Young Composers' Fugue Challenge

Comment withdrawn.

What the hell happened to Brandon?

He left.

YouTube - So you want to write a fugue?

Wow, this potentially wonderful thread has been dead for so long that I decided to actually post something in hopes of mildly reviving it. I think the shinanigans of earlier are done with.

This fuguette is on the first theme and is for a standard four-voice choir. When I heard the theme, I immediately thought of the text to a Palestrina motet (the one by the same name). So I set it, and the overall form was decided by the text.

The work itself is nothing special, and it certainly doesn't follow strict classical counterpoint. There is even one parallel fifth and a few other classically strict no-nos, but anyone who cares can bite me.

Other than that, I don't actually know what the score looks like as my friend transcribed it for me using notepad (I dislike notation software, at least any I can afford), so I'm not actually sure if the text is even there (or accurate). It's not a big deal, as the midi was generated from the score, but some notes (such as the last few bars in the soprano) only really make sense when one considers that text is involved.

Hope you enjoy, and hope this makes at least some people reinterested in this thread, if even just to comment on how much they hate this piece.

I too shall try to help resurrect this thread.

I've written a handful of fairly compliant bach-style fugues over the last few months, but my music teacher complained that they were *too* Bachian in form and style; he tried to ban from me listening to Bach, loading me with Hindemith and Walton instead (naturally, I had broken his command within about twenty minutes). The following files are of the exposition and middle entries of a neo-classical fugue in an unspecified key. This is a work that's wholly in progress; there are several sections that I just sketched out so I could keep composing!

I tried to upload a spreadsheet 'map' of the fugue, but YC refused to cooperate. In essence the current material comprises an exposition, counterexposition of the inversus, canon of the rectus at the third, middle entries of the rectus and inversus in unrelated keys and middle entries of the rectus at the unison and octave followed by a brief fantasia section (based on material from the prelude) after which I intend to bring back the subject in augmentation (I've added some rubbish to 'simulate' what it might sound like).

I'm welcome to receive feedback, provided the reviewers bear in mind the supposed genre of the composition - neoclassicism (i.e. I'm not interested in hearing how many hundreds of parallel fifths I've used!)

Many thanks, and I hope you enjoy the piece.

To me your neoclassical fugue doesn't sound too "neo"; it has some very classic moments too, until of course the end, which struck me as a bit unrelated, though nice. You should post some of your Bachian fugues too; I would really enjoy hearing them. Well done!

I too have been keeping up the Baroque-style composing, but I don't feel too inclined to post anything because most of the Baroque people seem to have left this forum. Everyone else seems uninterested in anything so connected to the past.

By the way, what is the name on your harpsichord picture? Where is that harpsichord?; it looks familiar....

Don't worry; I figured it out; it's the Willard Martin harpsichord sampled by Milan Digital Audio.... I wish they gave more information on their site:

Located at The University of Illinois, this double manual harpsichord was built by Willard Martin in the Saxon tradition and strung in brass. It has a range of 61 notes, chromatic from FF to f3, and a disposition of 2x8' and 1x4'. Keyboards transpose to two positions, ( a' = 415, and 440 ). Each stop was recorded individually, chromatically and with two different release samples. The harpsichord samples are currently available in Hauptwerk (requires version 1.21), and .WAV format.

I'm not sure, however, what this Saxon style is. It just looks like a French double to me.

Originally Posted by Zetetic

I'm welcome to receive feedback, provided the reviewers bear in mind the supposed genre of the composition - neoclassicism (i.e. I'm not interested in hearing how many hundreds of parallel fifths I've used!)

Could you please provide a PDF of the piece? I don't have Sibelius nor Finale (I'm on Linux).

And not all the Baroque fans have left: I'm still there

So if you care to post some of your Bach-like fugues, please I would enjoy that.

Count me in! .. Bach too connected with the past!! what! Bach is more alive than anyone, his music is in constant flux. I look forward to hearing your fugues.