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This is intended to be the second part of the second movement of my String Sextet in G flat major, after the part of Lamentoso. These two parts are very different from the more fleeing and transcendental first movement as I hope they capture the sadness of the time and what I feel, before leaping back to the world of the pentatonics later, which would make the pentatonics more grounded. Here is the first movement of the piece: Here are the scores, the original version and a version with my own (painful) analysis on it: Final Fugue from String Sextet movement 2.pdf(With Analysis) Final Fugue from String Sextet movement 2.pdf And here is the youtube video: The piece is dedicated to Mr. Johnson Ho. The finishing of the fugue is prompted by hearing his worsening health, so I really want him to stay healthy. The inspiration of the fugue first comes from my friend Mike @chopin and my mentor David (I am very honoured to name him my mentor even though we have never met in real life since his videos form the skeleton of my composing skill. Go watch his analysis videos NOW!) said that the middle fugato section from the first movement is the best part of the movement. I was shocked since I believed it was the worst of the movement! Then my bro Vince @Thatguy v2.0 (who also makes this perfect audio) inspired me to write a dense fugue for the second movement, and so I challenged myself to write a six part fugue, since I feel like it’s not fully realised in the first movement. This is he most difficult I have ever written, but finishing it I now consider it my most beautiful work composed up to date. It’s so emotionally deep, even weirdly I feel zero emotion during the composition process, only calculating the counterpoint haha. I am so satisfied with the result. The fugue comprises of three subjects, all from the 1st movement. The 1st and 2nd subjects are from the 1st movement fugue’s subject, while the 3rd subject is derived from the opening theme of the Sextet’s first movement. Here is the plan of the movement (time according to youtube video): First part (00:03): First subject enters in each instruments, inversion introduced at . All of sudden C minor enters (01:55) and I quote my subject of the C minor Clarinet Quintet 3rd movement fugue here to intensify the sadness. Also kind of replying to the relationship of G flat major and C major in the first movement, but while freedom is shared there, now sadness is shared. Second Part (02:12): Second subject enters and the section features a saturation of stretti. The C minor section (03:56) comes in at and it’s my favourite section of the whole fugue. It’s insanely tragically beautiful here. Third Part: Third subject enters (04:58), first and second subjects combine in the manner of the 1st movement fugato. The intensity is kind of lowered after that insanely tragic C minor section, maybe kind of accepting and reflecting upon it, and it’s less saturated with the subjects. However things starting to get intensified, first the third subject is treated as in Bach’s Chorale Preludes when it is cut up and divided to four phrases alongside the other two subjects (06:29). The only pentatonic entry (07:16) arrives to kind of relate itself to the first movement and hints what will come at the end, but at the meantime it’s defeated by disappointment and the fugue ends in a doubtful manner, which will lead to the chant section. Hopefully I would finish the whole movement as soon as possible! Hope you enjoy the fugue now! Henry

@Jqh73o Yes, different moods are welcomed.

Hey thanks for all of this. My teacher and I really threw out playability as a concern just because I ALWAYS try to write for the players. This was his teaching tool to get me composing differently and have nothing holding back my ideas. I kinda came to terms 1/2 through writing this was really hard and idk who would ever play it, but now I just want it to be a representation of me as a composer today. I can go fix enharmonics. Though, my goal was to make it easier to read note to note rather than having the chords match up between all instruments. This is what has been put into my head from what I’ve been taught. The violin 8va thing is weird, but okay. At the least, I’ll keep them in the score. Maybe for the next ACO Earshot I’ll spend a couple days adding /substituting parts to make it a more real “orchestra piece.” I justvhave no idea where this would get played except by some really niche, really tight contemporary group. And even then, there’s a lot of competition for easier music. I am just hoping this can be a stepping stone to lead to more opportunities being open. Thanks for your comments!

Thanks for reminding me of this. I haven't heard it in a long time, and I forgot how genius it is. You told me your philosophy professor said this "fell flat". Did they not see all of the sharps? Just kidding, but I'd have to disagree with them. I think a lot of your decisions about texture and rhythmic selection could be attributed to you keeping the grand scope of the entire work in mind. Like, this is a long fugal section within a movement WITHIN the whole piece. And from what I remember from the vibrant first movement, this was a smart choice. Plus if I'm not mistaken, in the second movement there will be parts before and after this? Maybe if your professor had heard the work in it's entirety they would have a different opinion? I personally think it stands alone wonderfully. You know I don't really care for fugues, but I got a lot of enjoyment hearing this one. Your piece had lots of pain to me, I could feel the power very easily (especially at bar 106). In other moments you give us brief glimpses of sunshine, but overall it aches of sorrow and dark tones. I like how I liked (what a dumb way to say this...I'm keeping it) the music more and more as it went on. I'm not sure how to explain that, and I wasn't analyzing every damn note to see if it fell under whatever rules it needed to. Your writing seemed more confident as the piece went on. My favorite part is near the 7 minute mark, where you introduce themes from the first movement briefly, until giving us a bit more sadness and tension to the end. I've listened to the first movement tons of times, so it was fun to hear trickles of it, keeping me guessing how you'll finally end this massive work! Only when I get to hear the whole thing as a whole will I understand your vision with this, but from what I've heard so far, I'm on the edge of my seat with anticipation for that day. Brilliant job Henry, I know the grueling counterpoint you tediously and meticulously went through was probably agonizing. Regardless of where this piece in particular goes, just remember how much better at your craft you have gotten with such a momentous challenge accomplished. Congratulations, you are being gifted my patented new badge.

I came with this somewhere are the 3rd grade. It basically became this: Wick's Groove

Thank you so much, Henry! I always find your interpretations so interesting! That's a very specific visual to bring about, but when I listen, I too can see that old man.