MUST 311

Contrapuntal Forms

FUGUE

The word “fugue” can mean either a texture or a genre – it is not a form per se. Many large
movements have within them short fugal sections, which can simply be sections
comprising imitative counterpoint, or almost full-blown fugues (the finale of Mozart’s 41 st
Symphony, e.g., contains a 5-part fugue within it, as does Beethoven String Quartet _____).
Because fugue is a genre, it is much looser than forms we have discussed, such as sonata
form or ternary form – it need not move through any particular keys in any parts. Below
are elements of what you can expect to find in a work called a ‘fugue.”

A fugue may contain as few as 3 voices, or as many as the composer can manage (up to 4 is
common, 5 is normal though less common due to the technical difficulty of managing 5
voices, and more is much less usual). The number of voices is often indicated with the title,
such as Fugue in G major a tre voci (in 3 voices).

A fugue contains 3 main parts. The exposition is a formal term – the middle and closing are
not – they are terms I use for what comes after the exposition.

1) exposition
2) middle – not normally named – things that happen after the exposition
3) closing – not normally named – one or more events that can happen at the end

Exposition:

Each voice enters in turn with a complete statement of the fugue subject as follows:

1) The first voice states the subject in the tonic

2) When the first voice is finished, the next voice then states the subject, in another key,
usually the dominant. This is called the answer, and it takes one of two forms:

• real answer: an exact note for note transposition, OR

• tonal answer: a transposition, but with some pitches adjusted so that it stays in
the same key.

After these first two voices, there may be, or may not be, a bridge in order to return to tonic
for the next statement of the subject.

3) The third voice enters with the subject back in tonic. If there is a fourth voice, it then
plays the answer, and if there are more voices, they continue entering in turn, alternating
between subject in answer, with a bridge (or not) in between the answer and next subject.
4) While the second voice is stating the answer, the first voice will present more material in
counterpoint to the answer. If the material that is presented in counterpoint to the
subject (and answer) is the same every time the subject and answer are stated, then it is
called the countersubject. Not every fugue has a countersubject. Once the third voice
has entered, the second voice presents the countersubject against it, and the first voice
is presents yet more material to create three-part counterpoint. If this third layer
appears the same way every time, then it is called countersubject 2, and the first
countersubject becomes countersubject 1. This is illustrated below

V 1: subject countersubject 1 countersubject 2 |

V2: answer countersubject 1 |

V3: subject |

end exposition

Once all the voices have entered and stated the complete subject or answer, the exposition
is finished. Do not expect a clean break between the end of the exposition and the rest of
the fugue. The aesthetic of this period is to have continuously flowing notes, so sections
usually overlap to avoid sharp differences in texture.

Middle:

The rest of a fugue consists of two main types of materials: middle entries (ME1,
ME2, etc.) and episodes (EP1, EP2, etc.), played in alternation.

Middle entries: are complete statements of the subject or answer in a key other
than tonic. These statements can take the form presented in the exposition, or they can be
played in inversion (upside down), or backwards (retrograde) or the durations may be
doubled or halved (augmentation or diminution). Sometimes several middle entries occur
in succession without intervening episodes, and in this case you may label it a middle
entry group (MEG)

Episodes: are incomplete statements (fragments) of the subject (or answer). The
main goal of an episode is to modulate to another key, so episodes are usually transitional
and/or sequential, and very often include circle-of-fifth sequences.
Closing:

There is no formal point which is termed the closing, so you need not label it,
however, you can expect to find one or more of the following at the end of a fugue:

1. A final statement of the subject with a return to the tonic

2. a V pedal just before the end

3. A I pedal that lasts until the end

4. a stretto just before the end (though a stretto can appear anywhere in a fugue)

Other important contrapuntal terms:

Stretto:

A stretto is a layering of entries of the subject (and/or answer) in quick succession –

Invertible counterpoint:

Counterpoint in which the voices may swap places – for example the top line and
bottom lines can switch places and the counterpoint will still work. Double counterpoint
refers to two lines, and triple counterpoint refers to three voices which can swap places (in
any order) and still be good counterpoint. Bach’s C minor fugue (II, from WTC Book I)
features triple counterpoint.

Double Fugue:
A fugue with two subjects and two countersubjects happening at the same time:
basically two simultaneous fugues.