Bakulina counterpoint

MUTH 3420/5420, 18th C. Counterpoint

Prof. Bakulina
Handout 4. Introduction to the fugue
Fugue terminology and abbreviations:

Subject (S)—the principal melody that begins the fugue and is imitatively restated in various voices
throughout the entire fugue.
Countersubject (CS)—the countermelody stated together with the subject more than once. This
normally involves invertible counterpoint. Some fugues have more than one retained CS; this is
technically more difficult to do, because it involves three-voice invertible counterpoint.
Sometimes it makes sense to speak of a counteranswer as well.
Answer (A), real and tonal—the statement of the subject in the key of V. Normally it is the second
statement in the piece. A tonal answer is a melodically altered version of the subject. If a tonal
answer is used, it usually reappears later on in the piece.
Entry—statement of the subject or the answer.
Episode (Ep)—a musical stretch that contains neither subject nor answer entries. Most episodes in
Bach’s fugues involve sequences. A cadential progression is not considered an episode.

Cadences:
Standard types PAC, IAC, and HC. In addition, the viio6–I progression often functions as cadential in
baroque music (it is sometimes called “contrapuntal cadence”).
In fugue analysis, you should be concerned primarily with PACs—what Schubert and Neidhofer
call a “formal cadence.” Formal cadences are relatively infrequent in Bach’s (and not only Bach’s) fugues
and mark only the largest formal sections. Often, there will be only one formal PAC (usually more or less
in the middle) before the final cadence. The tonic cadential arrival of a formal PAC normally falls on the
notated downbeat of the measure. Formal cadences briefly stop the forward motion and usually
prepare a new entry of the old subject, a new technique (for example, a stretto), or even a new subject
(in multi-subject fugues).

ASSIGNMENTS

For Thursday 3/8,

Reading: Chapter 17 in the Gauldin book.
Prep assignment. Bach, Fugue in C minor, Well Tempered Clavier, Book 1.

In the score: (If possible, please write is a color that stands out, like green or orange, for ease of reading)
- Mark all entries of the subject, using the abbreviation S. This includes all instances of the tonal
answer (the tonal answer, entering for the first time in m. 3 in the soprano, is a slightly altered
version of the subject).
- For each entry, write a key label. Some entries modulate. When you doubt about what key you
are in, write the first key, in which the subject (or answer) comes in, before modulating.
- If there is a retained countersubject (that is, a countermelody that appears together with the
subject or answer more than once), circle and label it too.
- Label all formal cadences, for example: E major: PAC.
- Label all episodes. In this piece, all episodes are sequential.
…See the next assignment on the reverse page
 Bakulina counterpoint

For Tuesday 3/20, graded assignment. Handel, The Messiah, no. 28 (“He trusted in God”).

Repeat the above exercise (see TR 3/8). Additional requirements:

1. One of the subject entries is “false” (it begins as the subject, but does not continue as such.)
Find this false entry and label it as well.
2. Label all episodes, sequential or not. Specify which ones are sequential, and what kind of
sequence is used (in terms of harmony).
3. Label at least two cadences (in different keys) in the exposition, and one at the end. On a
separate page, explain (in a couple of sentences) what happens with other cadences. Hint: every
time the subject comes to an end, it creates favorable conditions for a cadence, but no true
cadence happens. What happens instead? How is the cadential motion avoided or changed?
What do the other voices do to achieve this effect?

As in the previous assignment, write all your answers in the score, preferably in a color that stands out.

Historical and bibliographic info:

There is a lot of literature on the fugue. Gauldin has a bibliography at the end of his textbook.
Here are some important sources that might be of use for you:

Peter Schubert and Christoph Neidhöfer, Baroque Counterpoint (textbook)

William Renwick, Analyzing Fugue

Alfred Mann, The Study of Fugue

Some important historical sources include Friedrich Marpurg’s treatise Abhandlung von der Fuge.
Relevant materials may be found in the works of Mattheson, Kirnberger, and Albrechtsberger.