Is this the start of a fugue, and if not, what is it, if anything?

Here (http://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/61471e5e89d66dd4d4c5a0172ace3193a36a6b10) is an exercise I'm working on. My question is, is it the beginning of a fugue? I gather that a fugue is a piece in which the same theme is used in each voice, starting on different notes, and that adjustments to the theme are okay. Is that all there is to a fugue? Or are there other requirements?

(Descriptions I find online don't seem to make it clear what is essential to a fugue and what is just typical or common or optional.)

The piece I've written so far uses basically the same theme--but the "adjustments" are pretty liberal. For the most part (but not always!) I make each voice move in the same direction of the theme, even if the voice doesn't on a particular beat, actually hit the particular note the theme would require.

Also, what rules for classical composition have I egregiously broken? (Not to say I will necessarily stop breaking the rules you mention--I'm not a classical musician!--but it's good to know what the rules are and what it means to break them...) I'm sure there are tons of such problems with the piece and I'm interested to hear about them if anyone is interested in telling me about them...

(nm)

For me, what always made the fugue distinct from other forms (although many would quite rightly say it is more of a texture than a form) is its exposition. In it, the voices enter one by one, stating the subject in full. Almost all the time, the key alternates between the tonic and dominant each time a new voice enters. Often, but far from always, there is a codetta after the second voice enters, to link to the introduction of the third voice; its function is in modulation. After all your voices have come in, the exposition ends.

After that, the form is very loose. Generally, you have different entries (entries meaning parts where the subject is heard a few times, in full. It's confusing because I used the same word to describe voices being introduced earlier.) between developmental episodes. Modulation is unrestricted, and in fact expected. I have found listening to fugues to be very helpful in giving me an idea of what is expected from it. I listened to plenty of Bach's of course, as those are the holy standard all fugues are compared to, but I also listened to many modern fugues, to see what can be done, and how far composers have gone with this traditional form.

As for transforming the subject, that is what the fugue is all about. There is normally an entry where the subject shows itself in the relative major/minor key. You have inversion, stretto, diminution, augmentation, retrograde (although this one is uncommon), and combinations of the above to play with. It is not easy to employ these techniques while maintaining proper counterpoint. That brings me to the next thing: counterpoint rules.

You are expected to pay attention to these rules to some extent, even if you are writing in a modern style (which you are not). You can easily find information on this; google counterpoint rules or something similar. Consecutive and hidden octaves, fifths, and fourths, as well as improper treatment of dissonant intervals are things you need to look out for. I don't like to think of these as rules that should never be broken. If you are composing in a modern style, you may well need to break them in certain contexts. If you are writing an exercise in a classical style though, you'll lose marks for breaking them.

Now: problems in your "fugue."

I'll just point out the rule breaking in the first line. In middle of your second bar, you have an octave. You approached it fine, but you should try to avoid having these with only two voices. It is still acceptable, I guess, but definitely ugly. Passing from bar three to four, you have a sort of perfect cadence. The note D should fall to C# resolving the tritone properly. There is a obvious dissonance in the middle of bar four. Again ugly. You should be extra careful with only two voices, as these things become glaring in the bareness. A similar thing occurs in the middle of bar 5, although it isn't as bad. I think it is the resolution, with both voices going in the same direction, that is really the problem. The same two notes would sound fine if the top remained on A instead of going down a fifth.

It isn't necessary to change the key signature. I used to do the same thing, but if a piece is starting and ending on the same key, with close (or even distant) modulations in between, then it really isn't needed.

I would not call what you have a fugue. The third voice is introduced long after the first two voices have done all sorts of things, instead of early in the exposition. In the beginning, I can see you have the voices taking turns playing the main theme and the other figure, with quavers. For a beginning, it is not fugue-like at all.

I have been typing for much too long. This is the longest post I ever made.

Hopefully that helped.

Thanks for those comments. I should note for anyone listening to the link that last few measures of whatever you're hearing (it changes as I edit it over time) will be likely to be full of unintended notes, as they are likely to be just the notes I throw down at first with the intention of fixing them up in post so to speak... ;)

I see what you mean about the dissonances in the first line. The one in the fifth bar seemed alright to me, but I'm having a flashback to my experience in music theory many many years ago where things that sounded "fine" to me at first soon turned into glaring errors as I got more and more habituated into the rules...

As for altering the theme, you mentioned several types of alterations which I will look up, but here I'll ask, is basically _any_ alteration "okay" or should one stick with a list of alteration types which includes the ones you listed?

I'll not be refering to this thing as fugue or fugue-like anymore. But I think I'll stick with the conceit of having all the voices go over the same theme at different times starting on different notes. (Except I do think I'm hearing in my head a single "soprano" ranged voice playing a melody over everything else which I'll add in later.)

As for what style I'm writing in, I haven't been sure what to think about that. Once it goes into minor I've got some chords in there I think of as "jazzy" (not as in actual jazz style but you know... jazz influenced...) which I suspect are not allowed in classical style but which I think I'm going to leave in. For example the major second in bass and tenor in measure 23... Maybe I'm wrong about that though... Actually maybe what I should do, in order to be disciplined, is be very strict in this piece--but feel free to make an alternate version which isn't so strict...)

When you say it's not necessary to change key signatures, are you making a point just about notation, or do you mean something about the music itself?

Thanks again for all your comments.

The fifth bar isn't that bad. It is the sort of thing I would feel nervous about, but reluctantly leave in if I could not find a way to remove.

I just listened to it again, and I see you've edited it according to my suggestions. The beginning really sounded like a classical style copy, so I assumed that was what you were trying to do. I should've listened to the whole thing instead of simply eyeing the score; I realize now that you are in fact going for a more modern style.

On altering themes: any alteration is okay in the episodes, while there is more restriction for the entries. Since this is not a fugue, any alteration is okay anywhere.

On key signatures: I am mainly making a point about notation.

A Fugue is not a form, it is a *procedure.* There is not set rule as to how the material develops (unlike in Sonata-Allegro form, for example), except for that the subject is stated once on its own in each voice consecutively, but even that is broken occasionally. Just see Bach's

that awkward moment when someone implies there are 'rules' in sonata-allegro form.

A Fugue is not a form, it is a *procedure.* There is not set rule as to how the material develops (unlike in Sonata-Allegro form, for example), except for that the subject is stated once on its own in each voice consecutively, but even that is broken occasionally. Just see Bach's

Do you mean that it has a codetta in the exposition? Because that is actually quite common.