Invention and Fugue

  

Lesson 29

January 28th, 2022

Lesson 29

Lecture notes:
  • Fugues are opening melodic ideas that become the theme of a song and are explored or variated as the song progresses. 
  • Fugues are done in no less than two voices and can range up to five voices.
  • A subject is the opening melodic line or phrase in a fugue or invention. This opening line establishes the key/mood of a song and is imitated throughout the various voices in the music. 
  • The point of imitation is when a melodic idea is played in one voice and then answered by another voice with the same idea.
  • The point of imitation is an octave apart in an invention and is a fifth and octave apart in the first two points of a fugue.
  • The subject of a fugue is followed by an answer or countersubject, which comes in two forms, namely real answers and tonal answers. They are usually transposed up a fifth or down a fourth.
  • A real answer is a melodic idea that is an identical transposition of the fugue subject transposed up a fifth or down a fourth.
  • A tonal answer, just like the real answer, transposes the fugue subject up a fifth. However, the initial melodic idea is slightly altered to not strongly express the dominant key.
  • The first part of a fugue or invention is called an exposition. This is followed by what is known as an episode. An episode is where the song modulates but still emphasizes the initial melodic idea or theme from the song's beginning.
  • Some fugues have double and triple subjects. In these particular fugues, one subject is played in the exposition/opening, and the other(s) is introduced later on or in a song section.
  • Stretto is when the subject is played in one voice and imitated in one or more voices before the initial subject is even finished.
  • A canon is a melodic idea or phrase that is played and then imitated identically in another voice after a set duration. This duration gap can consist of one bar or more. The imitating voice is also known as the follower.
  • Canons with repeating voices that are all musically identical are also called rounds.
The photo above shows a fugue with a two-bar melodic idea starting off in the alto voice, then moving to the soprano voice, and finally moving to the bass voice. As indicated in the photo, this beginning section of the fugue is called the exposition and consists of the subject, which leaps multiple voices. Photo Credit: (https://www.d.umn.edu/~jrubin1/JHR%20Fugue%201.htm)


The photo above features a canon with a popular nursery rhyme song. You can see where the initial melodic idea begins to be imitated an octave lower in the third bar. Photo credit: Beth Denisch (https://www.berklee.edu/berklee-today/spring-2018/writing-a-canon)


The video above explains what a fugue is by showing a continuous screen of bubbles that indicate each beat being played. The yellow indicates soprano, green alto, blue tenor, and red bass. The instrument being used is a pipe organ. There are also subtitles explaining all of the implementations of the fugue concerning the subject, exposition, etc. Video Credit: Understanding Music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvUnHzzFvb4)


The video above features various songs sung to illustrate a canon or round. The songs used in the video were popular nursery rhymes. Video Credit: Independence School District (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHSi6gRDQo0)



The score above is a short composition that I composed of a round.


The video above is the midi recording of the composition I wrote.


The photo above is the trombone part extracted from the short composition I composed above. This is what I will perform for you.


The video above is me playing the trombone part from the photo above the video.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Diatonic Sequences

Image
   Lesson 23 October 19th, 2021 Lesson 23 Lecture notes: A sequence is made when a musical idea is expressed , then repeated one or more times . Each repetition of the original idea is transposed up or down from the previous iteration by a consistent interval . A basic musical idea usually comes in either  half , full , or t wo measures . This is what ultimately becomes the sequence pattern when expressed in successive repetition . There are two main types of sequences in music which include the ascending sequences and the descending sequences . The ascending sequences include the ascending-fifth sequence and the parallel 6/3 chords sequence . The descending sequences include the descending-fifth sequence , the Pachelbel sequence , and the descending parallel 6/3 chords sequence . The various sequences follow a specific chord progression pattern . For example, the descending-fifth sequence progression would be I - IV - viio - iii - vi - ii - V - I . The Pachelbel
Read more

Dominant Sevenths

Image
  Lesson 17 March 22nd, 2021 Lesson 17 Lecture notes: The dominant seventh chord contains two tendency notes , including the leading tone and the chordal seventh . In a dominant seventh chord , the third degree of that chord is the leading tone for the tonic chord, which would resolve up to the tonic note ( 7 - 1 ). In a dominant seventh chord , the seventh degree , also known as the chordal seventh , is the tonic chord's fourth degree. This note would resolve down to the third degree of the tonic chord ( 4 - 3 ). The two predominant chords that lead to the dominant chord are the minor second and the perfect fourth . The basic phrase model would look like ( T - PD - D - T ) whenever used. Parallel fifths are easy to occur. An excellent way to avoid this is by omitting a note in either the dominant seventh chord or the tonic chord. The note that can be left out of either chord is the fifth-degree note .  Root position ( 7 ) and second inversion ( 4/3 ) dominant seve
Read more

Variations

Image
  Lesson 30 February 4th, 2022 Lesson 30 Lecture notes: There are multiple types of variations , inclusive of the continuous variation , sectional variation , figural variation , chromatic variation , textural variation , and timbral variation . The continuous variation is the continuous flow of a musical idea and a Fortspinnung phrase structure. This variation type was widely used in the Baroque era of music. Fortspinnung is the development process of a specific musical motif . First, the motif in question is developed into a complete musical using sequences , intervallic changes , and simple repetitions . There are two different types of continuous variations . Ground bass or passacaglia and chaconne . The ground bass / passacaglia  is when there is a repeating bass line , and only the upper voices change or vary . In the chaconne , the harmonic progression is repeated and varied while the bass remains the same for several successive variations , but it e
Read more