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Whataguy!

Yeah, I agree. I wish it was simpler too. But this is what we've got and it's great, so let's go for it, Sergeant Boneman. All we have to do is look at it over and over and it will start to make sense. I know we won't be able to write a fugue tomorrow, but we will one day. Takk, Thorolf.

Boneman

What if we doubled the note values would it be easier to see what is going on? (Getting desperate now!!!)

If music be the food of love, I need to go on a diet!


My Music Store www.andoverlightorchestra.co.uk

stevel

Another good site is:

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/wtc.html

Steve

stevel

Ahh you need a Ricercare subject fugue (where the sunject is in long note values) :-)

See: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/wtc.html

Hover your mouse over Fugue, and when the list comes up, go up and click C# minor in Book I.

Ok Boneman, here's a Fugue:

There are 3 main sections:
1. Beginning
2. Middle
3. End
(I'm simplifying this for you to avoid those big words :-)

In the Beginning, the Subject is introduced.
In the Middle, the Subject appears in different keys, or is chopped up, or otherwise meddled with.
In the End, the Subject returns in its original form.

Most study of Fugue is based on the Beginning because that's where all the "setup" happens.

So in the Beginning, the following happens:
1. A Subject is introduced.
2. An Answer responds to the Subject.
3. The Answer may be accompanied by new, but important musical material, and if so, we call that a Countersubject (bad word). Thus the CS is a continuation of the Subject being played against the Answer.

In traditional Fugues, the Subject is always in the Tonic Key. The Answer is "at the Dominant". Not necessarily "in the key of the Dominant" (though it may be) but at the pitch level of the Dominant. Therefore, if the Subject is:
C E D B then the Answer might be:
G B A F.

If the Answer is the same basic shape, but has differences or uses other intervals, it will stay in the main key. Here for example, the F is in the key of C. In order for the Answer to be an EXACT interval-for-interval copy of the Subject, it would have to be G B A F#.

If the Answer stays in the original key (which it does above), then we say it is a Tonal Answer.

If the Answer is interval-for-interval accurate, we say it is a Real Answer.

It is possible to have a Real Answer that is also Tonal (but we just call it Real), so for example:
S: C D E G
A: G A B D

The Beginning section always has a Subject then Answer alternation for hoever many Voices/Parts you have. So in a 2 part Fugue, you'd have 1 S, and 1 A (2-part fugues are rare though). For 4-Part, 2 S, and 2 A, but in the order S-A-S-A. Also since the Answer is at the Dominant, the key/chord area would be: S:T - A - S:T - A. In 3 Parts, it's just S-A-S.

There are rare exceptions, as noted in the Wikipedia article where expected entries are not in the Dominant, or the order could be S-A-A-S, but for the purposes of defining what's going on, let's stick to the "normal" pattern.

Once each voice/part has entered with a S or A, the Beginning, or Exposition is over.

Usually, the Voices/Parts enter in patterns like, bottom up - Bass:S, Tenor:A, Alto:S, Soprano:A, or the reverse - S-A-T-B. Other patterns are of course possible but things like A-B-S-T are kind of rare. It also depends on the number of parts. For instance, in 3 parts, S A B, or B A S, or A S B are more common than, say, B S A.

The Middle part, also called the Counter-Exposition (another bad word) or simply "Middle Entries" is simply a section where the Subject, Answer, and Countersubject (if any) are presented in varied forms. Most of the time, the following things happen:

1. They are NOT in the original key, or, if they are, they are modified enough to make it obvious they are not a restatment of the original Subject.

2. They are chopped up into smaller motives, which are re-ordered, re-contrapuntalized, re-congfigured, re-written, etc. to make new music, but music that is still obviously related to the original Subject in some way (usually).

3. They are presented in reverse (retrograde), upside down (inverted), in longer or smaller note values (augmentation and diminution respectively) or in other manners that show of the composer's skill.

The Middle section ends, and the End begins when the original Subject returns in the original key - and usually obviously so. Very often, the other parts will drop out and the End section will be very similar, if not identical for a bit to the Beginning section.

The End is also called the Recapitulation, or simply Final Entries. The main point here though, like all Tonal music, is the return to the Tonic key, and not so much a return to the original Subjects/Answers. However, since the Fugal form mirrors Sonata Form in this regard, in the Classical Period a lot of composer's take on Fugue was to treat the return to the main key, and the return to the main Subject as an important musical event and highlight it in some manner (new orchestration, new tempo, unaccompanied Subject, etc.)

The two most important things that often happen in the End section are:

1. Dominant Pedal - this is true of many, especially Baroque works, but basically, the music hangs around the V chord, usually with scale degree 5 in the bass part as a held or repeated note (hence the term since the organist would hold down the bass pedal on the dominant note). It's kind of a last final tension-building harmony to lead to the final cadence.

2. Stretto - this is simply a word that means that Answers (and subsequent Subjects) don't wait until the Subject is completely finished before they come in - they overlap. So in the Beginning, it may have taken 8 measures for all 4 S/A to come in, in a Stretto section, they come in overlapped maybe over a 3 measure span.

That's basically the form, except for the following:

Sections where there are no "Entries", which is a fancy word for "Places where the Subject/Answer or Countersubject (if any) are happening", that section is called an Episode. It's basically the space between Entries (like measures though, not just a note or two).

Any section, Beginning Middle or End can have a Coda, or Codetta. Codetta just means small Coda. This would be any section of music that continues after all S/A have entered, but before the next section (or end of the piece) begins. Remember, we use keys to determine sections in Tonal music, so if all your S/A have entered, and you have 10 measures in the home key with no entries, then it changes key and we start hearing entries again - that signals the Middle section. That means those 10 measures serve a closing function, thus we call it a Coda instead of an Episode - Episode typically means "bridging" or "transitional" material (and sometimes they're called Bridge, or Link), whereas Coda usually implies some sort of closing idea (like a buildup to a cadence, or the cadence itself).

There are some other specific types of Fuges, like Double Fugue, but I'll let you look that up. For now, I'll go back to the exposition.

'nother post.
Steve

stevel

See: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/wtc.html

Hover over Fugue, click #4 in c# minor from Book I, and click play movie to watch the animation.

The Subject of this Fugue is:

C# B# E D# (C#)

YOu see this enter in the Bass first. Of course the key is C# minor.

The Answer begins in the Tenor in m.4. It starts on beat 1 just like teh S did, but notice it starts on G#. This is the Answer at the Dominant. This is a REAL Answer, since the Tenor part is an interval-for-interval repeat (so note that the only thing that separates the S from A is really the chord or key it implies - here the S implies C#m, and the A implies G#m).

The music the Bass continues with as the Answer enters in the Tenor would be called a Countersubject if it were musically important. It's not in this Fugue (though the rhythmic idea of tying across the bar is) so we just call it Free Counterpoint.

The next Subject enters in the Alto mid-measure 7 (yes, it doesn't have to be on the downbeat or same as the original - in this type of slow moving Fugue the 4/4 is often treated like a faster 2/4). Note this entry is just like the original Subject, just an octave higher, and in C#, so we call it a Subject.

There is no episode between A1 and S2.

The next thing to enter should be an Answer in G#, and, in the Soprano. It does at m. 12, mid measure. The only catch is this time, it's a Tonal answer (notice in A1, the Fx and A#, but in this one, there's an E# and An) - thus it stays in the Tonality (Key) of C#m, so , Tonal).

The little bit of mm.10-11 is often called an Episode, though some people reserve that term only for "important" sections, and might use Link or Bridge in this instance. Not that big a deal.

Now, normally, the Exposition would be done. But this particular example is a 5-part Fugue, so, what should come next? A Subject in the Tonic key, in the next higher voice (which we now know is the true Soprano). It does, at mid-meaure 14.

Since the last S enters and finishes by m.16, the Exposition is done. The author of this site shows that the first Development (another term for the Middle section) begins as soon as the Expo is over, at m. 17. Usually we'd have a key change to the relative major at this point (EM) and new entries, but Bach gives us a couple of G# and C# entries before the EM one. This could be a Codetta, and different people might analyze that differently. In this case, the appearance of the E major key kind of sneaks in, thus blurring the boundary between Expo and Middle, and that's perfectly fine - composers often like to do those things to keep our attention.

I'll stop there because that's the Expo, and that's what most people concentrate on getting down first. You can follow the diagram and get the rest.

A personal note: I don't buy into all the numerology, and Cross symbolism necessarily. But is a handy way to identify motives and musical ideas - so I wouldn't take the site's author too seriously when he says something like "there are 371 measures and Bach's chorales were organized into 371 - coincidence?" - well, yes. But it's worth taking in and seeing how many other people agree with these types of things - at least it can open up different way of looking at things - even if it turns out to be totally made up (though it might not be).

Your assignment Boneman - write a Subject.

Steve

Boneman

Thanks Steve! Now go and sit down with a nice cuppa and a biscuit, I have put some gariboldis in a box for you! I shal now try to do something with all this. Can I PM you with bits or do you think the wise amongst us all would like to watch the growth of

BONEMAN-Fuguist!

If music be the food of love, I need to go on a diet!


My Music Store www.andoverlightorchestra.co.uk

stevel

I think it would be instructional for a lot of readers to see the process first hand, so I think you should post it (plus others can dive in with help as well).

I would just start a new thread so we can watch the process from step 1.

Best,
Steve

Marsmallos

Hi
just saw this...
Can somebody please write this a bit clearer? I havent got the faintest idea what hemiola and phrygian cadence is, for example

MaestroX

A phrygian cadence is IVb to V

A hemiola is particular kind of syncopation (used mostly in Renaissance and Baroque music) in which a triple feel is replaced temporarily by a duple feel (ie a ratio of 3:2). Most commonly, this occurs in 3/ 4 meter by accenting every two beats; thus three 2/4 bars can be felt in place of the two 3/4 bars.

Anything else just ask

Marsmallos

That didnt make me much wiser, im afraid... Im used to another kind of termonology. Of course, V i guess means the dominant, but IVb makes me puzzled. If V means the fifth step, the dominant, then IV must mean the fourth step, at least in swedish, the "subdominant", but what the b means i have no idea of!

Ok,
i was also wondering what "tierce de Picardie" meant, i have never heard of it!