Bach, "Little" Fugue (G minor, BWV 578) Prelude and Fugue from A CANTATA IN BAROQUE STYLE - Psalm 22. Marko Stevanovic - Fugue in Baroque Style. The Classical Fugue Information Page on Classic Cat. In music, a fugue (pronounced /ˈfjuːɡ/ fewg) is a contrapuntal composition in two or more voices, built on a subject (theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition. In addition to this broad general contrapuntal design, certain formal characteristics are well established. A fugue usually has three sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation containing the return of the subject in the fugue's tonic key, though not all fugues have a recapitulation.[1] In the Middle Ages, the term was widely used to denote any works in canonic style; by the Renaissance, it had come to denote specifically imitative works.[2] Since the 17th century,[3] the term fugue has described what is commonly regarded as the most fully developed procedure of imitative counterpoint.[4] Musical outline The exposition 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. The episode. The Fugue - The Baroque Fugue. The fugue is a type of polyphonic composition or compositional technique based on a principal theme (subject) and melodic lines (counterpoint) that imitate the principal theme. The fugue is believed to have developed from the canon which appeared during the 13th century. The canon is a type of composition wherein the parts or voices have the same melody, each beginning at a different time.
The fugue also has its roots from the ensemble chansons of the 16th century as well as the ricercari of the 16th and 17th centuries. The fugue has several different elements: Exposition - The first section of the fugue wherein the subject is stated.Subject - The principal theme or main idea; the first statement of the subject is usually by a single voice.Answer - The second statement of the subject transposed to the dominant key; it may either be a real answer or a tonal answer. Composers use different techniques to vary the subject, such as: Fugues are introduced by preludes. Fugue. The English term fugue originated in the 16th century and is derived from the French word fugue or the Italian fuga. This in turn comes from Latin, also fuga, which is itself related to both fugere ("to flee") and fugare ("to chase").[1] The adjectival form is fugal.[2] Variants include fughetta (literally, "a small fugue") and fugato (a passage in fugal style within another work that is not a fugue).[3] Musical outline[edit] A fugue begins with the exposition and is written according to certain predefined rules; in later portions the composer has more freedom, though a logical key structure is usually followed.
Further entries of the subject will occur throughout the fugue, repeating the accompanying material at the same time.[13] The various entries may or may not be separated by episodes. What follows is a chart displaying a fairly typical fugal outline, and an explanation of the processes involved in creating this structure. The exposition[edit] Example of a tonal answer in J.S.
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