Another one of fugues

[juggler]

Hi everyone,

I would like to develop a very simple fugue - at this point in time I'm rather interested in the exposition, just to understand how to make the voices enter in succession. However I am stuck on the subject with a question, i.e. is any subject fit for a fugue?

For a subject I have G E D C / F E D C (i.e. two full bars in 4/4 time, in the key of C major).

Is this melody adequate? If not, why and what are the pitfalls? What would be the sequence by which the voices enter? Suitable counter-subjects and/or counterpoint tricks?

Thanks!

[Majesty]

The sequence of notes themselves seem fine, but rhythm does make a difference. Also, when it comes to writing traditional tonal fuges you choice of subject can either open up or narrow your approach to writing the answer. You will have to decide whether or not a "tonal" or "real" answer works best for your fugue.

[juggler]

Thanks for your reply, Majesty.

So, let's say that the answer will be D B A G / C B A G. What's next?

[stevel]

I would like to develop a very simple fugue - at this point in time I'm rather interested in the exposition, just to understand how to make the voices enter in succession. However I am stuck on the subject with a question, i.e. is any subject fit for a fugue?

It depends on the type of fugue you are writing. Some subjects lend themselves more easily to contrapuntal treatment than others, some have more motives built in, etc. Historically, there are different "types" of subjects. See: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/wtc.html

For lots of fugue information.

For a subject I have G E D C / F E D C (i.e. two full bars in 4/4 time, in the key of C major).

Your notes are from the Major Hexachord which allows more possibilities. One danger of the G-E interval at the beginning (I'm assuming it's an upward leap) is that it can sound like an anacrusis (pickup) and cause confusion in subsequent entries if not handled carefully.

Since your answer will begin : D B - that means to imply the key of G, or a Dominant answer, your subject's continuation will need to jump to a G note most likely - it may or may not be more jumping then you like. Furthermore, if the second voices enters below, you're implying a second inversion chord which is kind of sketchy in Bach style.

One thing you may not realize is that answers don't necessarily follow the subject interval-for-interval - especially when there's a leap in there. For example, if the subject opens C-G the answer is often G-C, not G-D as you might expect. It depends on whether you want a Dominant answer, or a change to the key of the Dominant (which after such a short subject so strongly in C, can be abrupt).

What would be the sequence by which the voices enter?

How many voices are you writing?

Most of the time, entrances are top-down, or bottom-up, or in pairs like S-A then T-B. The rarest type (by comparison) would have to be inner pair begins, then outer pair follows (assuming 4 parts) or vice-versa.

Suitable counter-subjects and/or counterpoint tricks?

Maybe you should read up on the types of fugue subjects, Hexachords, Tonal and Real answers, and Tonic-Dominant/Dominant-Tonic Sub/Ans pairs. You also want to consider the ability of a Subject to be treated in stretto, and you may want to consider possibilities of inversion, motivic fragmentation, etc.

In other words, there's a lot of precomposition that goes into writing a fugue - it's not just "here's what a fugue does, not fill in the blanks".

As for a countersubject, it depends on if you want a "second" set of material to work with (for example, some fugues have been written where the CS of section 1 becomes the Subject of section 2, and Section 2's CS is the subject of section 3, whose CS is the Subject from section 1, etc.). A CS just gives you other "important" material that's re-used. And realistically, it's not that the CS is written as such necessarily, but it become important by its use later, not by virtue of its first appearance. However, again, this can be taken into account at the precompositional stage and worked in as well.

HTH,
Steve