How do you write a fugue?

How To Write A Fugue

1. The exposition begins the fugue and a single voice plays the subject establishing the tonic key.
2. The middle section consists of entries of subject and answer in keys other than the tonic separated by episodes.
3. The final section begins where the subject or answer returns in the tonic key.

Is it hard to write a fugue?

Originally Answered: How hard is it to write a Fugue? Short answer: The fugue is at its core a rather straightforward, highly procedural approach to writing. It’s essentially a set of rules and procedures for developing one or more short themes using canons.

What is a real fugue?

In music, a fugue is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and recurs frequently in the course of the composition.

How do you write a fugue on Reddit?

The general “rules” for writing a fugue in Bach’s style are these:

1. Start the first voice on the subject, a musical phrase that usually around four measures long.
2. After the first voice plays the subject, the second voice comes in on the subject, but transposed a P5 higher (or a P4) lower.

Who wrote the first fugue?

Johann Sebastian Bach
The fugue became a very popular form of music in the Baroque period. It was often played after a prelude. The most famous composer of fugues was Johann Sebastian Bach. He wrote two books, each with 24 Preludes and Fugues, called The Well-Tempered Clavier (in German: Das Wohltemperierte Klavier).

How do fugues end?

The closing section of a fugue often includes one or two counter-expositions, and possibly a stretto, in the tonic; sometimes over a tonic or dominant pedal note. Any material that follows the final entry of the subject is considered to be the final coda and is normally cadential.

Why are fugues important?

Fugal writing is a very complex form of counterpoint. In the Baroque it could also be considered a genre, as many pieces were composed as stand-alone fugues. The most important thing to remember is the role of the fugue subject as the main melodic idea that is imitated throughout the piece.

Which composer wrote the best fugues for keyboard?

So many choices. The three composers that, to my mind, wrote some of the finest fugues for keyboard (my instrument of choice) are JS Bach, miles ahead of anyone else, then Beethoven, and Dmitri Shostakovich, with his 24 Preludes and Fugues, op. 87, written as an homage to Bach. It’s really hard to pick a single Bach fugue as his greatest.

What is the meaning of the word fugue?

Fugue Definition. A fugue is a contrapuntal composition for a number of separate parts or voices. Usually a composer chooses to describe or define a fugue they have composed according to the number of parts it is written for. e.g. “a fugue in 4 parts”, “a fugue in 3 voices”. Each part/voices enters in imitation of each other.

How many parts does a fugue have?

Usually a composer chooses to describe or define a fugue they have composed according to the number of parts it is written for. e.g. “a fugue in 4 parts”, “a fugue in 3 voices”. Each part/voices enters in imitation of each other. We are going to look at the basic structure of a fugue through a worked example.

How many great fugues did Pachelbel write?

These are not the ten greatest that are not by Bach, but simply ten great fugues. Certainly, many worthy examples have been left off, so you are invited to mention your choices. Yes, as a matter of fact, Pachelbel wrote more than one Canon in D Major.