Fugue in E minor No. 15.

After a series of somewhat unexpected and tumultuous events taken place last weekend, my sleep schedule suddenly got inverted again, and the subsequent rush of inspiration has resulted in this fugue being conceived and finished in under three days (or perhaps, rather, sleepless nights, should I say). Now that something productive has come of it once again, I can finally take some time to rest in whatever meager capacity I may.

Enjoy!

YouTube video link:

Hello
I would like to give you an honest and loving opinion.

First of all, I would like to say that I think it is an incredible and passionate work.
But to sum it up, I think it lacks “passion”.
You see, I have no doubt about your magnificent skills in counterpoint.
But in a work of this type, the most complicated thing, from my point of view, is to develop an emotional “path”.
I think that keeping a constant “full throttle” rhythm is difficult, but as a whole it is less expressive than when there are contrasts, “muted” parts, slower parts, moments of climax, etc...

Therefore, as an exercise and counterpoint work it seems perfect to me, but I think that, even in this style, we can aspire to that emotional part. 
And with this I am not saying that it is not, but that I find that aspect a little lacking, especially in a work that seems to be worked in depth.

2 hours ago, Luis Hernández said:

Hello
I would like to give you an honest and loving opinion.

First of all, I would like to say that I think it is an incredible and passionate work.
But to sum it up, I think it lacks “passion”.
You see, I have no doubt about your magnificent skills in counterpoint.
But in a work of this type, the most complicated thing, from my point of view, is to develop an emotional “path”.
I think that keeping a constant “full throttle” rhythm is difficult, but as a whole it is less expressive than when there are contrasts, “muted” parts, slower parts, moments of climax, etc...

Therefore, as an exercise and counterpoint work it seems perfect to me, but I think that, even in this style, we can aspire to that emotional part. 
And with this I am not saying that it is not, but that I find that aspect a little lacking, especially in a work that seems to be worked in depth.

Buenas Luis,

I wholeheartedly appreciate your honesty and sincerity, and looking back at it I can see what you mean by describing it as "lacking passion". I might be wrong, but I now feel such a label maybe could just as easily apply to every single of the fugues I have composed throughout the years, in more ways than one. I doubt this is a localized issue specific to this one fugue, though I might be wrong on that front.

As much as it hurts to confront the truth sometimes, this one might as well be little more than a counterpoint exercise indeed, even if I did not perceive it as such when composing and revisiting it. The past weekend has been as though a devastating tornado leaving once bountiful fields barren, as I was informed with a week's delay that a childhood friend of mine whom I had lost contact with for the last couple years had died by suicide the previous Monday. To say visiting the family to offer my condolences was tough would be a heartless euphemism, even more so given what irreparable anguish they must have gone through and have still to endure for such a long time. As such, I did what I could with how little inspiration came from the couple last sleepless nights this turmoil has deeply troubled me with: given my current mental instability in light of it all, what tireless hours of composing have yielded this output may as well have drained how little remained of my capacity to express all these bottled-up feelings.

To me, it honestly matters very little as of now what this work of mine may be considered or held as: by its own nature, my personal evolution within Bach's style as I sought to adopt it has made excessive expressiveness of far lesser interest to me than to the common romantic acolyte, however moving and attractive their corollaries may still seem even nowadays. This, in turn, often makes my music and its computerized renderings sound mechanical and unabating, which I know I must seek to refine gradually or eventually, at the cost, perhaps, of polyphonic density and contrapuntal complexity. It is thus that I strive to emulate one of the core ideas I cherish to be found at the heart of Bach's quantitatively and qualitatively nigh unrivaled production: the search for the Golden Mean, balance and temperance simultaneously in their purest and most embellished forms. The road extends a long way ahead yet, and the end is not to be found at any of the ends of the Earth, nor the Universe even, dare I say. Nevertheless, I shall still devote my efforts to pining even for the slightiest, least relevant approximation to that immortal spirit and legacy that has granted us all so much more than just perfect music: for as Emil Cioran once uttered with such unbound wisdom and the everlasting reverence I believe we all share, "Bach's music is the only argument proving that the creation of the Universe cannot be regarded as a complete failure. Without Bach, God would be a complete second-rate figure".

7 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

This, in turn, often makes my music and its computerized renderings sound mechanical and unabating, which I know I must seek to refine gradually or eventually, at the cost, perhaps, of polyphonic density and contrapuntal complexity. It is thus that I strive to emulate one of the core ideas I cherish to be found at the heart of Bach's quantitatively and qualitatively nigh unrivaled production: the search for the Golden Mean, balance and temperance simultaneously in their purest and most embellished forms.

I think computerized renderings are the key thought here. Your music would absolutely flourish emotionally in the hands of an accomplished player. I understand that fugues in general can sound mechanical and scripted, perhaps even emotionless. But everyone who's been around here for a while knows how exquisite your craftsmanship is, and it's no knock against your creativity or talent to say that this particular style is soulless (not that anyone said that). There is emotional depth, but I think it's buried underneath a rigorous toolkit designed to "puzzle" the notes into existence. Luis said what I couldn't say any better. 

7 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

As much as it hurts to confront the truth sometimes, this one might as well be little more than a counterpoint exercise indeed, even if I did not perceive it as such when composing and revisiting it. The past weekend has been as though a devastating tornado leaving once bountiful fields barren, as I was informed with a week's delay that a childhood friend of mine whom I had lost contact with for the last couple years had died by suicide the previous Monday.

This is devastating, I'm so sorry for your loss and grief. But life goes on, not to sound insensitive, and your pursuit forward is a trademark of your perseverance. I love seeing new posts from you, even if I don't comment and offer insight. Mostly it's because the heavy contrapuntal styles are foreign to me, but I always appreciate their beauty. Thank you for sharing.

I am very sorry for the events you have shared.

And please don't take this as a negative review or anything.
The work you do is impressive. I love baroque and counterpoint and, when I do anything in that style, I don't get to the level you do nearly as much as you do.

Of course, the expressiveness of this style is nothing like later ones, but I do think it has its own resources.

For me, the interesting thing is that there are people like you (and many of us) who love music and are constantly learning. 

I enjoy your compositions very much, in fact I don't usually miss any of them.

Greetings... and let's make music.