Fugue is a polyphonic musical genre that prevailed in the Baroque period, also known as "escape song", meaning chase, escape.
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The structure and writing of fugues are more standardized. At the beginning of the song, the main musical material that runs through the whole song in the form of a single voice is called "theme", and the counterpoint relationship with the theme is called "right topic". After that, the theme and the countertop can take turns in different parts, and there are often transitional phrases between the theme and the theme for musical comparison.
Fugue is the most complex and rigorous form of music in polyphonic music. Its basic feature is the use of imitation contraposition to make a simple and characteristic theme appear once in turn in each part of the piece (presentation part); then enter the interlude that develops with some motives in the theme, after which the theme and the interlude appear again and again in various new keys (the unfolding part); until the final theme returns to the original key (the reproduction part), and often ends with an epilogue.
The composer uses a variety of polyphonic techniques to change the theme with various tonal and rhythmic changes to form a highly unified musical image.
The playing of fugues is of great help in training piano students in polyphonic musical thinking.
Fugues are usually based on a theme, played in different parts, in different tones, and occasionally at different speeds or upside down or from back to front.
However, the concept of fugue is far less restrictive than that of Cannon, thus allowing for more emotional or artistic expression.
The fugue's recognition sign is the way it begins: a separate voice sings out its subject, and after singing, the second voice either moves five degrees higher or lowers four degrees to enter.
At the same time, the first voice continues to sing "corresponding theme", also called the second theme, to contrast with the theme in terms of rhythm, harmony, and melody.
Each part of the voice sings the theme in turn, often another part of the vocal accompaniment corresponding to the theme, the role of the other parts depends on the composer's imagination. When all the voice parts are "in place", there are no more rules.
Of course, there are some standard techniques, but they are not strict enough to create fugues according to a certain formula.
The two fugues in The Dedication of Music are outstanding examples of how they can never be "created according to the formula." Both pieces have something far more profound than the nature of the fugue.
The creation of "Dedication to Music" also happened to be an improvisation by Bach as a performer.
It was in the spring of 1741, when he came to Berlin to try on all the harpsichords of the Berlin court, and frederick II had always enjoyed Bach's playing, and in this way the ruler became the initiating figure in the birth of The Dedication of Music. There are two theories about Bach's meeting with Frederick II.
The first said that Bach's carriage was stopped at the gates of Potsdam, and he was immediately taken to the newly built Mochou Palace, of course, by the order of Frederick II, and that the king was having an evening concert inside, when he announced: "Gentlemen, old Bach is coming!" The concert was immediately interrupted.
Another says that Bach had been listening to the concert inside in the next room, against the wall. Both of these claims, from Carl Philippe Emanuel, who were present at the time, are puzzling. However, whatever the situation at the time, one thing is certain: Frederick II had Bach test the pianos in all the rooms, and Bach improvised a song on each piano, and then he asked Bach to improvise on one of the fugue themes he had proposed, when Bach played a three-part fugue.
The next day, Bach visited Potsdam's organ and played on it; that evening Bach reappeared in concert, and Frederick II took the opportunity to ask him to play a six-part fugue, which was an extremely difficult task, and the theme that the king had proposed the day before could not construct such a complex piece of music without preparation, so Bach had to come up with a theme of his own to play, which was almost impossible, but Bach did it perfectly. Bach later wrote: "I remember very clearly, because of the special royal grace, during my stay in Potsdam, His Majesty the King granted me permission to play a fugue theme and graciously invited me to complete the work. I found that I could not make the perfect theme play well without sufficient preparation, so I decided to fully develop this theme and publish it to the world. I have done everything in my power to fulfill this wish, and I have nothing but such a pure wish..." Two months later, the famous "Dedication to Music" was born.
The work consists of two "Lichecars", ricercar (16th-18th centuries referring to fugue or kanon-style countervailing instrumental pieces, which originally meant "seeking", referring to "fugues" in the Dedication of Music), ten cannons, and a trio.
The first two "Lichekar", or "Fugues", are the themes set by Frederick II, the first of which is three-part and the latter is six-part--you-remember, this is such a complex piece of music played on a keyboard instrument with ten fingers of one person, rather than a choir of many people singing several parts, the difficulty of creation and playing are imaginable. However, the score of "Dedication to Music" did not sell much at the time, and Bach himself paid for a hundred copies of the print and distributed it to friends and family. It is recorded that Bach made a copper plate of this work and sent it to Frederick II with a humble eulogy, but the king simply thanked him for such a unique tribute, and then completely forgot about it, and he had never heard of it. Bach's last work, The Art of Fugue, experienced a similar fate, although they are now regarded as treasures, but they were almost forgotten at the time, and when people look back on the past, they must feel that this is really ironic, in fact, people may not think that such examples are not only many in history, but perhaps they are happening around you and me, but the majority of people in this world are hindsighted. Today, the artistic value of The Dedication of Music is indeed beyond doubt, it is one of the greatest masterpieces of polyphonic music, "dabbling in the whole field of counterpoint thought" and "reaching its culmination in the astonishing six-voice fugue", which together with The Art of Fugue summarizes polyphonic music, and in the subsequent development of musical history, it can almost be said that there has never been such a great polyphonic musical work. Such an evaluation is sufficient to accurately evaluate Bach's position in the field of polyphonic music, just as he later said in his evaluation of Wagner that his musical drama was "the culmination of romanticism".
But for Bach, his historical position is often defined simply as a summary of the past rather than a creation of the future, unlike when it comes to Wagner, who associates the chromatic musical language he uses with modernism, and in fact, taking a form or style to the extreme should also be regarded as a pioneering, as Bach did in The Dedication of Music or The Art of Fugue. By the 20th century, more than one composer had based his compositions on the "fugues" in The Devotion to Music, including the Fugues for the orchestra by the new Viennese composer Webern, and the dedication of the contemporary composer Gubaidulina for violin and orchestra.
Bach's influences on 20th-century music abounded, such as Shostakovich's Prelude and Fugue and Hindmit's The Game of Sound, and the neoclassical school even proposed the "return to Bach". It is clear that Bach, even in modern times, is still not "obsolete". When enjoying "The Dedication of Music", you don't have to think about its background, just listen to it with your ears.
People usually have the habit of exploring the background of the creation of the work, but this kind of inquiry is still useful for the music of the late classical period and the entire Romantic period, but for the earlier music, it seems to have little significance for the appreciation itself, and the role played is mainly to add some interest, just like the creation of "The Dedication of Music", which has no substantive effect on understanding the work. Bach's work needs to be carefully savored, and only when immersed in it can you truly appreciate its beauty, maybe it will calm an impetuous heart, maybe it will make the complicated thoughts become organized, maybe it will calm the fluctuating emotions. In melodies that are parallel and closely related to each other, in the complex structures of fugues, those emotional factors will be found to be implicit in them.
The Dedication of Music is one of Bach's most appreciated works, especially the two "fugues" at the beginning and the end and the four-movement "trio", which are full of contemplative characteristics and are therefore full of unique charm. The harpsichord solo "Ricercar a 3", which begins at a slow pace, creates a calm and mysterious meditative atmosphere, and as the speed turns faster, it overflows with a seemingly inexhaustible passion, and the melodies of the three voices are intertwined, one of which is fast and prominent, with an almost religious ecstasy, which is moved from the depths of the soul.
It is a pious and flowing piece of music, which is actually closely related to Bach's consistent religious style, and if this can be closely grasped, this work should not be difficult to understand. Technically, from the perspective of appreciation alone, although Bach's "Dedication to Music" does not emphasize the emotional factor in the music, it can make people feel a certain sublimation, which is the most intriguing part of this work.
In fact, most of Bach's instrumental works are religious, and indeed unconsciously revealed, an innate nature, or a unique trait. Bach's Psalm 51 uses the melody of Perglesi's Eulogy of the Virgin, he expanded only two parts and instrumental arrangements, but the melody did not move at all, but the musical style was radically changed, becoming a pure Bach style, and Perglesi's style disappeared without a trace! What is even more interesting is that Although Webern's Fugue and GubaiDulina's Dedication are based on Bach's "Fugue", the pure Bach style can be seen everywhere, no matter what variations are made, the shadow of his unique style will eventually be stubbornly revealed, making you unable to avoid it. These examples prove that the quality in Bach's bones has permeated all his works, and even if he does not actively express it in his music, this quality will still be unconsciously revealed, and it is still unshakable by anyone in any way. In fact, it is precisely because of this quality that his music has an irresistible penetrating power in indifference, which can produce a magical power that attracts the listener for a long time, and "The Dedication of Music" and "The Art of Fugue" are just two of the most typical examples. And such an expression that does not deliberately show oneself can be called rational or mistaken for a lack of emotional experience. Rationality is a common word used to describe Bach's music, but most people only understand the meaning of this word from the surface, and therefore regard Bach's music as a serious music, but do not explore the mystery behind it. Few people think that reason is often just a coat, or a veil, and the emotions contained in it are deeper and more mellow because of the appearance of reason. In fact, such a gentle expression is more memorable than any blunt expression. "The Dedication of Music" is such an encounterable and unattainable music, it can make people intoxicated and transcendent, and let people never get bored, just like being in the infinite cycle designed by Escher's paintings, although each cycle has walked the same path, but each time you walk can feel the wonder of different from the past, in this never-ending process, in the unchanged to produce changes, in the calm to produce waves, in the rationality to produce affection.
Fugue should be said to be a way of writing, a fixed form of creation of polyphonic music, not a form of composition.
Bach's Fugue Manuscript
The fugue usually has no introducer, and it is generally divided into three parts: the presentation part, the middle part, and the reproduction part. Each part of the voice presents the theme one by one in the presentation department with the main key and the genus key, and then expands into different interpolations, and finally returns to the original theme in the reproduction part.
The development of fugues is mainly based on the alternating representation of the theme entry and interludes composed of other materials.
In addition to the above point of view, the structure of the fugue can also be seen as similar to the sonata style, with two presentations of the subject before and after the presentation and reproduction of the subject, during which there is development, but the difference is that the development of the fugue is relatively short, generally only for the free entry of interludes and themes. Interludes are other melodies developed from the theme as a transition of connection, while the rendition part of the fugue uses the same theme and the right topic as the presentation part, but the method of forming the counterpoint is often very different, which makes the reproduction part of the fugue often become the climax of the emotion.
There are also often multiple interludes (also called interludes) in the fugue, each of which leads to another successive entry of the subject (sometimes called the middle part), which may be in different tones and in different ways, so that the fugue is difficult to classify into a sonata-like syllogism, but should be regarded as the presentation part of the aforementioned theme entry and the interlude composed of other materials alternately.
The form of the fugue theme can be relatively free, using techniques such as expansion, reduction, reflection, etc., and the theme can also enter incompletely, make small changes, and so on. Interludes play a role in connection, ensuring and promoting the coherence and fluency of fugues, and the choice of interludes and the way of theme entry are important criteria for measuring fugues.
The theme reproduction of the fugue sometimes uses a technique called close-fitting, that is, when each voice enters, it does not wait for the previous one to completely end, and the phenomenon of the same theme overlapping on multiple voices with a certain time and pitch gap appears, as if the theme is cut from the middle by itself, and here due to the greatly increased tension, it is often the climax of the fugue.
* Presentation section: is the beginning of the fugue, there is a theme and a corresponding answer, and the questions are presented in each voice part along with each other;
* Interstitial: Partial paragraphs inserted before the theme is expanded;
* Middle part: the theme of the presentation part is expanded in various deformations to further enrich the content to be expressed;
* Re-enactment and epilogue: end part.
classify
Fugues are usually named according to the number of voices, two voices are called two-voice fugues, three are called three-voice fugues, and five are five-voice fugues. The number of specific voice parts of a fugue is variable, the few have only two voices, the more can have seven, eight or even more, and in general, the fugue has three or four voice parts.
Another common classification is the number of topics, and a single topic is called a single fugue or a simple fugue. There are two themes called double fugues, which can be entered as the theme of the fugue and the counter-topic at the same time, or the two themes can be presented and developed separately, and then appear at the same time to form a counterpoint when reproducing. By analogy, a three-theme fugue is called a triple fugue, and so on, but in reality, a quadratic fugue is already very rare.
Fugue is a way of writing rather than a song, and in large pieces, there are often fugue segments, that is, there are successive entries of different pitches and times of different pitches and times in the same theme of the fugue presentation part, but there are not necessarily interludes and complete developments and reproductions. The fugue section is often used as a sonata-like development section in the main key music, developing the main theme and sub-theme of the sonata by fugue techniques, and returning to the main key style of the original song at the end of the fugue section.
Depending on the counterpoint technique used, it can also be divided into strict fugues and free fugues.
There are also small fugettas, which refer to those that develop less and repeat the theme into simpler fugues.
Fugues can be composed into separate pieces, i.e., fugues, or as passages of sets, or together with preludes (including preludes, tokata, Pasakaria, etc.), form preludes and fugues.
Bach
Bach's Collection of Average Piano Pieces consists of forty-eight fugues, ranging from two to five, of which the 10th, the fugue in E minor, is the only two fugues. The theme is an instrumental melody that flows rapidly at an active rhythm, containing sharp characteristic intervals such as increasing the fourth degree and increasing the second degree. Answering questions is to imitate by moving the subject four degrees lower. The contrasting melody combined with the answer is correct. This fugue has only two voice parts. So when the treble part plays the theme, and then the bass part plays the answer, it is a presentation part.
The presentation section is followed by the interlude, and the vocal parts are developed using the material of the theme and the right question. Later, the theme and the answer appear in turn in each relational key, that is, G major, A minor and D minor, which is a long middle part. Finally back to the main key e minor, is the reproduction department. This reproduction is short, with only four bars. It is a lively fugue. From beginning to end, the rapid rhythm of the river runs through the river, showing a vigorous vitality, like a mouth-watering, gushing speech.
In fugues in E minor, there is no immediate segment. The fugue that appears immediately after the segment can be used as an example of the 29th fugue, the fugue in D major. This fugue has four voice parts. The song has five interludes, before the third and fourth interludes and the end. Three immediate segments appear. The first immediate segment is where the two voices are adjacent to each other; the second is when the three voices are pressed against each other; and the third is when the four voices are pressed against each other. It is very difficult to create such an immediate segment, so it is called "the master's immediate segment".
Fugues, like Cannon, can expand the tempo, reduce the tempo, or proceed in reverse and reverse when they appear later. Beethoven's late works combine lyricism and philosophical reason, often in the form of fugues to express the spiritual realm of deep contemplation and meditation. The third movement of the thirty-first piano sonata is a three-part fugue with lyrical themes, showing an image of contemplation. Later this theme adopted an anti-line. Expand the rhythm and reduce the form of the rhythm. The second half of this fugue develops the fugue theme by reversing, expanding and reducing the rhythm.
Beethoven
The fourth movement of Beethoven's 29th piano sonata is also a three-part fugue. The theme is a decisive, powerful, and bold melody. Later, when this theme was developed, a reverse progressive form was adopted. The so-called reverse advance is the beginning and tail upside down, that is, starting from the last tone, playing backwards to the first tone, so it is also called "crab line".
Fugue-like passages, or incomplete fugues, in musical works are called "fugue segments". The most common fugue segment is composed of the beginning of the fugue, the presentation part of the fugue. In works of all genres and forms. Fugue segments are often encountered and are often used to develop themes. For example, the first theme of the symphonic poem "Monument to the People's Heroes" composed by Horvi is developed from the fugue section in the unfolding section. The first theme is firm and decisive, a battle march, the first violin and the big pipe before and after. It shows the image of the heroes' courageous struggle for the revolutionary cause. The first part of the unfolding section, which actively develops the image of the struggle of the first theme in the form of fugue segments, becomes aggressive and unstoppable. In this fugue segment, the theme and the answer appear four times, each time combined with the right question.
Tchaikovsky
Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony, the first movement of the Symphony of Sorrows, also took the form of fugue sections in the development of the first theme. The first theme contains a sigh-like tone, a rhythm of loose front and back, showing the image of trembling and struggling under heavy oppression. In the unfolding section, the theme is developed using fugue segments. The fugue's answers are four or five degrees lower than the subject. In this fugue section, the theme moves to the low or high five degrees three times in a row, and the theme of trepidation and uneasiness develops multiple lines, showing an image of resentment and fierce sorrow.
Fugue is a rigorous and logical form of polyphony. As a result, musical works are often seen as symbols of wisdom, science and civilization. Richard Strauss's symphonic poem "So Says Superman" describes Superman's attempts to use science to solve life's problems, but without success. This piece of music is expressed in the form of fugues to express disappointment with science.
The Hungarian composer Shabo is the composer of the film "The Goose Boy Horse Season". He adapted the film music into two suites. The fifth movement of the first suite of "The Shepherd Goose Boy Ma Ji" is "The Learned Doctor", which depicts Ma Ji, the son of a poor peasant, disguised as a learned doctor and avenging the landlord. The first theme also uses the form of a fugue segment, using the highly logical fugue as a symbol of a learned doctor. This fugue section is played on woodwind instruments, and the theme of the fugue section is blown out by the first, second, English and oboes.
This is the musician's inexplicable fugue [covering his face]