Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C major, BWV 846, from Bach's Well-tempered Clavier, Gulda pianist. Bach Great Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV. 542. Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (Best Version Ever) Bach - Fugue in G minor BWV 578. 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.
Baroque and the fugue. One of the most characteristic forms of music of the Baroque era is definitely the complex and polyphonic fugue. It is built of many independent equally important melodies that are masterely combined with each other into an extravaganza of polyphony. The kind of polyphony used in the fugue form is imitative. Imitation can be made strict or not strict, and fugues use the latter form most of the time (strict imitative polyphony is found in a canon).
Fugue is therefore a very complex work, as non-strict imitative polyphony requires compositional skills that go beyond simple melody and accompaniment. Fugues go well beyond that, and for the beginning listeners of fugues they sound very uncomprehendable and hard to grasp. This is probably because people in general are used to homophonic music with one dominating melody line.
Fugue has a main subject melody that is the overlapped by other voices that are made up from the subject. Listen to the fugues of J.S. 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. Listen.