Classical Music Society

Fugue form through the ages

The Baroque Era 1600 - 1750

Forms of the Baroque Era

(i) Concerto grosso: concertino (solo instruments) against a string orchestra called ripieno,
concerto grosso or tutti.

(ii) Solo concerto - single soloist with difficult and exciting passages to play contrasted
against string orchestra.

(iii) Suite - set of dances grouped to form a complete work. Written for solo instrument as
well as orchestra.

(iv) Ritornello form:

Ritornello Episode 1 Ritornello Episode 2 Ritornello

tutti soloist(s) tutti soloist(s) tutti

(v) Ground Bass: This was a special way of structuring variations, popular with composers
of the 16th and 17th centuries.

(vi) Opera - This is a Baroque invention along with recitative: solo line accompanied by
bass line and one or more instruments providing harmonic filling; recitativo secco;
recitative accompagnato.

(vii) Sonata: trio sonata and solo sonata (melody instr. & continuo) (or k.b. & cello)
sonata da chiesa sonata da camera

(viii) Variation form Precursor of true classical style of Mozart &

Haydn.

(xi) Fugue: written in parts called 'voices'. Height of polyphonic

compositions.
J.S. Bach (1685 - 1750) - perfected the form of fugue , chorale, cantata,
chorale prelude, Passion, mass, suite, concerto grosso, and toccata. He had a German
baroque style with Italian and French ideas.

Bach's most famous fugues are those for the harpsichord in The Well-Tempered Clavier
and the Art of Fugue, and his organ fugues, which are usually preceded by a prelude or
toccata.

The Art of Fugue is a collection of fugues (and four canons) on a single theme that is
gradually transformed as the cycle progresses.

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The Well-Tempered Clavier comprises two volumes written in different times of Bach's
life, each comprising 24 prelude and fugue pairs, one for each major and minor key (The
‘48’). Bach also wrote smaller single fugues, and put fugues into many of his works that
were not fugues per se.

Canonic Forms

A canon is a piece of contrapuntal music in which one voice repeats the part of another,
not just for the opening few notes as with imitation, but throughout the piece or section.
The second voice answers the first at half a bar, one bar, two bars or any other distance
the composer wishes: and having started its particular kind of imitation, it keeps it up
throughout with exactitude.
But there are many possible methods of imitation in a canon, such as imitation at
the octave or fourth or fifth, imitation by inversion, or even imitation which starts at the end
and works backwards like a crab called canon cancrizans.

A round is a vocal canon ”at the unison”, in which the end goes back (round) to the
beginning. It can therefore be repeated as often as wished, being an ‘infinite canon’.
Rounds were popular during Elizabethan days, and Shakespeare has several in his plays.
‘Three Blind Mice’ dates from this period.

A catch is a round with humorous or ribald words.

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FUGUE FORM

This is a contrapuntal composition usually in a fixed number of parts called VOICES and
generally falls into three sections, that is, Exposition, Episodes and Final section which
may include a Stretto. Some fugues, however, have no stretto, while others are full of
stretti.

The following is the construction of a regular fugue:

EXPOSITION SUBJECT (The Theme in the tonic key)

ANSWER (The transposition of the Theme a 5 th higher or a 4th lower i.e. in
the V key)
COUNTER-SUBJECT (The counterpoint which accompanies the answer)

Then each Voice goes into free counterpoint.

The Exposition ends when each part has played or sung the Theme and
Counter-Subject.

MODULATORY This consists of entries of the Theme in different keys and

SECTION or short episodes of a few bars introduced between the re-
EPISODES appearance of the Themes. These episodes break the monotony which
would occur had the Theme been repeated continuously.

FINAL SECTION The Subject and Answer are now ‘closing in’ upon each
or CLIMAX other i.e. the Answer appears before the Subject has
or STRETTO finished with the melody.

REAL and TONAL Answers. There are two types of fugues: The ones with Real Answers
and the ones with Tonal Answers.
The Real Answer is when the answer is an exact transposition of the Subject into the
dominant key i.e. a 5th higher of a 4th lower.
The Tonal Answer is when there is a slight change in the transposition of the
Subject.

Tonal Answers are usual if the subject:

- Modulates during its course or begins in a key other than in which it ends.
- Starts on the dominant of the key.
- Proceeds at the outset, from tonic to dominant note either directly or through the third
of the key.

Example of a tonal answer in J.S. Bach's Fugue no. 16 in G minor, BWV 861, from the Well-
Tempered Clavier, Book 1.

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Other terms associated with the Exposition:

COUNTER-EXPOSITION: A second exposition at the end of the first, in which the subject
and answer do not appear in the same order of voices as they did in
the exposition.

COUNTER-FUGUE: The answer imitates the subject by inversion.

DOUBLE FUGUE: A fugue with two subjects which may be announced together at the
outset or separately and combined at a later stage.

REDUNDANT ENTRY: The extra appearance of the subject giving an opportunity to

display the counter-subject written in its ‘invertible way’.

CODETTA: a few notes or a short passage (which can then be also called an episode)
which serves as a link between the subject and answer and v.v. The occurrence of
episodes in the exposition is quite usual and ensures unity and homogeneity.

What are the characteristics of a good counter-subject in a Fugue?

- Individuality of melodic character
- Distinct melodic or rhythmic ideas
- Double or invertible counterpoint.

FALSE ENTRY: At any point in the fugue there may be false entries of the subject,
which include the start of the subject but are not completed. False entries are often
abbreviated to the head of the subject, and anticipate the "true" entry of the subject,
heightening the impact of the subject proper.

Visual Analysis of J.S. Bach's Fugue no. 2 in C minor, BWV 847, from the Well-Tempered
Clavier, Book 1(bars 7-12)

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Compositional techniques used in a Fugue – Middle Section.

EPISODE: A passage forming contrast to the entries of the subject and serving as a link
between one entry and another. One of its functions is to effect a
modulation to a related key, in which again the voices enter with the
subject.

AUGMENTATION: The notes of the subject in longer note values

DIMINUTION: The notes of the subject in shorter note values.

INVERSION: The intervals of the subject inverted.

RETROGRADE: The theme being played backwards.

RETROGRADE INVERSION: Backwards and inverted.

PEDAL: A long sustained note generally in the Bass, while the top part moves freely. It is
generally the Tonic or Dominant and creates a feeling of climax;
hence it is usually reserved for the final section.

INVERTED PEDAL: a long sustained note in the Treble or one of the inner
voices.

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Compositional techniques used in a Fugue – Final Section.

PARTIAL STRETTO: When only some of the voices take part.

COMPLETE STRETTO: is when all the voices are involved i.e. they all enter at a fixed
shortened interval.

STRETTO MAESTRALE: when all the voices give out the complete theme.

Example of stretto fugue in a quotation from Fugue in C major by Johann Caspar

Ferdinand Fischer who died in 1746. The subject, including an eighth note rest, is seen
in the soprano voice, starting on beat 1 bar 1 and ending on beat 1 bar 3, which is where
the answer would usually be expected to begin. As this is a stretto the answer already
takes place in the tenor voice, on the third quarter note of the first bar, therefore coming in
"early".

Strettos may also occur by inversion, augmentation and diminution. A fugue in which the
opening exposition takes place in stretto form is known as a close fugue or stretto fugue
(see for example, the Gratias agimus tibi and Dona nobis pacem choruses from Bach's
Mass in B minor). In general, fugues that are densely strettoed will not contain
countersubjects, and vice versa. One notable exception is the E Major fugue from Bach's
Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, which initially exposes the subject accompanied by its
countersubject, followed by counterexposition of the two ideas, separated in time, and
each in stretto with itself.

CODA: A piece added at the end of a composition to bring the piece to a satisfactory
ending.

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Other aspects of the historical context:

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 arose from the technique of "imitation", where the same musical material was
repeated starting on a different note. Originally this was to aid improvisation, but by the
1550s, it was considered a technique of composition.

Classical era

During the Classical era, the fugue was no longer a central or even fully natural mode of
musical composition. Nevertheless, both Haydn and Mozart had periods of their careers
in which they in some sense "rediscovered" fugal writing and used it frequently in their
work.

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.

Romantic era

By the beginning of the Romantic era, fugue writing had become specifically attached to
the norms and styles of the Baroque. Ludwig van Beethoven was familiar with fugal
writing from childhood, as an important part of his training was playing from The Well-
Tempered Clavier. Nevertheless, fugues did not take on a truly central role in
Beethoven's work until his "late period."

Examples of fugal writing in the Romantic era are found in the last movement of Berlioz's
Symphonie Fantastique, and Wagner's Meistersinger, in particular the triple fugue at the
conclusion of the second act. The finale of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Falstaff is a ten-voice
fugue.

Felix Mendelssohn was obsessed with fugal writing, as it can be found prominently in the
Scottish Symphony, Italian Symphony, and the Hebrides Overture.

In the last movement of his Fifth Symphony Anton Bruckner wrote the development
section in form of a big double fugue. The unfinished Finale of his Ninth Symphony has a
fugue section, too. Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms also included fugues in
many of their works.

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20th Century

A number of twentieth century composers made extensive use of the fugue.

The late Romantic composer Max Reger had the closest association with the fugue
among his contemporaries. Many of his organ works contain, or are themselves fugues.

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, String Quartet No. 5,
Concerto for Orchestra, and Piano Concerto No. 3. 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-Tempered Clavier was
perpetuated 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, although the order of Shostakovich's pieces follows the cycle of
fifths, whereas Bach's progressed chromatically).

Several Bachianas Brasileiras of Heitor Villa-Lobos feature a fugue as one of the

movements.

Benjamin Britten composed a fugue for orchestra in his The Young Person's Guide to the
Orchestra, consisting of subject entries by each instrument once.

Leonard Bernstein wrote a "Cool Fugue" as part of his musical West Side Story.
Canadian pianist Glenn Gould composed So You Want to Write a Fugue?, a full-scale
fugue set to a text that cleverly explicates its own musical form.

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Other important examples of Fugue:

An example of a vocal fugue is the chorus “And with His Stripes” from Messiah by
Handel.
An example of orchestral fugue is Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell by Britten.

collections of Fugue:

- Buxtehude (1637 – 1707 Danish; influenced Bach): Vol II of Wilhelm Hansen edition
Preludes and Fugues for Organ.

- Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847): 6 Preludes and Fugues, Op.35 (Keys in the following
order: No.1 – e/E; 2 – D; 3 – b; 4 – A flat; 5 – f; 6 – B flat.)
There is another Prelude and Fugue in E minor besides the one in this set.

- Shostakovich (1906 – 1975): The 24 Preludes and Fugues for piano Op.87 are
equivalent to one volume of Bach’s W.T.C. except that the order of keys is not by
ascending semitones, as in Bach, but in cycles of fifths, each major key followed by its
relative minor (no.1 C major, no.2 A minor, no.3 G major etc.)

- Hindemith (1895 – 1963): ‘Ludus Tonalis’ (literally ‘a game with keys’) is a complete
work comprising a prelude (praeludium), twelve fugues, one in each key (but without
major – minor distinction) interspersed with interludes (interludium) and a postlude
(postludium).

Acknowledgements:

Investigating Musical Styles, Roy Bennett

The Oxford Companion to Music, Percy Scholes
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music, Michael Kennedy
How to understand Musical Form by J. Raymond Tobin (B&H)
Score Reading, form and History, Annie O. Warburton
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia online

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