A fugue is a special type of polyphonic texture . Fugues always begin with a tune that is played on a solo instrument/sung by a solo voice or produced by instruments/voices in unison. This tune is then played by all the other instruments or voices in turn, but not necessarily at the same pitch.
Is a fugue homophonic?
A fugue is another imitative polyphonic form . Fugues are less strict than canons: the different voices begin by imitating each other, but gradually diverge and become unique.
What kind of music is fugue?
In music, a fugue (/fjuːɡ/) is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices , built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the course of the composition.
Is fugue a imitative form of polyphonic music?
A fugue is a piece of music based on a highly systematized procedure of imitative polyphony based on a single theme called a subject. During the course of a fugue various “voices” enter in imitative counterpoint much like a canon or a round.
What is the overall texture of a fugue?
It begins with a single voice or instrument stating the theme (the ” fugue subject”) of the piece. The fugue subject comes in alone by itself in monophonic texture but the remaining parts of the fugue is in intense polyphonic texture .
How do you identify a fugue?
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 three parts of a fugue?
A fugue usually has three sections: an exposition, a development , and finally, a recapitulation that contains the return of the subject in the fugue’s tonic key, though not all fugues have a recapitulation.
What is the example of fugue?
A noteworthy subcategory of fugue is the type based on a cantus firmus. An example is the double fugue at the beginning of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion , already mentioned, which includes widely spaced phrases of the chorale melody “O Lamm Gottes unschuldig” (“Oh, Innocent Lamb of God”).
What song is a good example of imitative polyphony?
“Row, Row, Row Your Boat” A fugue is another imitative polyphonic form. Fugues are less strict than canons: the different voices begin by imitating each other, but gradually diverge and become unique. Bach’s “Little” G Minor Fugue is an example of this type of imitative polyphony.
Is Row Row Row Your Boat a fugue?
(Folk music includes many examples of repeating canon, called round: “Frère Jacques” and “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” are familiar examples.) Fugue can be thought of as a later stage in the evolution of canon. ... The works of Bach stand at the very pinnacle of the history of the fugue.
What is a triple fugue?
: a musical fugue (see fugue entry 1 sense 1b) in which three subjects (see subject entry 1 sense 3f) are treated both separately and simultaneously .
What is another word for fugue?
In this page you can discover 15 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for fugue, like: gigue , psychogenic fugue, passacaglia, toccata, scherzo, chaconne, sonata, sonata-form, cantabile, sarabande and adagio.
What is a double fugue?
: a musical fugue (see fugue entry 1 sense 1b) with two subjects (see subject entry 1 sense 3f) that are treated both separately and simultaneously .
What is a fugue simple?
1a : a musical composition in which one or two themes are repeated or imitated by successively entering voices and contrapuntally developed in a continuous interweaving of the voice parts The organist played a four-voiced fugue.
What is the counter subject in a fugue?
In a fugue, a countersubject is “the continuation of counterpoint in the voice that began with the subject” , occurring against the answer. It is not usually regarded as an essential feature of fugue, however.
What is the difference between a prelude and a fugue?
is that prelude is an introductory or preliminary performance or event ; a preface while fugue is (music) a contrapuntal piece of music wherein a particular melody is played in a number of voices, each voice introduced in turn by playing the melody.
