Fugue XIII in G flat/F sharp major for 4 voices (Part 2 of 2)

Hello my fellow musicians, now I present the second half of the fugue with the „special feature“.

Today is the 24th of February and it is now exactly four years ago since the Russian invasion in Ukraine. As I composed the fugue between February and May 2022, I decided - after I had accomplished the first half - to integrate the Ukrainian national anthem as further theme in the second half of the fugue – as a dedication to those which suffer from that terrible war, or more worse, have even lost their lives.

For continuing the „analytic comments“, we cannot speak from now on of „development sections“ and „episodes“ since the fugue is now structured by the verses of the anthem and interludes between them:

First Verse of the Anthem (mm. 51b – 43a).

The first verse in B flat minor in the soprano is „accompanied“ by three subject entries:
    • B flat minor, inverted, bass (mm. 51b)
    • F minor, tenor (mm. 55b)
    • D flat major, diminished, alto (mm. 58b)

Interlude (mm. 60 - 66).

The interlude, dominated by a sequential motif which appears three times in normal form and three time in inversion. The fugue subject appears once in normal and once in the diminished form:
    • D flat major, bass (mm. 60b)
    • E flat minor, diminished, bass (mm. 64b)

Second Verse of the Anthem (mm. 67 – 74).

Similarly, the second verse, again in B flat minor in the soprano has tree contrasting subject entries, where the last, diminished one could be counted to the following interlude, too:
    • F minor, tenor (mm. 67)
    • B flat minor, bass (mm. 71)
    • D flat major, diminished, tenor (mm. 74)

Interlude (mm. 75 - 82a).

This interlude consists of four sequences, each featuring an entry of the diminished subject, which perform the modulation from the „sad“ keys with flat key signatures used so far (for example E flat minor) to the „triumphant“ keys with sharp key signatures (finally to F sharp major):
    • D flat major, diminished, tenor (mm. 74)
    • A flat major, diminished, bass (mm.76)
    • B major, diminished, soprano (mm. 78)
    • F sharp major, diminished, alto (mm. 80)

Third Verse of the Anthem (mm. 82b – 90).

The anthem repeats the last half bar of the second verse and is now in the third verse finally in the brightest major key in F sharp major! The remaining subject entries of the fugue are as follows:
    • B minor, inverted, bass (mm. 82b)
    • F sharp minor, diminished, tenor (mm. 85b)
    • A major, diminished, tenor (mm. 86c)
    • F sharp major, „tail only“, bass (mm. 89)

I hope, you'll enjoy it. Wieland

Here is the link to the previous thread with the first part of the fugue:

Here now the fugue in its entirety with a YouTube-video and the complete score!

I very much enjoyed this!  I watched the youtube with score.  The starting measures actually which gave me goose bumbs!  I don't know the Ukrainian national anthem but knew when it came in by the colored lyrics.  Would be great if singers could be added.  

I haven't written a fugue in a long time but listen to Bach all the time (my fav composer as well).  This fugue appears true to form even as it's very chromatic.  Of course Art of Fugue comes to mind.  Congrats on this work!

Thanks for comments on my first jazz composition attempt, Night Train Home.  I have a long way to go learning jazz, and appreciate mentioning Nikolai Kapustin who I've never heard before.  I listened to several of his jazz piano solo works and hope to work to his level of expertise.  

A+ for presentation, something I lack around here. I love how detailed your score was, and that you posted multiple versions to appease any taste in reading along. I preferred the color coding, as I'll admit I got lost in the thick of dissonance trying to find synergy with the theme, but your score made it very clear and more enjoyable for me. 

I was really intrigued by the chromaticism and dissonance. It sounded too harsh at times, but the more I listened I got used to the language and texture and it flowed really well for me. 

Forgive my ignorance, but I've never really been into fugues. I don't know/forget all the intricacies involved, but your ledger of HOW you wrote it was very helpful and dare I say educational for me. The amount of effort you put into detailing your music was enlightening as well as lovely to hear. 

Thanks for posting this, as well as being involved in the forum! I can't speak for everyone, but the music I post here is barely heard by the people around me, and a community that is aligned with my passion AND that I get to help grow has a special place in my heart. It's people like you that help keep YC alive 🙂

Cheers friend, well done

Hello @Thatguy v2.0!

Thank you for your review and the honor to get recognized with the „Counterpoint Wizard“ badge! Yes, I must admit that I had the goal to earn that particular badge once with one of my fugues 😃, but I did not expect that this would happen so soon!

I would like to express my particular gratitude that this fugue in particular has been honored—not only in recognition of my work, but especially because of the message it is intended to convey—“Dona nobis pacem”—the quest for peace in this war-torn world, which has become even more vulnerable in the last two weeks.

On 3/3/2026 at 3:52 AM, Thatguy v2.0 said:

I was really intrigued by the chromaticism and dissonance. It sounded too harsh at times, but the more I listened I got used to the language and texture and it flowed really well for me.

Yes, it is indeed very chromatic and dissonant, as I did not use Palestrina's usual consonant style, as I had originally intended, especially after the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and the resulting decision to include the Ukrainian national anthem.

On 3/3/2026 at 3:52 AM, Thatguy v2.0 said:

A+ for presentation, something I lack around here. I love how detailed your score was, and that you posted multiple versions to appease any taste in reading along. I preferred the color coding, as I'll admit I got lost in the thick of dissonance trying to find synergy with the theme, but your score made it very clear and more enjoyable for me. 

Forgive my ignorance, but I've never really been into fugues. I don't know/forget all the intricacies involved, but your ledger of HOW you wrote it was very helpful and dare I say educational for me. The amount of effort you put into detailing your music was enlightening as well as lovely to hear. 

Thanks for posting this, as well as being involved in the forum! I can't speak for everyone, but the music I post here is barely heard by the people around me, and a community that is aligned with my passion AND that I get to help grow has a special place in my heart. It's people like you that help keep YC alive 🙂

Cheers friend, well done

Thank you again. It is very motivating for me to hear that my efforts to annotate and analyze the internal structures of the fugue in the score and in my explanations were useful and not too confusing, and that you may also have enjoyed my “work of art", for example, in the video.