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If it's of any help, I've just made a tutorial on how to design subjects for tonal fugues that allow canonic stretti.

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I think this work has a lot of very good material but it has the typical problem of wanting to make a long piece. It lacks a clear structure. And more than that, it has parts that use different harmonic languages, without a developed transition between them. The transitions.... are one of the most difficult parts. The piece starts out using quartal harmonies and, suddenly, in measure 8 and on, it uses triads and functional harmony as if nothing had happened. The entrance chord in measure 15 is quite strange with a b9 (F#-G). In measure 26 the chord is also strange as it has F# above and F natural in the bass. Of course there are major-minor chords but in a tonal context like this one they don't fit. The Ben poco agitato part is confusing, I don't know if it's intentional but there are two different harmonies in each hand. The main conflict is that there are moments with G# up and G down. The next part A tempo, decisamente, has its grace, it's like a march. But it doesn't have much to do with what comes before and after. There are some parts that are related and they are the ones that use the arpeggio motive, similar to a nocturne, but they are separated by the other parts. On the other hand, in this arpeggio pattern you have to be careful because after all, you are doing melody-accompaniment counterpoint, and it is quite clear that the intervals are not respected but the chord notes below and above are used with passing notes, that's why there are quite a few dissonances or moments of consecutive octaves. There is certainly some work involved here. But sometimes it is better to opt for shorter works with structure. I, for one, don't worry if something is short or if it "can be developed".

There are many issues to discuss (nicely) about the Fugue. But I'm going to raise a very direct one this time: How can we make sure that with the subject we design at the beginning of the Fugue we will be able to elaborate a stretti? The stretti or stretto (estrechar in English, estrechar in Spanish) is not an obligatory part of the fugue, but a frequent one. It even appears in other types of musical forms. It consists of exposing the material "compressed" in time so that the "head" of the subject is exposed in two to four voices successively and overlapping. Probably, sometimes, this can happen by chance. But there is a way to make sure ..... Any ideas?

Hi! I post this since I'm bored and I have withheld this recording for too long a time... This is the Scherzo second movement of the A major sonata (2014-2015). The first movement is posted here in Jan 2023: Piano Sonata no.1 2nd Mov.pdf Scherzo Piano Sonata no.1.mp3 It's in F major but the influence of the original tonic and C# minor is predominant in the movement, and the use of motive is saturated here. The structure of the movement is quite simple: 0:04 Scherzo (Forgive my breathing lol). Ends on A major with direct quotation of the opening motive in the first movement. Wanders through C sharp minor. I like that secret quotation in the LH bass-line in 1:07 2:53 Trio. A fugato using the inversion of the opening motive as in the first movement. I will say this part is too pretentious to strive for difference for the 5/4 time signature and the inversion in C# minor. Quote the opening motive directly in 3:59. (Forgive my breathing again...) 4:03 Scherzo reprise without all those repetition. 5:27 Coda, using the elements from the trio, leads straight through to the Db major third movement which I don't know whether I will play it or not since it's not too good. I quite like the vivacity of this movement. But for me the treatment in the middle section and forcing it to C# minor, though a cohesion device to link the movements, is too artificial for me now. Let me know what you think! Hope you enjoy the movement! The recording is played by myself and I know it's not perfect, but I have tried and this is fairly good for me. Here's the youtube link: P.S I don't think I will practice and record the third and fourth movements of the Sonata since they are not so good. Even if I have time I will reserve it to practice the final movement of my 2nd Sonata and the first movement of my 3rd Sonata. Henry

This is very, very interesting and I am writing it down to study it. I have another approach that, in the end, is also based on what you say.... I will post it here tomorrow. Regards.

I don't think so. If you take the subjects of Bach, or any other classical composer, stretti will surely come out. But write one or two random subjects and try to assemble stretti....

Hi @Beethoven is God, Lol I was just about to ask you to resend the message on YC and then I checked my discord inbox and found it there... Thanks for replying to my post! I will get back to you in discord. Edit: forgot to check my discord inbox

I think every subject are stretto-able but it only varies with the time of simultanety of the overlapped subjects, or whether you can have stretti more than 2 voices, for example in the fugue of C# minor in WTCI or D major in WTCII.

There are actually two kinds of stretti: a) the real or canonic stretto where the subject goes on in full while the answer is sounding; b) and the false stretto where the subject is continued in free counterpoint right after the entry of the answer. You can compose a false stretto with any subject you create. As for a canonic stretto you first have to create a subject which is suitable to be worked out as an actual canon with very close entrances.

Edit: misread, now I see you wanted a private message. Edit 2: double misread, I'm dumb, you wanted either. Well too late, I sent a message.

I've just listened to it twice and I think it's a very powerful and fantastic beginning. So much so that it will be hard to beat that initial climax. Already listening to the piccolo so soon .... Nice use of brass, which is always a difficult part for many (myself included). I think everything is very well connected and no cracks are heard, the deep basses also play a very good role. The interesting thing would be that before you go on without being clear, make yourself a good plan of what may come. Greetings. Great job.

Wow, what an impressive performance! I felt like I was listening to a symphony, this was "orchestrated" really well. This piece has a lot of playful character to it, so nice job nailing the scherzo style. My favorite parts would probably be the LH octave section at around b.150, and the spots where you have back and forth between the hands like b.52. This piece seems difficult to capture the intent of the notes, like the articulations and what not. But you played masterfully as always. I'm less of a fan for the trio section, but I can't really pinpoint what it is. Maybe because it's a bit muddier in the LH, or maybe it's the 5/8 feel. I dunno. It's good, but I favored the A section a lot more. Subjective and all that though I'm curious about the absurdly fast tempo. I know we've discussed this before, but I always try to put the beat in the measures. Like, it just doesn't seem 3/4 to me. Of course, it's your music, and I wouldn't say it's wrong, but I'm just curious why you prefer the way you wrote it over using 6/8? Is it more legible to you? You never cease to impress, Henry, and this is just another example of how great a musician you are (and to think you wrote this 7 or so years ago?!). I hope more share some thoughts on this piece, as it's clearly underrepresented so far. I am a little sad you don't feel like the other movements are worth the time to practice and perform; I'd love to hear this as a whole. But, you working on more recent pieces of yours is a good enough excuse lol. Great work, and thanks for sharing as always 🙂

Wow! I don't think I have much else to add: everybody here seems to have provided heaps of constructive criticism and then some, so I'll just be providing my own opinions regarding the piece. I caught some passing elements which sounded like Dvorak's 'America' string quartet (probably the string tremolos). The ebbs and flows of the music feel totally natural and work well for me. The pentatonic harmony is a joy to listen to, and the melody crossing instruments and doubling across certain parts made me reflect on my own string writing (probably because I don't write for strings often haha). Disregarding the theme and subject matters you sought to express, this is an enjoyable, well-structured piece of music; taking said themes into account makes it a truly excellent one! Glimpses of early Mendelssohn's musical prowess (especially his D major sextet, op. 110) are evident in how deftly you handled the textural harmonies and structure of the piece. I feel I may have formed a new love for sextets after first listening to Mendelssohn's, and now that love and admiration is well-cemented thanks to you! 👍👍