The Fugue Explained
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
- In this video, I the history, structure, and compositional techniques of the fugue, a type of baroque piece. Because of their complexity and intricacy, fugues are one of my favorite types of piece, both as a pianist and a composer.
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#musictheory #fugue #bach
This is drastically underrated video. I hope you get the recognition you deserve)
Moi aussi😊
Wunderbar fiien danke
This is a great lesson! I used to write fugues but it’s one of those things if you don’t do it for a while you will forget the rules. This a great refresher. Enjoy seeing your videos!
You just gave a better explanation of negative harmony (inversion) in 10 seconds than I have heard on whole videos about negative harmony. Well done! This was such an informative video
Bravo! As a composer of fugues, I appreciate this video a lot.
This is one of the best explanations I’ve even seen for anything, thank you so much.
In my two years of composing music I never realised that I was writing and creating fugues! I would incorporate these techniques because I heard them in songs prior or learned through experimentation. It’s so interesting and has given me a broader understanding of music, thanks for the insightful video!
I still can’t believe that your channel isn’t more famous yet. I know this is a really cliche comment, but every time I watch a video, I always think of how I’d love to see more like it! I always want to show them to my theory teacher as well😂
This is an amazingly well presented video! I am doing a paper in western music history and this has helped immensely, thank u!!
Was your essay on the square?
6:55 - 8:05 The melodically developed lick.
What an excellent explanation of such a complex subject! Well done! I'm going to listen to it again, and maybe yet again.
Excellent content! You merit plenty of more recognition
Thank you for your clear explanation! I always struggled with how to understand fugues. I finally undestand!
Fine lesson. Thank you. Clarity and fun.
I keep watching videos on the fugue in the hopes that someone will eventually give some insight into how to compose them. But with few exceptions, they all give the same tired description of the form. It's as if the most complicated thing is deciding which voice to put the theme in. The kind of thing I'm looking for is the way that Bach will frequently alternate moving notes with held notes - so one voice moves while the other holds and vice versa. This gives a nice conversational effect, and thins the note texture while leaving the number of voices the same - making it easier to hear all the voices. Fugues are not just a form, they are an artform in which the most voices can be heard at the same time. The fun is trying to hear them all at the same time, and this requires work on the part of the listener, but also the composer, and the performer. Most of these introductions dont mention that. Gould doesnt do that, but he does describe what is happening in one of the fugues, EbMajor maybe from book II, in an interview with Bruno Monsaingeon
VERY nicely explained! Thank you!
Wonderfully produced ❤
This video helped me a lot to understand this theme. Thanks!
I was just looking up Fugue from hsr and came across this vid randomly. No regrets💯💯
Well -- fugues are far more than an academic rigid contrapunctual structure. They are drama put into music! They tend to be very fond and emotional pieces, no matter how abstract could be their composition. That's the reason they seem amazing and delightful to me.
Thank you for your precise exposition. :3
In reality fugues in themselves are no more than academic rigid contrapunctal structures and in fact only the highest genius can express drama and true emotions when writing fugues.
Amazing video! Thank you for this great lesson!
Brilliant but clear. I need to listen to this a couple of times. Very complex.
Very clear. Thank you.
It is insane how well explained it is! thank you!
The algorithm bout to hit this channel up!
The last symphonic movement finished by Mozart, the 4th of his 41st symphony is, I now understand a bit better, full of the compositional notions and forms of the fugue form. Always knew there was something a bit special and different about it but couldn't put my finger on it (somehow 'old-fashioned' sounding in parts), but run through with Mozart's sublime turns and twists of phrase, and exquisite balance of finish! If you've not heard it I highly recommend, it's an explosion of fugal fireworks through the creative window of a (THE) later master of the 'classical' style, and a fitting hurrah to wee Wolfgang's symphonic output, bless his peerless soul.
Subscribed! Keep up the good work 👏
Just BRILLIANT. So well explained!
Yes! I actually started getting into the more melodic approach to writing music last week. From time to time you get tired of the purely vertical "chord" harmony. I feel very inspired, thank you!
edit/ I'm sorry if there are any grammatical errors in the text
Precious & illuminating.
Baroque ended in 1750, and the musical offering was the pinnacle of Bach's music. How are his ricercare "early"?
Very informative! Just subscribed to your channel!
THERE IS MONTHS OF STUFF TO LEARN IN THIS ONE VIDEO, damn broddy, thanks
Polychoron, I'm sorry for my inadequate English. Quote 6:13: "Usually, each subject will have it's own exposition, but they may be introduced at the same time". What do you mean by "may be at the same time"? If you want to compose a triple fugue, each fugue need separate expositions! Not everyone agree with me on this, but do they write triple fugues? My last triple fugue in old style consist of 232 measures. Some "scholars" teach the listeners that the fugue BWV 847, with 31 measures, is a triple fugue. I deserve to get paid for those 201 measures extra. But how to get paid if both pieces are triple fugues?
This video is great! Thank you for posting. It will be very useful for my composition students
Fantastic description. Thank you.
great work. keep them coming :)
on Bach: the 2 ricercare mentioned were written at the end of his life, here mentioned as early compositions. it was also 48 preludes and fugues, two of each key. the example of stretto shown here illustrate augmentation more than stretto. stretti tend to use the subject without procedure (augmentation, diminution, inversion, etc). Mozart and Beethoven, although few, also wrote fugues, not only fugal passages. these imprecisions distort a little bit the quality of this video
Outstanding explanation ! nice work 🙂
I am learning my first fugue, no. 2 in c minor!!
This is more complicated than I thought.
Your content is amazing! Please keep it up, I've learned so much 💙🔥
Very clear explanation. incredible
Wonderful video. I am about to start reading GEB so preparing myself by studying Bach. If you haven’t read that book yet perhaps it would appeal to you.
Thank you for this informative video
your videos are really interesting and helpful. thank you so much 🖤
Awesome job, just discovered your channel keep up the excellent work
Love your work! Another awesome video :)
U DESERVE MORE VIEWS !!!!!!!!!!!
7:24 the lick??
Amazing video and amazing channel !
Wow what a great explanation
I can after several years still not quite understand Bach. But one thing I believe, Fugue is what Bach considers singing to instruments. He's in my mind hearing several teams of singing teams and all he does is moves them around in his mind. Mind you with 'all' comes his genius. It's just nasty.
fantastic video! Thank you! BTW: where can I browse that Musical Periods Timeline shown at 0.38, which look to be interactive? Thanks again!
“I’m in fugue right now”.
I saw you used a small example using the Musescore software. I would like to know how to do colored notes and, if possible colored text, too.
is there a place where we can listen to fugues you composed?
very cool, thank you!
What the fugue this is really good explanation
6:50 Or, as it's known in Extreme Metal: 'plays the heavy riff again, but slower'.
Can't believe only two commenters pointed out the hidden lick at 6:55
Find this gem at 12AM. Guess I'm gonna sleep right now ;)
Great video. The word "Ricercare" should be pronounced like "rich her car-ae"
C.v.Alkan has a 8-voice fugato😐⚰ written for piano
In his op.33 mvt.2
Shostakovich wrote his 24 preludes and fugues in different key order, check around 2:50
good video!
A+
1747 is 3 years before his death and Ricercares are considered his very late compositions.
this is the great fugue😅
I feel harsh to say a criticism about this video because it’s very good, but the fugue examples chosen could have been better to make the video easier to understand
I only clicked on this to hear how the word is pronounced. For some reason I imagined it would be "Fuh-guh-eh"
The Musical offering was a very late piece, not early
Yes, and he compounds the error by mentioning that these Ricercare were written in 1747, but that fugues later became "more common" as Bach and Handel composed more and more. In fact, 1747 was pretty close to the end of the fugal period.
The musical offering (1747) is hardly an ''early" composition.
So this is what Nick Mullen meant by being in a fugue
Bach is technically considered a part of the rococo period. The "transition" between baroque and classical methods. In fact, he was considered old fashioned during his day. Imagine Duke Ellington, composing big band music in 1990. No one would have cared. Same for Johann unfortunately. :(
bumbumbum buuum
I have always felt fugues were the musical equivalent of multidimensional integral calculus.
Have you read GEB?
@jimderloinz No idea what that is
👍
If it ain't baroque don't fix it!
This video is two years old. You should rerecord it. I am sure your voice must have broken by this point.
Hello chatGPT.
Soon to dummy it down for modern music a fugue in today's term in music would be like a chorus or "hook"
I wouldn't think so. I don't really see fugal material in choruses.
What do poor people listen to? Baroque music.
Oof. I felt that.
This is why I sucked at piano
This video has a lot of misinformation. You make it sound like Bach used the term Ricecar early in his career, but the musical offering was one of his last works, also the fugue form was already out of fashion in Bach’s time.