Fugue in D minor for Pedal Harpsichord.

On occasion of this year's International Women's Day, I decided to compose yet another fugue for pedal harpsichord.

Vivacious yet furious in character, this particular piece is meant to represent the struggles and righteous reivindications of the feminist cause, as well as to yield remembrance to female classical composers and musicians of such towering stature and long-lasting legacy as polymath Hildegard von Bingen, Barbara Strozzi, Marianne von Martinez, Maria Anna (Nannerl) Mozart, Clara Schumann (née Wieck), Louise Farrenc, Fanny Mendelssohn, María Malibrán, her sister Pauline Viardot, Mary Augusta Wakefield, Maude Valérie White, suffragette Dame Ethel Smyth, Lucy Broadwood, Margaret Ruthven Lang, Amy Beach, Poldowski (Regine Wieniawski), Rebecca Clarke, Florence Price, Germaine Tailleferre, Lili and Nadia Boulanger, Elizabeth Maconchy, Grazyna Bacewicz, Alicia de Larrocha and Kaija Saariaho, as well as those who are fortunately still with us, such as Sofia Gubaidulina, Errollyn Wallen, Unsuk Chin and Roxanna Panufnik, among gratefully many others.

In certain well-known cases eclipsed in fame by either their brother or husband, in others shunned and forsaken by their own families, frequently beset on all sides by prejudice and disbelief in the then largely male-dominated world of professional interpretation and composition, the courage, endurance and spirit of excellence displayed by all these masterful artists is so humbling and awe-inspiring to learn about, that I thought to myself, I might as well put said inspiration to good use, into another one of my humble fugues.

Enjoy!

EDIT: an arrangement for piano duo has been devised and uploaded. The harpsichord recording has also been reuploaded, rendered in the customary fifth-comma meantone temperament of the original harpsichord soundfont.

YouTube video link: 

Hey Pabio @Fugax Contrapunctus,

Another nice fugue! Just two questions: will the pedal part be able to play those quick notes like the passage in b.51 or similar places? I am afraid maybe the feet cannot play that? Since I can never play football. Another one is why the International Women’s Day will be related to a pedal harpsichord? Thx for sharing!

Henry

12 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Hey Pabio @Fugax Contrapunctus,

Another nice fugue! Just two questions: will the pedal part be able to play those quick notes like the passage in b.51 or similar places? I am afraid maybe the feet cannot play that? Since I can never play football. Another one is why the International Women’s Day will be related to a pedal harpsichord? Thx for sharing!

Henry

I have reached a point in my compositional process where the technical attainability of my pieces is losing relevance to me. After all, I am happy with the computerized performance, even if a more expressive interpretation were to add much needed nuance and richness to the sound. I can't play football either. The tempo is merely referential to the character, it can be reduced at will.

On a different note, there was no intended association between the choice of instrument and the dedicated purpose of the piece. I just so happened to find it more convenient for the density of the contrapuntal texture.

Is the dies irae at the beginning of the subject symbolic of something?

5 hours ago, Jqh73o said:

Is the dies irae at the beginning of the subject symbolic of something?

 

I honestly was thinking more of the main motivic cell in the Ukrainian Christmas carol Щедрик (Shchedryk). The fact that the fugue is in D minor (a key often associated with death in musical literature) might seem to connect into the incipit of the Dies Irae motif. However, this was not originally intended, although I must say I am keen on encouraging freer interpretation beyond the bounds of what the creator declares about their own work.