What is a subject in a fugue?

The “subject” of a fugue is its main theme. It is generally short–one or two measures–but may be longer (3-4 measures).

What makes a good fugue subject?

If the fugue is like the human body, the subject is like the heart, essential to the piece. Without a subject, you don’t have a fugue. Even if you go contrapuntal, all you would have without a subject is free counterpoint, with the only organization being via cadences or maybe a canon.

How do you answer a fugue subject?

A fugue begins with the exposition of its subject in one of the voices alone in the tonic key. After the statement of the subject, a second voice enters and states the subject with the subject transposed to another key (usually the dominant or subdominant), which is known as the answer.

What are the rules of a fugue?

Most fugues open with a short main theme, the subject, which then sounds successively in each voice (after the first voice is finished stating the subject, a second voice repeats the subject at a different pitch, and other voices repeat in the same way); when each voice has completed the subject, the exposition is …

How many subjects are in a fugue?

three subjects
Anne fugue, each of the three subjects has a separate exposition in its own metre, and only the first subject is combined with each of the other two.

What is an answer in a fugue?

How do you identify a subject and answer in a fugue?

A fugue starts with the 1st voice/part playing a melody/phrase called the Subject. The subject is played by the 1st voice in the tonic key. The 2nd voice then enters playing the “answer”. The answer is a transposed version of the subject (usually in the dominant key).

What is the main theme of a fugue called?

fugue, in music, a compositional procedure characterized by the systematic imitation of a principal theme (called the subject) in simultaneously sounding melodic lines (counterpoint).