JR’s Practical Guide to the Fugue (Part I)
About the Fugue
Fugue is the name given to a composition of the Baroque Period which is imitative in 3 or 4 voices,
according to the structure outlined below. Most fugues were written for keyboard instruments, although
they may be played by many different combinations of instruments or voices.
A typical fugue has an exposition, development, and recapitulation.
These work differently than in sonata form.
• The exposition is over when all voices have entered with the subject or answer.
• The development consists of episodes and middle entries.
• The recapitulation consists of final entries in the tonic key and sometimes includes a coda.
Part I: Exposition
Things you will find in a typical fugue exposition
subject – This is the first thing you hear; it lasts until the next voice enters with the answer.
:
A “good” fugue subject is easily divided into two parts--the head and tail. These are sometimes
developed separately.
answer – The imitation (“follower”) of the subject in the second voice, transposed up a P5. This is what
the second voice does when it enters. Answers come in 2 varieties:
• real answer – an exact, note-for-note transposition of the subject up a P5.
• tonal answer – a subject transposition in which some intervals have been altered in order to pull the
tonality back to the tonic key. A fugue will normally use a tonal answer when:
o DO and SOL are used prominently in the subject.
o The subject modulates.
o The subject has many skips.
countersubject – What the first voice does when it has finished with the subject, and the answer has
entered in another voice. Simply put, the countersubject is counterpoint against the answer.
The exposition ends when all voices have entered with the subject or answer and there is a cadence,
(authentic or half). The cadence may be in the home key or a closely-related key.
bridge –extra music between the answer and the second entrance of the subject. It contains neither
subject nor answer, and is usually a sequence of previously introduced material.
Optional material: Things you may or may not find in a fugue exposition:
link – a few pitches between the subject and countersubject to make the transition smoother. (A link
sounds like a subject “appendage.”
Diagram of a 3-voice fugue exposition Voices may enter in any order.
Voice 1: subject (I) countersubject optional: bridge new material
Cadence
Voice 2: answer (V) countersubject
Voice 3: subject (I)
Diagram of a 4-voice fugue exposition Voices may enter in any order.
V1: subject (I) countersubject optional:
bridge
new material new material
Cadence
V2: answer (V) countersubject new material
V3: subject (I) countersubject
V4: answer (V)
