Little Fugue in E-flat Major

Hey Guys,

Here is a Little Fugue in E-flat Major which I composed to try and better understand the contrapuntal technique of Bach's time. It is a step in a long process and I hope to complete more involved such fugues as I have the time to study this kind of composition further.

Concerning its construction, it is a three-voice fugue, including an exposition, episode, middle entry (in c minor), episode, and concluding entry. I tried to keep dialogue going throughout the voices, and the embellishments were later added to continue this dialogue.

I'm sure there are some unorthodox moments in the piece, but I hope the end result is satisfactory.

In the future I'd like to try a four-voice fugue with more middle entries (and other bell & whistle techniques such as stretto, inversion, etc). Also, I think it would be particularly challenging to work in a fugue with a very slow subject. I'd also be interested in learning more about 16th century counterpoint, so if any of you have any good sources/texts about studying this, I would be most appreciative.

The most challenging aspect about composing this fugue was keeping all of the lines independently interesting yet in harmony with one another. I also would like to learn how to use silence more in this kind of composition; too often it seems as though in fugues we always strive to keep every voice moving when at a lot of places a rest or two may be effective and welcome.

Well let me know what you think...

-MikeSpring Dances 1.MUS

Little_Fugue_in_E_flat_Major.mus

Little_Fugue_in_E_flat_Major.mid

Dude, you rock so f*cking hard!

This little fugue is stylistically superb, and though I think you've short-changed yourself a bit in construction, your basic understanding is excellent.

I am fairly strict about things like this, and had I written this fugue, I would have done less episodic work and fewer middle entries. You have only one complete statement of the subject by all voices in succession, and that is two few to establish the form solidly. A fugue is more sturdy if at least two complete expositions (separated by an episode) occur before middle entries and other such devices are introduced. This view is based in part on my studies of Alfred Mann's "The Study of Fugue," which is in turn based upon J. J. Fux's "Gradus ad Parnassum" and other 18th Century sources.

That said, for a first effort at writing a fugue, this is quite excellent!

Have you seen our Fugue Challenge here? :happy: Check it out: http://www.youngcomposers.com/forum/Young-...lenge-t702.html

I agree, you did very well in your first

efforts.

The counterpoint sounds very pure, and

the the entries of the theme were very

smooth and timely.

No doubt resting one voice here and there

only to let it re-enter stating the theme is

nice, but in such a short work as this in

three parts I wouldnt over worry about it.

Personally, I think its just fine as it is, and

remember not all Fugues are as strict as

Bach's. Handel's Fugues were more free

but nevertheless beautiful and pleasing.

"The Study of Fugue" covers how some

fugues are free while others are strict.

(Dont remember the Italian names for them).

You did very well on walking the ending out

too. I give it a Perfect score, being it doesnt

have to be so strict.

I really enjoyed it in its freedom.

Jeremy

well written and very enjoyable! congrats!

I loved it! awesomely fantastic! I wish I could give you some constructive criticism but as you are far ahead of me it's really impossible. You made me take to action a decision I made a month back- I'll be writing one fugue each day from now on. For a year.

About 16th century counterpoint- I have two great books to recommend. First Modal and Tonal counterpoint: from Josquin to Stravinsky- A very comprehensive book about counterpoint and it will get your studies of 16th century counterpoint on the run. Pedagogically it's the best book I've seen. I have some other counterpoint books(Kennan etc etc) which I consider to be ages below it.

I hope to hear more fugues from you! truly inspiring :w00t:

/Bojan Hugo Buntic

Thank you all for your encouragement!! Writing fugues seems very challenging to me and it takes me a lot of time to work on one. I will try to participate in the fugue challenge mentioned above. It looks like a lot of fun and it will be so helpful! I will also check out the books you suggest. Thank you all for your helpful comments. I look forward to hearing your pieces and giving you constructive feedback as well.

-mike

Also, in most fugues, as fugue form goes, you must introduce the answer (or 2nd voice) in the dominant. You introduce this rather quickly in the tonic. You quickly then go to the dominant, which works to an extent, but the E-flat should be an F in the answer.

I'd have done exactly as Nico says, too (have the first and third notes of the answer be F instead of E-flat), but I believe technically this kind of alteration is allowable. I'm just really strict about such things. As others have pointed out (pointedly), not every fugue has to be as strict as all that. I still think more establishment of the form is necessary before you start getting loosy-goosy. And citing Handel as an example isn't necessarily a good idea. Handel played around with the form a lot, granted, but that's not the way he taught the technique, and he'd never have let a beginner get away with what he allowed himself.

This very fine example aside (I'm speaking more generally here), what often concerns me is that so many young people just starting out expect for themselves the same kind of freedom an established composer has earned the hard way. It's best to start out textbook, then branch out into exceptions. Neuhausen is exceptionally talented and has done beautifully, but this site is littered with the work of people who start at the end instead of at the beginning, trying to write sonnets when they should be concentrating on learning the alphabet, as it were. I know this isn't a popular idea, and I get into a lot of arguments about it here and elsewhere, but there aren't nearly enough exceptions like this one to change my mind in general.

Cool..i loved it..

great fugue! it reminds me of the fugue 1 of the well tempered clavier, book II

Okay, so technically the answer should be in the dominant, but it doesn't have to be. So I personally wouldn't worry too much about this. Whether or not you want to depends on whether you care about the established rules and respecting them... do you?

Overall the piece was very good - it flowed beautifully and the themes were enjoyable. I'm not a huge fan of fugues because they tend to be too strict and more mechanical than beautiful, but overall this piece fit both components - beauty and mechanics. Good work.

Trill happy are we?

I guess Bach and Liszt had a baby!

Seriously though, overall I thought it was a fun little fugue. Try to do a bit more with your theme, though. Fugue's should be a spinning out, not just a repetition.