Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange
Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [fugue]

For questions related to the formal process wherein an original subject is played imitatively in multiple voices for the remainder of the work. Most questions should also use the counterpoint tag.

47 questions
18
votes
3 answers

What does it mean to be able to write a fugue?

My theory teacher told me once in passing that she had written fugues. Later on people let me know that to write a fugue you need to be somewhat of a theory genius. Why is this so? What makes the writing of a fugue so hard and make the people that…
Neil Meyer
  • 14,365
  • 7
  • 40
  • 88
12
votes
8 answers

Switching from piano to harpsichord

I have been playing the piano for the most part of my life, but I am becoming increasingly interested in the harpsichord. Has anyone made this "transition" before? Are there some pitfalls which one should be especially aware of? Assuming I have…
Constantin
  • 359
  • 2
  • 3
  • 7
9
votes
3 answers

What is the difference between a double fugue and a fugue with multiple countersubjects?

The double fugue is apparently a type of fugue with two subjects. What I don't understand is what differentiates a second subject from a countersubject, and why a so-called double fugue cannot be called a fugue with several countersubjects(assuming…
OprenStein
  • 1,378
  • 1
  • 18
8
votes
2 answers

What is the relation between the preludes and the fugues in wtc of js bach?

So I have been studying Bach's famous WTC on piano. Even though I really enjoy the preludes and fugues, and I have found some nice preludes to warm up and exercise my touch and fingers, why did Bach put preludes before all the fugues? In some cases…
user209347
  • 297
  • 2
  • 8
8
votes
2 answers

How to Write A Fugue

I am having trouble composing a fugue. I would like someone competent in fugue writing or knowledgable about fugues to suggest resources I can consult to improve for the particular problems I am having. Let me list what I can do so I don't get…
Stan Shunpike
  • 2,737
  • 1
  • 16
  • 32
7
votes
2 answers

Could this Scherzo by Beethoven be considered to be a fugue?

I have listened to the scherzo of Beethoven's Piano Sonata op. 2 no. 3 and it is very fugal in nature. It even has a fugal exposition(though it is dominant, dominant, dominant, dominant of dominant, in terms of the key in which each voice appears,…
Caters
  • 6,256
  • 2
  • 29
  • 74
6
votes
5 answers

Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor breaks the "no parallel octaves" rule?

I notice in his BWV 565, more well known as Toccata and Fugue in D minor, what looks like a lot of parallel octaves in the fugue. I have studied counterpoint before and every counterpoint resource I find says "Absolutely no parallel 5ths or 8ves…
Caters
  • 6,256
  • 2
  • 29
  • 74
6
votes
2 answers

What makes a piece a fugue?

Can anyone explain what a "fugue" is, in simple words? After listening several times to Little Fugue in G minor by J. S. Bach, it seems that same "subject" is playing from start after an interval of time with a different instrument. But after…
arif
  • 171
  • 4
6
votes
2 answers

Guide to Art of the Fugue?

I'm looking for a thorough, perhaps measure-by-measure, analysis of Bach's Art of the Fugue (Die Kunst der Fuge, BWV 1080). Is there a book, journal article, thesis, or dissertation which does this?
Daniel Miller
  • 69
  • 1
5
votes
4 answers

Why can't a fugue begin on the mediant?

I've seen in a few places that the subject of a fugue begins on either the tonic (first degree) or dominant (fifth degree). From what I've read, the stated reason is that the answer (a transposed subject) begins on either the dominant (if the…
David Coffron
  • 151
  • 3
5
votes
3 answers

Sources for analysis of Bach fugues?

I've been working on Bach's Sonata #1 for Solo Violin (BWV 1001) and I have concluded that I would benefit from some sort of analysis of the Fugue. In particular, something that shows every point and manner in which the theme occurs, as well as its…
feetwet
  • 1,098
  • 1
  • 8
  • 27
5
votes
3 answers

Will this help me avoid parallel octaves in future fugue attempts?

So, I wrote a canon before I was even thinking about writing a fugue and I found it to be trivially easy. But then again, I did take the Pachelbel approach, decide on a bass line and then make everything harmonically fit. Harmonies changed as I made…
Caters
  • 6,256
  • 2
  • 29
  • 74
5
votes
2 answers

Is 2 measures sufficient for a fugue subject?

I know what a fugue is. I also have been reading up on the form of the fugue and how to write in counterpoint. I wrote a canon and I have written a sonatina using sonata form. So theoretically a fugue shouldn't be all that much harder to write,…
Caters
  • 6,256
  • 2
  • 29
  • 74
5
votes
1 answer

What type of fugue occurs in Glazunov's saxophone concerto?

From Glazunov's saxophone concerto (op. 109) at 9:10 in this recording there is a fugue and I want to know what type it is. I've just started this sort of music theory so I'm not very sure, but I think it is a double fugue because a minute in…
Quippy
  • 165
  • 3
4
votes
5 answers

Fingering for Bach's Toccata in E-minor BWV914

I am currently learning the Fugue of Bach's "Toccata in E-minor BWV914". My question is if I should play the first bar with the 5th finger or not. Meaning starting with "545 3423 1". I feel more relaxed when I start the subject with "434 2423 1",…
Matriz
  • 709
  • 4
  • 17
1
2 3 4