The fugue: definition, structure and the art of counterpoint
MUSIC HISTORY
Imitation and subject-answer: train the singer's polyphonic ear (choir, ensemble, cantata).
Source Jean Mislin · Musicologist, organist and choral conductor · teacher of Adeline Toniutti As part of Adeline Toniutti's research
Fugue: a short definition
The fugue (from Latin fuga, "flight") is a contrapuntal composition based on imitation and on a characteristic theme called the subject. It is the most elaborate form of the art of counterpoint. Voices enter in turn: subject in the tonic, answer in the dominant, often with a countersubject. For the choir, ensemble or cantata singer, this polyphonic dialogue trains the ear to hear other lines.
Origins: from ricercar to Baroque fugue
The fugue crowns the evolution of the ricercar ("research"), an instrumental piece with several themes treated in free contrapuntal imitation. The ricercar appears in the early sixteenth century; it itself grows out of vocal polyphony. In Italy, Gabrieli and Frescobaldi write many examples. By the late seventeenth century the fugue is a major genre at the heart of Baroque aesthetics.
It is still J.S. Bach who treats this austere-seeming genre with the greatest happiness and sovereign freedom: fugues of The Well-Tempered Clavier, organ fugues, The Art of Fugue. The freer fugato style enters other genres: oratorio choruses, concerto grosso movements, the central section of the French overture, developments of sonatas, symphonies and quartets. Imitation (antecedent then consequent) remains the basic gesture; a music-history glossary keeps that definition handy for singers.
Fugue plan: exposition, episodes, stretto
The plan varies by composer and work. Only the school fugue follows a strict scheme. What every fugue shares is the exposition: voice 1 states the subject in the tonic, then a countersubject; voice 2 answers in the dominant; voices 3 and 4 restate subject and answer. Entry order (SATB, BTAS, TBSA…) is free. For harmonic reasons the answer often carries a small melodic change called a mutation.
After the exposition, developments (new, more or less complete expositions in related keys, with cadence) alternate with freer episodes (modulating polyphony on subject or countersubject fragments). Toward the end, entries may draw closer: that is the stretto, a moment of great writing virtuosity. A large fugue often ends with a coda on a tonic or dominant pedal. As A. Mellnäs notes, the paradox of the supposedly strictest form is that its realization also needs imagination, caprice and "flight" from regularity.
Contrapuntal devices and types of fugue
Several devices suit the genre especially well: inversion (a motif restated in mirror intervals), augmentation (note values doubled) and diminution (values halved). When the countersubject is strong and contrasted enough to be heard as a second subject, one speaks of a double fugue; with two or more such counterpoints, of double or triple fugues. Each subject may first be exposed alone, then combined.
A short fugue with few voices and few developments is a fughetta. Fugato names freer fugal writing used outside a full fugue (developments of sonatas, symphonies, quartets). The prelude, often paired with the fugue in Bach (and sometimes with the suite), keeps an improvisatory character; the prelude-fugue pair shapes much of the organ and keyboard repertoire.
Bach and the afterlife of the fugue
Bach, largely self-taught, absorbs North German keyboard genres (variation, chorale, toccata, prelude, fugue), French music (Couperin) and Italian models (Vivaldi transcriptions for organ). René Leibowitz places him at the crossroads of older contrapuntal writing and emerging harmony. When taste shifts toward a simple melody over clear harmony, he persists: Musical Offering, The Art of Fugue. He is read as the summit of polyphony and of the Baroque world.
Later fugues are rarer but decisive: Beethoven (Grosse Fuge for string quartet Op. 133, late piano sonatas), Franck (Prélude, Fugue et Variation for organ; Prélude, Choral et Fugue for piano), Stravinsky (2nd movement of the Symphony of Psalms), Bartók (1st movement of Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta), Ravel (2nd piece of Le Tombeau de Couperin), plus fugal writing in the Requiems of Mozart and Suppé. For singers, these vocal and instrumental pages remain laboratories of polyphonic listening.
Timeline and key works
- early 16th c.: ricercar; Gabrieli, Frescobaldi.
- late 17th c.: the fugue becomes a major Baroque genre.
- Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier, organ fugues, Art of Fugue, Musical Offering.
- Beethoven: Grosse Fuge Op. 133; late piano sonatas.
- 19th-20th c.: Franck, Ravel (Tombeau de Couperin), Stravinsky, Bartók.
Frequently asked questions about the fugue
What is the definition of a fugue?
A contrapuntal composition based on imitation of a characteristic subject; the most elaborate form of the art of counterpoint.
What is the difference between subject and answer?
The subject is stated in the tonic; the answer restates the theme in the dominant, sometimes with a melodic mutation for harmonic reasons.
What is stretto?
A passage where subject entries come closer together, often toward the end of the fugue, with dense writing.
Fugue, fugato and fughetta: how do they differ?
The fugue is the full genre; fugato is freer fugal style in another context; a fughetta is a short fugue with few voices and developments.
Why does the fugue matter for singers?
It trains the polyphonic ear: hear other voices, place your entry, sustain subject or countersubject in choir, cantata or ensemble.
Sources and quotations
Landmarks and quotations for further reading.
- Jean Mislin: musicologist, organist and choral conductor, teacher of Adeline Toniutti. Notes used within Adeline Toniutti's research.
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Train the polyphonic ear
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