Is the Art of Fugue polyphonic?
Is the Art of Fugue polyphonic?
The Oxford Dictionary’s definition of a fugue is: a polyphonic composition in which a short melodic theme, the subject, is introduced by one part or voice, and successively taken up by the others and developed by their interweaving.
What is the texture of the Art of 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.
What is the main compositional technique in a 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.
What is the art of the fugue about?
The Art of Fugue reveals Bach’s preoccupation with counterpoint and the canon. The theme, which is introduced in the first movement, is transformed and elaborated on in the same key in powerful and hypnotic ways until the climactic four-part final movement, which, in Bach’s original, ends abruptly in mid-line.
Can fugue be sung?
moment during an in-depth study of the piece. It’s not uncommon for performers to have played or sung a fugue for years and think they really know it inside out, and then something previously unnoticed or “mis-categorized” will pop up and make them jump in their seat.
What is the term for the main melody of a fugue?
fugue, in music, a compositional procedure characterized by the systematic imitation of a principal theme (called the subject) in simultaneously sounding melodic lines (counterpoint).
What is fugue in Baroque music?
A fugue is a piece of music that uses interwoven melodies based on a single musical idea. Fugues were most popular during the Baroque Period, ca. 1600-1750. They were based on an earlier idea from the Renaissance Period called imitative polyphony, where multiple singers would sing the same melody at different times.
How many voices can a fugue have?
Most fugues are in three or four voices (“à 3” or “à 4”), but not all of these are used at any given moment; it is common for an episode to proceed in as few as two voices.
Is fugue sacred or secular?
Yet by the middle of the 18th century, the fugue had passed its peak in popularity with composers; in the late 18th century, the fugue would survive chiefly in sacred music as a model of hallowed tradition.
What kind of music is the art of Fugue?
See media help. The Art of Fugue (or The Art of the Fugue; German: Die Kunst der Fuge), BWV 1080, is an incomplete musical work of unspecified instrumentation by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). Written in the last decade of his life, The Art of Fugue is the culmination of Bach’s experimentation with monothematic instrumental works.
How many fugues are in Bach’s the art of Fugue?
Written in the last decade of his life, The Art of Fugue is the culmination of Bach’s experimentation with monothematic instrumental works. This work consists of 14 fugues and 4 canons in D minor, each using some variation of a single principal subject, and generally ordered to increase in complexity.
Where does the fugue abruptly break off on page 5?
The fugue abruptly breaks off on the fifth page, specifically on the 239 th measure and ends with the note written by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: ” Ueber dieser Fuge, wo der Nahme BACH im Contrasubject angebracht worden, ist der Verfasser gestorben .”
What is the meaning of Bach’s Contrapunctus fugue?
“The governing idea of the work”, as put by Bach specialist Christoph Wolff, “was an exploration in depth of the contrapuntal possibilities inherent in a single musical subject.”. The word “contrapunctus” is often used for each fugue.
