
To make the music run smoothly, it may also have to be altered slightly. 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. S = subject A = answer CS = countersubject T = tonic D = dominant Exposition Ī fugue begins with the exposition of its subject in one of the voices alone in the tonic key. What follows is a chart displaying a fairly typical fugal outline, and an explanation of the processes involved in creating this structure.Įxample of key and entry structure in a three-voice Baroque fugue The various entries may or may not be separated by episodes. Further entries of the subject will occur throughout the fugue, repeating the accompanying material at the same time. Musical outline Ī fugue begins with the exposition and is written according to certain predefined rules in later portions the composer has more freedom, though a logical key structure is usually followed. Variants include fughetta ("a small fugue") and fugato (a passage in fugal style within another work that is not a fugue). This in turn comes from Latin, also fuga, which is itself related to both fugere ("to flee") and fugare ("to chase"). The English term fugue originated in the 16th century and is derived from the French word fugue or the Italian fuga.

Nevertheless, composers continued to write and study fugues for various purposes they appear in the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), as well as modern composers such as Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975). With the decline of sophisticated styles at the end of the baroque period, the fugue's central role waned, eventually giving way as sonata form and the symphony orchestra rose to a dominant position. The famous fugue composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) shaped his own works after those of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621), Johann Jakob Froberger (1616–1667), Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706), Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583–1643), Dieterich Buxtehude (c. The form evolved during the 18th century from several earlier types of contrapuntal compositions, such as imitative ricercars, capriccios, canzonas, and fantasias. In this sense, a fugue is a style of composition, rather than a fixed structure. Episodes (if applicable) and entries are usually alternated until the "final entry" of the subject, by which point the music has returned to the opening key, or tonic, which is often followed by closing material, the coda. This is often followed by a connecting passage, or episode, developed from previously heard material further "entries" of the subject then are heard in related keys. 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 complete. Since the 17th century, the term fugue has described what is commonly regarded as the most fully developed procedure of imitative counterpoint. In the Middle Ages, the term was widely used to denote any works in canonic style by the Renaissance, it had come to denote specifically imitative works. A popular compositional technique in the Baroque era, the fugue was fundamental in showing mastery of harmony and tonality as it presented counterpoint.

Fugues can also have episodes-parts of the fugue where new material is heard, based on the subject-a stretto, when the fugue's subject "overlaps" itself in different voices, or a recapitulation.

A fugue usually has three main sections: an exposition, a development and a final entry that contains the return of the subject in the fugue's tonic key. shape note or " Sacred Harp") music and West Gallery music. It is not to be confused with a fuguing tune, which is a style of song popularized by and mostly limited to early American (i.e. In classical music, a fugue ( / f juː ɡ/) is a contrapuntal, polyphonic 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), which recurs frequently throughout the course of the composition. The six-part fugue in the " Ricercar a 6" from The Musical Offering, in the hand of Johann Sebastian Bach For other uses, see Fugue (disambiguation).
