Fugue
A fugue is a contrapuntal (or polyphonic) composition based mainly on imitation. The texture is made up of separate strands of melody (usually three or four) called parts or voices, which are commonly referred to as soprano, alto, tenor and bass, whether the fugue is instrumental or vocal.
Overview
Fugue
A fugue is generally structured in three main sections, called exposition, middle section and final section. However, these sections are not always clearly defined and often overlap. A complete fugue would usually be based on a single melodic idea called the subject. In the exposition, the subject would first be heard in one voice only and then imitated by the other voices in turn.
This first statement of the subject is in the tonic key. A second voice then imitates the opening subject, usually in the dominant key. This imitation of the subject is called the answer. A third voice then enters with another statement of the subject in the tonic key and, sometimes, a fourth voice follows with another statement of the answer. Once the subject and answer have been heard in each voice, this is known as the exposition.
For more on this topic, have a look at our Advanced Higher Music Study Guide, pp. 32–33.
Related Videos
Listen to Bach’s Fugue in D minor.
Listen to Bach’s Fugue in D major.
Click on the videos above to listen to the two performances of Bach’s Fugue No. II.
Quizzes
Click a link below to take a topic quiz:
Thoughts
Comparing two performances of the same fugue
Listen to two contrasting performances of Fugue No. II from Book I of Bach’s Forty-eight Preludes and Fugues (see videos above) – one instrumental and one vocal. Compare the two performances, identifying some prominent concepts and noting any important similarities and differences.