can only jump back and forth between the upper and lower part. The best-known example of a two-voice work is the E minor fugue from Book 1 of The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach.
There are no "rules" as such dictating what does and does not qualify as a fugue. However, fugues have certain characteristics, and a typical fugue will tend to adhere to the following pattern.
A fugue begins with a statement of the subject. This is the main theme which will be manipulated throughout the work. After the subject, the second voice enters with the answer. This is the original subject at a different pitch, usually a perfect fifth higher or (less often) perfect fourth lower (see interval). Sometimes one or more of the intervals within the subject may be slightly changed in the answer (a minor third becoming a major third, for instance) to keep it in the same key as the subject; in this case, the answer is said to be tonal. An answer in which none of the intervals are changed is said to be real.
As the answer is going on in the second voice, the first voice will often play the counter-subject, a melody which accompanies the subject (the countersubject may itself be used as a subject, in which case the fugue is a double fugue).
The third voice (following the subject in the first voice and the answer in the second) will give the subject starting on the same scale degree as the first voice, though usually in a different octave. The second voice gives the counter-subject (if there is one) and the first gives something different. The fourth voice (if there is one) will answer on the same degree (though different octave) as the second again; the fifth the same as the first and third; and so on, until all the voices have entered. In each case, the odd-numbered voices give the subject at the original pitch, the even-numbered voices give the answer at a different pitch, and following the subject or answer there is the counter-subject (if the fugue has one). The last entry of the subject is usually at a higher or lower pitch than all the other voices, as all the other voices are going now and it would get lost if it was somewhere in the middle. This first part of a fugue is known as the exposition.
The fugue may stop after this initial exposition, but will usually carry on to one or more episodes: sections in which the subject is absent. Material in episodes is often based on some element of the exposition - for example, a melodic motif may be taken and repeated sequentially. There may also be middle entries: these are entries of the subject by fewer than all the voices in the fugue, often varied in some way. They are often given in keys other than the tonic or dominant, or in a different mode (that is, in D minor instead of D major, or vice versa). They may also vary the subject by giving it in inversion (upside-down), retrograde (back-to-front), diminution (with shorter note values) or augmentation (with longer note values; the subject in augmentation entering in the bass is quite a common device used at the end of fugues). Sometimes the voices enter in stretto - at a short distance from each other, one voice starting the theme before the last one has finished its entry (this is also particularly common at the end of fugues). . Sometimes there may be false entires - entries which begin the fugue subject, but do not give it in full.
Episodes may be interspersed with repeated expositions in which all voices give subjects and answers as at the beginning of the fugue, though these may be also be varied, by the voices entering in a different order to how they did at the start of the fugue, for example. A fugue may end with a recapitulation in which the entires of the subject are repeated in the manner it was first introduced. There may also be a coda to conclude the fugue.
Double (Triple, Quadruple) fugue
A double fugue is a fugue with two subjects played and developed simultaneously. Sometimes the second subject is initially presented as the counter-subject of the first, while in other examples, the second subject has its own exposition. In this latter case, the work has the structure: fugue on subject A; fugue on subject B; combination of subjects A and B.
Similarly, one can have triple and quadruple fugues. Bach wrote several triple fugues, such as C# minor WTC I and F# minor WTC II. Double fugues are more rare in his oevre, see B major WTC II. The unfinished last fugue of Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue) is also a triple fugue, ending on a rather spectacular combination of the three themes. However, the main theme of DKdF is not among these three themes, and in fact it can fairly easily be reconstructed how it would fit in. Therefore, it is pretty certain that this unfinished fugue is actually the rump of (the only known?) quadruple fugue. Completions of this fugue, such as by Tovey, interpret it as such.
History of the fugue
The term fuga was used as far back as the Middle Ages, but was initially used to refer to any kind of imitative counterpoint, including canons, which are now thought of as distinct from fugues. It was not until the 16th century that fugal technique as it is understood today began to be seen in pieces, both instrumental and vocal. Fugal writing is found in works such as fantasias, ricercares and canzonas.
The fugue in the Baroque era
It was in the Baroque period that the writing of fugues became really popular. Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Johann Jacob Froberger and Deitrich Buxtehude all wrote fugues, and Georg Frideric Handel included them in many of his oratorios. Keyboard suites from this time often conclude with a fugal gigue. The French overture, used by French Baroque composers as well as by Handel to open his oratorios and operas and Bach to open his orchestral suites, features a quick fugal section after a slow introduction.
The 18th century composer Johann Sebastian Bach is generally regarded as the greatest composer of fugues. He often entered into contests where he would be given a subject with which to spontaneously improvise a fugue on the organ or harpsichord.
Bach's most famous fugues are those in the unfinished Art of Fugue and The Well-Tempered Clavier. The former is a collection of fugues (and four canons) on a single theme; the latter is two volumes written in different times of his life, each comprising 24 prelude and fugue pairs, one for each major and minor key. Bach also wrote smaller single fugues, and incorporated fugal writing in many of his works that were not fugues per se.
The fugue in the Classical era
During the Classical era, the fugue was no longer a central or even fully natural mode of musical composition. Nevertheless, the three greatest composers of the Classical era, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, all had periods of their careers in which they in some sense "rediscovered" fugal writing and used it frequently in their work.
Haydn's first spell of fugue-writing occurred when he composed his Sun quartets, (op. 20, 1772) of which four have fugal finales. This was an practice that Haydn only repeated once later in his quartet-writing career, with the finale of his quartet Op. 50 no. 4 (1787). However, a second period of fugue writing for Haydn occurred after he had heard, and been greatly inspired by, the oratorios of Handel during his visits to London (1791-1793, 1794-1795). As a result, Haydn studied Handel's techniques and incorporated Handelian fugal writing into the choruses of his mature oratorios The Creation and The Seasons.
For Mozart, one impetus to fugal writing can be clearly identified: the influence of Baron Gottfried van Swieten, in Vienna around 1782. Van Swieten, during diplomatic service in Berlin, had taken the opportunity to collect as many manuscripts by Bach and Handel as he could, and he invited Mozart to study his collection and also encouraged him to transcribe various works for other combinations of instruments. Mozart, evidently fascinated by these works, soon set to writing fugues on his own, mimicking the Baroque style. These included the fugues for string quartet, K. 405 (1782) and a fugue in C Minor K. 426 for two pianos (1783). Later, Mozart incorporated fugal writing into the finale of his Symphony No. 41 and his opera The Magic Flute.
Beethoven was familiar with fugal writing from childhood, as an important part of his training was playing the preludes and fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier. During his early career in Vienna, Beethoven attracted notice for his performance of these works. However,fugues did not take on a truly central role in Beethoven's work until his "late period." A fugue forms the development section of the last movement of his piano sonata op. 101 (1816), and massive, dissonant fugues form the finales of his Hammerklavier piano sonata (1818) and string quartet op. 130 (1825); the latter was later published separately as op. 133, the Grosse Fuge ("Great Fugue")). Beethoven's last piano sonata, op. 111 (1822) integrates fugal texture throughout the first movement, written in sonata form. Fugues are also found in the Missa Solemnis and in the finale of the Ninth Symphony.
An instance of fugal writing in earlier Beethoven occurs in the slow movement of the Eroica Symphony (1805).
A common characteristic of the Classical composers is that they usually wrote fugues not as isolated works but as part of a larger work, often as a sonata-form development section or as a finale. It was also characteristic to abandon fugal texture just before the end of a work, providing a purely homophonic resolution. This is found, for instance, in the final fugue of the chorus "The Heavens are Telling" in Haydn's The Creation (1798) and the final fugal section of Beethoven's piano sonata op. 110 (1822).
The fugue in the Romantic era and later
Fugues became somewhat less popular in the Romantic era, although examples of fugal writing are found in the last movement of Berlioz's Sinfonie Fantastique, and Wagner's Meistersinger overture. The finale of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Falstaff is a ten-voice fugue. Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms also included fugues in many of their works. The final part of Schumann's Piano Quintet is a double fugue, and his opus numbers 126, 72 and 60 are all sets of fugues for the piano (opus 60 based on the BACH motif). Brahms' Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel ends with a fugue, as does his first Sonata for Cello and Piano. The writing of fugues also remained an important part of musical education throughout the 19th century.
A number of twentieth century composers made extensive use of the fugue. Béla Bartók opened his Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta with a fugue in which the tritone, rather than the fifth, is the main structural interval. He also included fugal sections in the final movements of his String Quartet No. 1, Srting Quartet No. 5 and Piano Concerto No. 3 and the second movement of his Sonata for Solo Violin is also a fugue.
Igor Stravinsky also incorporated fugues into his works, including the Symphony of Psalms and the Dumbarton Oaks concerto. The practice of writing fugue cycles in the manner of Bach's Well-Temepred Clavier was perpetuated by by Paul Hindemith in his Ludus Tonalis, and Dmitri Shostakovich in his Preludes and Fugues, opus 87 (which, like the Well-Tempered Clavier, contains a prelude and fugue in each key, be it ordered along the cycle of fifths rather than chromatically). Leonard Bernstein wrote a "Cool Fugue" as part of his musical West Side Story, and the musical comedy composer Frank Loesser included a Fugue for Tinhorns in his musical Guys and Dolls. Jazz musician Benny Goodman even wrote a fugue: Bach Goes to Town.
Perceptions of the fugue
Fugues are sometimes seen as one of the most profound forms in music, though almost as often they are seen as dry, boring technical exercises (an oft repeated joke is that the fugue is "a composition where the instruments come in one by one and the audience goes out one by one"). The derogatory term school fugue is sometimes applied to fugues which have no real musical interest and have been merely written to demonstrate technical ability. One musicologist has observed that the fugues of Bach and Beethoven are great "despite" the fact that they are fugues, not because they are fugues.
Although the fugue is often described as a form and many stand-alone fugues have been written, the critic Donald Tovey wrote that "Fugue is not so much a musical form as a musical texture". In other words, it can be introduced anywhere as a distinctive and recognizable technique.
