Fugue forms. Music dictionary

• polyphonic musical form, which includes the consecutive repetition of one musical theme by several ami.
  • ru (music)
• written in this form
• special?.
  • The width of the bar details is increased by gluing new bars onto a smooth puffer, on a rail, flat straight or round plug-in spikes and other methods of rallying bars.
• "Escape" among genres of music
• (Italian fuga - running, flight, fast flow) one of the main musical forms of the polyphonic style, the highest form of polyphony, is built on the principle of imitation - repeated repetition of the same theme in all voices
• type of organ music
• and. german carpentry longitudinal tight joint of two boards. Muses. a composition in which one voice speaks alternately after another, repeating the same thing. Southern little Russian blizzard, blizzard. Jointer joiner. fit and glue two boards on edge tightly, cleanly. Fugovut, suffer. Jointing, jointing, action. by vb. Jointer, single and double, planer in a long block, for jointing. Jointer iron. Does not hold glue, but a jointer (i.e. fit)
• genre of organ music
• short-term motor excitation within the framework of twilight disorder of consciousness
• Bach's favorite genre
• music. produced
• musical form
• musical composition
• musical work of imitation warehouse
• a piece of music based on the successive repetition of one musical theme by several voices
• Bach's musical horse
• the name of this piece of music literally translated from Italian means "running"
• opus for organ
• organ music
• repetition of a musical theme in several voices
• polyphonic piece of music in which one or more themes are repeated in all voices
• piece for organ
• type of polyphony
• form of polyphonic music
• the name of this piece of music literally translated from Italian means "running"
• "escape" among genres of music
• music. product
• higher has been achieved. polyphonic music
• (it. and lat. fuga). 1) A musical composition of two or many voices, in which the theme, as the main content of the fugue, is performed by only one voice, without any accompaniment, while the remaining parts follow one after another, repeating the same theme. 2) Fugue (German). Groove, a notch in a board made with a jointer.
• 1) a piece of music, the distinguishing feature of which is that one of its main theme is repeated by different voices, so that it sometimes seems as if they overtake each other; 2) planed with a special planer board.
• 1) side of the board, planed with a jointer; 2) polyphonic music. a piece with one main theme repeated by different voices.
• ital. fuga, French fugues, from German. Fuge, from fugen, to lead. A piece of music in which one voice comes after another, so that they do not disturb the unity of the whole composition.
• (Italian fuga - running, flight, rapid flow) is one of the main muses. forms of polyphonic style, the highest form of polyphony, is built on the principle of imitation - repeated repetition of the same theme in all voices
• a piece of music based on the successive repetition of one musical theme by several voices
• groove, notch in a board, planed with a jointer
• polyphonic music. a work in which one or more themes are repeated in all voices
• a polyphonic work based on the imitation of one, two or more themes sequentially in all voices in accordance with a certain tonal-harmonic plan
• Short-term motor excitation as part of a twilight disorder of consciousness.
• Repetition of a musical theme in several voices.
• The name of this piece of music literally translated from Italian means "running".

Fugue

Fugue exposition in C minor from the first volume of the Well-Tempered Clavier by J. S. Bach

The Baroque era saw a rise in interest in music theory. The most influential educational treatise in this area was written by Johann Joseph Fuchs - this is " Gradus Ad Parnassum” (“Steps to Parnassus”), published in the city. This treatise explained the features of counterpoint and offered a series of examples for teaching the fugue technique. This work by Fuchs, based on the best examples of Palestrina's tonal fugues, remained influential until the 19th century. Haydn, for example, studied counterpoint from his outline of Fuchs's treatise, regarding it as the basis for formal constructions.

In general, it can be said that the composers of the Classical era turned to the fugue form, but used it mainly within other musical forms. A characteristic feature is also that the fugue did not occupy the entire work: its finale almost always remained homophonic-harmonic.

Romanticism

see also

Literature

• Zolotarev V. Fugue. - M., 1965.
• Krupina L. L. The evolution of the fugue. - M., 2001.

Links

Hundreds, thousands of composers wrote fugues. For many of them - Baroque composers in the first place - it was a natural way to express their musical ideas. Others - romantic composers in particular - referring to the fugue, "wanted to pour new wine into old wineskins", and this was by no means retrograde, but an expression of the greatest reverence for the one who raised the fugue to an unattainable height, namely, Johann Sebastian Bach ...

Alexander Maykapar

Music Genres: Fugue

We find allusions to fugue composition in the organ ricercars of Claudio Merulo (d. 1604), as well as in Giovanni Gabrieli (1557–1613), a representative of the Venetian school, in his French canzones (Canzone alla francese).

Of the composers who prepared the full flowering of the fugue, Alexander Polletti, who died in 1683, two years before Bach's birth, is remarkable. His fugues are already approaching Bach's fugues in maturity.

The fugue, which originated and developed in Italy, owes its further development to German composers. No one - neither of Bach's predecessors nor of subsequent composers - managed to create such works that would so organically combine the solution of the most complex technical problems with the amazing beauty of the actual musical images.

Serious conversation on a serious topic

A fugue is a piece of music built on holding one musical theme (or several) consistently in all the voices of which this piece consists. The very fact that there must necessarily be several voices in a fugue indicates that a fugue is a polyphonic work. And the fact that the theme takes place in different voices and, therefore, is imitated all the time, indicates that the fugue belongs to the category of works of imitation.

There are many definitions of what a fugue is, and almost every one says that it is the most complex form of polyphonic music. If we open a polyphony textbook (for example, by Professor S. Skrebkov), we will find that the fugue itself is discussed at the very end. Therefore, the discussion of the fugue is preceded by an analysis of simpler forms of polyphonic music. In our essay, we will not be able to characterize all the stages in the development of polyphony that led to the creation of the fugue. Our story is about the main features of this musical genre and musical form.

The term "fugue" comes from the Latin and then Italian fuga, which means running, running, chasing. The name is explained by the fact that the voices with their implementation of the same topic, as it were, run after each other, pursue each other. This, of course, is an expression of the image of this musical form, and by no means an indication that the fugue is necessarily a stream of fast running notes. Rather, on the contrary, fugues are characterized by a calm, majestic movement. One can say about many Bach fugues: this is a serious conversation of serious people on a serious topic. Although, of course, one can cite many examples of fugues that are very lively and fast.

Any fugue is based on a certain musical thought (melody), which, in relation to a fugue, is called a theme. As the fugue progresses, the theme is consistently heard in all the voices involved in the fugue. Moreover, the implementation of the theme is subject to very strict rules, because the fugue as a musical genre, with all its diversity, always bears a special stamp of intellectual work. Not every composer manages to harmoniously combine emotional and rational beginnings in a fugue. The unattainable ideal of the fugue are the works of the great J.S. Bach.

To understand the essence...

It is necessary to explain the most essential rules by which a fugue is composed. There are a lot of regulations, restrictions and all kinds of prohibitions. It is very interesting to understand the reasons that gave rise to them. So…

The first rule of composing a fugue (textbooks do not mention it due to an oversight): the theme must begin with one of the two notes of a given key - either from the tonic (for example, in C major it is the sound C), or from the dominant (that is, the fifth degree; in C major - the sound of salt). No musical form and no musical genre limits the composer's choice of the first sound of a work. But the fugue does it. It is difficult to find an example from another art form (painting, architecture) or literature (with the exception of such specific forms of poetry as an acrostic or a palindrome), where it was so strictly prescribed what the very beginning of creation should be.

What caused this limitation? The fact is that each key has two most characteristic sounds for it - the tonic (I degree of the scale) and the dominant (V degree). If, however, the theme begins with a less characteristic sound, then the development of the fugue, that is, the entry of the next voice, also from a sound uncharacteristic for a given tonality, will not be logical and convincing to the proper degree.

It is noteworthy that of the 48 fugues of the famous Well-Tempered Clavier collection of preludes and fugues, only two fugues have themes that do not begin with the tonic or dominant, that is, they are an exception to the rule. All the rest of Bach's heritage eloquently confirms this rule.

I have a clavier sonata in C major, in which the fugue is the second movement. So, the theme of this fugue demonstrates a deviation from the above rule. However, the piquancy of the situation is that Bach in this case processed someone else's work, namely the sonata of Jan Adam Reinken, and this strict rule was violated, therefore, not by Bach, but by Reinken! (Perhaps out of ignorance?)

Second rule. The topic should be bright and short. The first is self-explanatory. As for the second postulate, it can be stated that a long theme is not suitable for a fugue, for the reason that, firstly, its implementation for a long time will give preference to the voice in which it passes, and make the accompanying voices secondary, and this contradicts the idea of ​​a fugue. , according to which all votes in it should be equal. Secondly, since in the fugue episodes where the theme is heard alternate with episodes where the theme is absent, with long themes, the alternation of these episodes will be too slow. This slowness would make the music inflexible, immobile, while the word "fugue" indicates movement.

There are a few more rigid rules for writing a fugue, but explaining them would involve us in an overly professional compositional discussion.

Answer, counterposition, interlude

So far, we have been talking about the topic of fugue. Sometimes she is called the leader. Now we should consider other elements of the fugue. Strictly speaking, the theme of the fugue is considered to be its implementation in the first voice that enters, and here it sounds in the main key. It is the last circumstance - the sound of the theme in the main key - that determines this melody as a theme. Its second implementation, always entrusted to another voice, is called the answer (satellite), and the theme here takes place in the dominant.

In fugue, the musical material that sounds in the first voice after the theme has passed is also very important. It is an accompaniment to the answer and is called the counteraddition. This is another "brick" from which the entire building of the fugue is built.

The counterposition, if it always accompanies the topic and the answer, is called withheld. When composing a counterposition, the composer must take care of several things. Of course, like any musical element of a composition, the counterposition should be interesting, but at the same time it should not contain such features that, with their brightness, would switch the listener's attention from the topic to it. In addition, it is highly desirable that the opposition to a certain extent be exactly opposed to the theme. Bach was an unsurpassed master in creating such a complex unity of the musical elements of the fugue. So, for example, if the general direction of the melody in the theme of the fugue is ascending, then the direction of movement of the counterposition can be downward (and vice versa); if the durations with which the topic is stated are short, then the durations of the opposition are longer (and vice versa); if at some point the movement in the theme stops at a long sound, in opposition this stop is compensated by the flow of the melody with faster notes, etc.

Since the procedure for unweaving the voices of the fugue (we will talk about the most common forms of the fugue - three- and four-voice) is a rather difficult intellectual work for the listener, and only after doing it, the listener will receive true satisfaction, composers in their practice make sure that the listener's attention remains fresh and receptive. To do this, in the course of the fugue, the listener is given a break from the topic. Episodes in which the theme does not sound are called interludes. After the interlude, the theme of the fugue is perceived more vividly, especially when it is performed in a different voice - not in the one in which it was last heard before the interlude. If the fugue is three-part, then the first interlude, as a rule, begins after the second presentation of the theme and precedes the entry of the third voice with the theme. In a four-voice fugue, the interlude usually sounds after the third introduction of the theme and, therefore, before the introduction of the fourth voice.

Design

The forms of the fugue as an integral piece of music can be different. Preference is given to three-part structures. But there are also two-part fugues. In any case, the first movement (sometimes called an exposition, although this term is more typical of the Allegro sonata form) is completed only after the theme has been introduced in all the voices that make up this fugue. An interlude sounding after the introduction of the theme in the last participating voice also belongs to the exposition.

The next movement - the middle one in a three-part fugue, or the second (and at the same time final) in a two-part fugue - like the first part, always begins with a theme in one of the voices. But now it is no longer necessarily just one sounding voice: the rest of the voices continue to lead their lines. It is noteworthy that if the rules strictly regulate the relationship between theme, answer and opposition, then the composer is given more freedom with regard to the form of the fugue itself. In Bach we find an extraordinary variety of forms. Moreover, we can safely say that he does not have two identical fugues.

Often composers, in order to increase interest in the fugue, modify the theme in the course of its development. These techniques are described both in ancient fugue treatises and in modern manuals. Of the possible transformations of the theme, the most common are: the theme is enlarged (that is, it is presented in such a way that each of its sounds becomes twice as long as in the main form of the theme), the theme is reduced (similar to the previous one, but in the direction of reducing the duration of each sound) ; topic in circulation (sometimes this method is called mirror: each interval in the topic is replaced by the same interval, but in the opposite direction). In the fugue in C minor from the second volume of the CTC, at the beginning of its second part, Bach gives a simultaneous presentation of the theme in its original form, in enlargement and in circulation!

Mirroring a Theme

Special mention should be made of the "mirror" transformation of the theme. The clearest example is two such fugues (they are commonly called mirror fugues) from The Art of the Fugue. The very name of Bach's creation indicates that it contains the most complex examples of fugues.

The whole cycle is written on one theme, which in some of his plays takes place in various forms and in various modifications. It is noteworthy that Bach created this work precisely with the aim of demonstrating the possibilities of the fugue as a musical form, as "pure" music - not as a creation for a particular instrument. Therefore, it can be heard in a variety of instrumental guises - both on the organ, and in the performance of a string quartet, and in an orchestral form. As for the pair of mirror fugues, they - an exception in this cycle - are definitely intended for two keyboard instruments (organ or harpsichord).

“The question is why I ... did exercises in the old counterpoint for so long and exhausted so much paper on fugues with theme inversions, shell fugues and shellfish inversions,” asks Adrian Kretschmar, a fictional composer, the hero of T. Mann’s novel Doctor Faustus, rhetorically. - It turns out that all this can be used for an ingenious modification of the twelve-tone system. Not only does the latter serve as the main series, each interval can be replaced by an interval in the opposite direction. In addition, the composition could be started last and finished with the first sound, and then turn this form back... The main thing is that each sound, without any exceptions, be in its place in the row or in any part of it. Thus is achieved what I call the indistinguishability of harmony and melody.

It may seem that it was Bach's two fugues that served as the reason for this reasoning: if we imagine the first of them in the form of an elongated ribbon, then the second is formed, as it were, in the reflection of a mirror attached to this ribbon. So it turns out that each interval is replaced by an interval of the opposite direction.

What is striking is not in itself the fact that the original fugue was turned inside out, that is, the congruent equality of both fugues, but the ease with which it solves seemingly insoluble problems, and the natural unfolding of the music itself. The listener may not even be aware of these technical complexities. It is no coincidence that Bach placed these two fugues in his last opus magnum - "Kunst der Fuge" ("The Art of the Fugue"). "The art of the fugue," as Hermann Gusman rightly remarked, "refers to the science of understanding and should stand on the organ stand in front of the organist immersed in analytical reflections."

Without going beyond

The fugues of Bach's predecessors, and indeed of many of his contemporaries, as a rule, represent such a musical form in which, after the gradual involvement of all voices in the musical action, the fugue remains emotionally a kind of plateau: the voices remain at the same level until the end of the piece.

Having assimilated and reworked the musical baggage of his predecessors, although he wrote similar fugues, in a number of cases, without going beyond the strict rules of polyphony, he found wonderful means of intensifying the musical thought and the musical fabric itself as the fugue unfolded. Many of his fugues seem to grow towards the end, culminating either in the final cadenza or in the coda.

Before explaining this idea, let's say a few words about one of these ways to produce a kind of emotional crescendo. This is the so-called stretta (stretto - ital. compressed). The essence of this technique is that the theme arises in a new voice without allowing the previous voice to carry out the theme completely, that is, one voice, as it were, impatiently interrupts the other, without violating, of course, musical harmony. The technique is highly artistic, and great skill is required to create a suitable theme for the use of the stretta. It is clear that within the theme there should be segments of the melody, combined with each other, so to speak, vertically, that is, in simultaneous sounding; and if, for example, four votes participate in the stretch, then it is obvious that the task is even more complicated.

Plus, you need to find a suitable place for this technique: as a rule, the stretta is placed closer to the end of the piece. This is explained precisely by the effect of an increase in emotional tension caused by stretta, a tension that is more appropriate at the end as a result of development than at the beginning (then it is more likely as a stimulus for such development).

Of course, even before Bach, composers resorted to this technique in their compositions. But for them, the stretta remained a kind of kunshtuk, a cunning technique, while Bach endowed it with a deep dramatic meaning.

sustainable genre

A fugue on one theme is not the limit of the complexity of this musical form. There are known fugues on two and even three themes. Such fugues are called double and triple.

In the double fugue, in the first part the first theme is performed, in the second - the second, in the third part both themes are combined, and each theme must be performed by each of the four voices. This form of double fugue is found in Bach's Credo of his Mass in B minor. The triple fugue therefore has three themes. An example is the Curie section of Bach's Mass in G major. Or his organ fugue in E-flat major. In it, in the first part, the first theme is held, in the second - the second, and in the third three connected themes are held.

Fugues are instrumental - for the clavier (harpsichord, clavichord, piano), organ, orchestra - and vocal (choral). In vocal, of course, the range of voices is taken into account. The vocal fugue is more compressed than the instrumental fugue, which has much more freedom.

In those cases when the fugue was conceived by the composer as an independent composition (as a rule, instrumental, most often for organ or clavier), it was customary to prelude it with a prelude. Thus, a stable musical genre was formed - prelude and fugue. At the same time, the function of the prelude could often be performed by a piece in a much freer form than the fugue following it. It could be toccatas or fantasies. Such are Bach's famous organ Toccata and Fugue in D minor and Fantasia and Fugue in G minor.

Having introduced a certain tuning system for keyboard instruments into wide use, Bach, wanting to demonstrate its advantages over other tuning methods, created a grandiose cycle of preludes and fugues in all keys - the Well-Tempered Clavier.

Interestingly, the prelude does not always express the same mood as the fugue following it, and even, perhaps, more often they are combined according to the principle of a certain contrast. In any case, in this grandiose cycle, a number of moments can be noted when the contrast between the prelude and the fugue is more striking than the change of mood from one pair of pieces to another.

For a family motif

The fugue reached its highest development by the middle of the 18th century in creativity (1685-1759) and in particular (1685-1750). The basis for this heyday was laid by many masters of the previous era, in particular Dietrich Buxtehude (1637–1707), to whom the young Bach specially traveled to learn the secrets of his skill, and Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706).

In the second half of the XVIII century. (after the death of Bach), this art began to fade, and the preferences of composers, along with changes in musical style (the baroque with its cult of polyphony was replaced by classicism, which is based on homophonic principles of musical composition), moved to sonata form. Nevertheless, composers continued to write fugues for educational purposes, in order to master all the complexities of composing technique. (The ability to write a fugue is an indispensable condition for learning to compose in our time.) But one can also name outstanding examples of fugue in the works of Mozart (Kyrie Eleison from Requiem) and Beethoven (Credo from Solemn Mass, fugue in some of his piano sonatas). Remarkable, although few examples of fugue we find among romantic composers - Mendelssohn, Schumann, Reger.

Bach's influence on subsequent composers was so significant that many of them wrote fugues on themes built from sounds corresponding to the name BACH. In the German way, to designate sounds (in Latin letters) B - B-flat, A - la, C - do, H - si-becar. It must be said that Bach himself knew about this musical feature of his surname - he used his family motif more than once: the last time in the remaining unfinished fugue (The Art of the Fugue, 1750).

Almost a century later, R. Schumann wrote Six Fugues on B-A-C-H for organ (1845), marking the beginning of a long series of compositions on this Bach family motif. He himself highly appreciated his work: “I worked on this thing all last year, trying to make it at least in some way worthy of the great name that it bears: I think that, perhaps, this work will outlive my other works by a long way.”

Shortly after Schumann, F. Liszt brings tribute to the great Leipzig cantor - and again in the form of a fugue. This time it is Prelude and Fugue on B-A-C-H (1855). The outstanding German composer Max Reger, who made a significant contribution to the art of organ, wrote Fantasia and Fugue on a Theme B-A-C-H (1900).

In the XX century. wonderful piano cycles of fugues were created by P. Hindemith (“Ludus tonalis” - “Play of keys”), D. Shostakovich (24 preludes and fugues). Both of these compositions were created as a result of the deepest study of Bach's work by composers and as an attempt to re-implement the ideas of the great Bach in a new way.

According to the materials of the magazine "Art" No. 24/2009

On the poster: Church pipe organ at St. Marienkirche. Berlin, Germany. Photo by: Jorge Royan, 2007

The listed varieties of polyphonic polyphony (counterpoint, imitation and contrast polyphony) are widely used in professional music of the European tradition, on the basis of which they were formed and developed intensively. All of them are combined in a polyphonic form associated with the highest achievements of polyphonic writing and which has received the widest distribution - the fugue form.

Fugue (Italian) fuga - running, flight) is the most developed polyphonic form, based on the tonic-dominant (quarto-fifth) imitation of the theme in presentation and its tonal-contrapuntal development. The formation of the fugue took place already in the 16th century, however, it received a classically completed form in the work of J.S. Bach. In later music, interest in this form is somewhat weakened, but never completely extinguished. It finds application both in the works of the Viennese classics and in the music of the romantics (Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt, Berlioz). In the post-romantic period, interest in the polyphonic type of thinking and, accordingly, in the form of the fugue increases (Brahms), and in the work of composers of the late XIX - early XX centuries. becomes ubiquitous. In the work of Reger, Hindemith, Taneyev, Myaskovsky, Shostakovich, Shchedrin, Tishchenko, Schnittke, polyphonic genres and, in particular, fugue, are given a place of honor.

Nevertheless, it was the fugues of J. S. Bach that received the status of a kind of standard, in relation to which the works of this type, both his predecessors and followers, are considered. Further description of the fugue is also based on this standard.

The fugue, in its developed form, contains at least two parts called "exposition" and "free part". Sometimes the free part, in turn, is divided into middle and final parts. All fugues are classified according to the following parameters:

2) depending on the number of topics, fugues can be simple(one topic) or complex(two or more topics);

3) depending on the nature of the development in the free part, the fugues can be tonally developing and contrapuntal

chesky developing; in some free parts both ways of development are used.

There are abbreviated varieties of fugues:

fughetta - in it the free part is reduced to a minimum or completely absent;

fugato - an unfinished fugue included in a more extended form as a section (for example, in Beethoven's Third Symphony, in movements II and IV; in movement I of Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony; Liszt's Piano Sonata in h-moll, etc.).

Fugues include three components that make up both the exposition and the free part: conducting, opposition and interludes.

By holding that section of the fugue is called in which the theme passes completely in at least one of the voices. In this case, the theme (as already noted) is that part of the fugue, which at the beginning sounds, as a rule, in one voice before the introduction of the imitating voice. counteraddition, as in imitation, the counterpoint to the theme at the moment of its implementation is called, that is, the voice or voices that sound simultaneously with the theme. Opposites can be withheld, if they are sounded along with the theme in two or more passages, or free (unrestricted), if during the fugue they sound together with the theme only once. Sideshow that section of the fugue is called, during which the theme either does not sound at all, or only some of its individual elements sound.

exposition, thus, it differs from the free part only in the regulated order of conducting. This order is as follows: a) the theme must pass sequentially in all voices of the fugue; b) the first and subsequent odd holdings of the theme are carried out in the main key and are called theme, the second (and subsequent even ones) - in the key of the dominant (i.e., a fifth lower or a fourth higher) and are called answer.

AT free part the number of holdings, as a rule, is not less than the number of holdings in the exposure and very often exceeds it; the order of tonalities in performances is also not regulated; accordingly, the differentiation of conduction on topic and answer.

free part tonally developing fugues are built on performances in keys that do not coincide with the keys of the exposition. In this case, the advantage is usually given to inoladov keys (i.e., keys with any tonic, but in a different mode compared to what is presented

in the exposition). The final conduct (conducts) takes place in the main key. If in a tonal developing fugue the number of conductions in the main key is equal to the number of voices in the fugue, then final part.

free part counterpoint-developing fugues can make extensive use of exposure keys, sometimes appearing only one or two passages in a different key. The main principle of development here is the constant complication of contrapuntal and imitative methods of developing and transforming the theme. Very typical for this part. stretch conduction. Stretch conduction, stretta (ital. stretta - concise) is the holding of a theme in two or more voices of a fugue in the form of a canon, when the imitating voice enters before the end of the theme. If in the canon the theme is carried out in full and in all voices of the fugue, such a stretta is called maestral (main), i.e. workshop.

In simple fugues, therefore, the features of contrapuntal and imitative polyphony are realized. Features of contrasting polyphony appear in complex fugues, that is, in fugues on two or more topics. In such fugues, along with the exposure and the free part, there must be a section with joint holding of topics on the space of which contrast polyphony is realized in this way. Complex fugues are called double(on two topics) triple(by three), etc. One of the most striking complex fugues is the finale of Mozart's symphony "Jupiter" - a masterful work that combines sonata form and fugue form. There is a double fugue at the end of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. There are several complex fugues in Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier.

A special kind of polyphonic polyphony is subvocal polyphony. It is within the framework of this type of polyphonic fabric that the features of the equality of the voices forming it are very clearly manifested.

Sub-voiced polyphony is a phenomenon that arose in the bowels and belongs mainly to the folklore tradition, that is, to the folk song, mainly of the East Slavic area (Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian). A characteristic property of subvocal polyphony is the improvisational nature of the musical fabric itself, which manifests itself in the following features:

a) polyphony is formed by the simultaneous combination of different options the same tune; these options are completely equal, and, in practice, each of them can claim the role of the main tune;

b) there is no total fixed number of votes; as a rule, there are as many of them as performers, since at some point everyone contributes (his version) to the general polyphony; accordingly, in the same song, performed by different compositions, there may be a different number of echo variants;

c) the musical fabric itself is heterogeneous in terms of the number of voices: at some point it is monophonic, but at the next the maximum number of them sounds in a given song.

Since this polyphony is created improvisationally (although, as a rule, a group of folk singers is “sung” and the function of each performer has already been verified and consolidated by repeated joint music-making), it is rather difficult to identify certain patterns that are common even to one tradition; besides, there could be as many traditions as there were such "sung" groups. This is largely due to the area of ​​existence of the song, in particular, the patency of roads, which allowed or, on the contrary, served as a hindrance to the communication of song groups from different villages.

Consider the wedding song "Water in the Meadow". The song was recorded by E. V. Tyurikova in the village. Mariinka, Vengerovsky district, Novosibirsk region. According to the author of the publication, the song was brought to Siberia at the end of the 19th century. residents of the Tula province; however, it was performed by a folklore group - the descendants of Kharkovites, who also appeared in Siberia at the same time, preserving the traditions of the "Mariinsky wedding" (example 33).

The equality of each voice - a variant of the melody - is quite obvious: it is very difficult, if not impossible, to determine which of the voices can claim the role of the leader, and which (which ones) are decorating. Even in the last four bars, in which two undertones sound predominantly in thirds, it is impossible with sufficient reason to argue the leading role of, say, the upper voice, if only because when converged in unison (bars 10 and 12) the move in the lower voice a-e sounds much more active than in the upper ( cis-e).

Example 33

Among the characteristic properties of the subvoiced polyphonic writing are the beginning and end of the melody in unisons, and the greatest divergence of voices (by three) in the center of the melody. Recall, however, what polyphonic polyphony is - an improvisational factor, and therefore one can find many examples of deviations from such a distribution of sonority (although the beginning is monophonic in the vast majority of cases: apparently, it serves, among other things, as a way of tuning for the entire team).

Polyphony as a science

The first works on polyphony appear in the 15th-16th centuries. and are devoted mainly to the problems of classifying the methods of polyphonic development and the technology of their development. Among the most significant in this sense are the works of G. Zarlino, in which he defined the basic norms of a strict style (it was in his works that the ban on parallel and hidden fifths and octaves was recorded), the types of counterpoint were classified, and the main types of imitation were considered. However, the most important milestone in the development of polyphony, primarily as an academic discipline, was the work of Johann Fuchs "Gradus ad Parnassom" ("Step to Perfection", 1725). This book, which consistently outlined the technique of counterpuncture, became a reference book for most European composers of the 18th and even 19th centuries, including Haydn, Mozart, Schubert; on the basis of this work, most of the later manuals and textbooks of polyphony were created.

However, polyphony as a branch of musicology, as an attempt to scientifically master a special area of ​​musical thinking

developed later, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The increased interest in polyphony of a strict style led to the appearance of the largest work in this area, owned by the Russian composer S. I. Taneev, - "Mobile counterpoint of strict writing" (1909). In this work, Taneyev predicted the rapid flourishing of polyphony as the main connecting factor in the musical fabric in connection with the extinction of the role of tonal-harmonic factors in the music of the 20th century. “For modern music, the harmony of which is gradually losing its tonal connection,” he wrote, “the binding force of contrapuntal forms should be especially valuable ... Modern music is predominantly contrapuntal.” And further, guided by the postulate of Leonardo da Vinci, made by him in the epigraph:

(“No human research can be considered a true science if it is not stated in mathematical ways of expression”), Taneyev, probably for the first time in musicology, uses the mathematical apparatus to formulate the strict laws of mobile (complex) counterpoint. And this is done with maximum accuracy and maximum accessibility for the reader.

The appearance of the work of Ernst Kurt "Fundamentals of Linear Counterpoint (Bach's Melodic Polyphony)" marked a radical turn in the study of polyphony towards the methodology and logic of this way of musical thinking. Kurt's work is not a textbook of polyphony, not a guide to the analysis of polyphonic works. It is the formulation and solution of fundamental questions:

What melody - horizontal line - the main participant, the main character in polyphonic polyphony?

How is a melodic line formed as a kind of whole, which is greater than the sum of its constituent tones?

What are the relationships of mode, rhythm, harmonic "subtext" in the melodic line?

How the musical fabric is built on the basis of relationships contour lines; what is the role of the formed vertical voice interactions?

The first part of the work also includes a historical digression, which traces the development of counterpoint from the "strict" style to the free one.

The second part of the book is devoted to the problems of counterpoint in the work of J. S. Bach and is built on a similar principle: first, the main features of his melody are examined, then the contrapuntal fabric itself, and, finally, the relationship in his music of counterpoint and harmony, the features of two-voice and the transition to polyphony are examined. .

The book was published in 1917 in Bern, but in less than ten years the second and third editions appeared in Berlin (1920, 1925). Five years later, the book was translated by ZV Ewald into Russian and in 1931 was published under the editorship and with an introductory article by VV Asafiev. According to the editor, Kurt's book is a revolutionary step "towards the complete overcoming of theoretical abstractions and the reunification of musical logic and theory ... with creativity, with the practice of music ... Kurt explores the dynamics not of Bach's individual works, but of Bach's speech as a kind of ... unity."

Kurt himself points out that his work differs sharply from most works in the field of polyphony, that “its main idea is that it is possible to penetrate the art of counterpoint only on the basis of lines as unity and fundamental principle”; however, in his approach to understanding the melody, Kurt is even more distant from all his predecessors, since for him melos is "not a sequence of tones ... but a moment transition from one tone to another ... Only the process that takes place between the tones, the sensation of forces penetrating their chain, is a melody. This postulate underlies all of Kurt's further reasoning and leads him to exceptionally fruitful observations not only on monophony, but also on two- and polyphony. In particular, he draws attention to the independence (in relation to harmony) of the interactions of voices among themselves: “the essence of the theory of counterpoint is that two or more melodic lines could develop simultaneously, as far as possible less constrained in their melodic development not thanks to vertical harmonies, and despite on them".

Kurt also puts forward the idea, which is key for the polyphonic fabric, of the complex of voices not as their sum, but as unity:“The basic necessary requirement of contrapuntal

which can be expressed thus: polyphony is not a sum, but unity. The apparent simplicity of internally so complex polyphonic works lies in the fact that the polyphonic complex as a unity always stands ahead of the plexus of individual voices. Anyone who wants to write in contrapuntal must think in many voices from the very beginning. And here he introduces a fundamental proposition on the so-called "complementary rhythm", the essence of which is “avoiding overlapping points of rest or pauses. As soon as one voice reaches a rank, there is immediately a movement in another, so that there is no stoppage in the general movement of voices ... ".

Considering all aspects of the polyphonic musical fabric in their totality, Kurt deduces a number of patterns that polyphonic polyphony is subject to, and as a result, an exceptionally harmonious concept of the patterns of the linear type of thinking is created, which in essence remains relevant in its fundamental foundations to this day.

In domestic musicology, mainly in the second half of the 20th century, many works appeared that shed light on the history and theory of polyphonic style. These include the monographic works of S. S. Bogatyrev, A. N. Dmitriev, A. N. Dolzhansky, Yu. K. Evdokimova, Kh. S. Kushnarev, A. P. Milka, V. V. Protopopov, A. G. Chugaev, K. I. Yuzhak and other authors.

QUESTIONS

2. Analyze the structure and tone of the fugue you are currently learning. Find its main sections, the components of which they consist. Analyze the type of polyphonic polyphony in the interludes.

5. Make observations on the complementary rhythm in any (optional) polyphonic piece (preferably by a contemporary Russian composer).

LITERATURE

Asafiev B. About polyphonic art, about organ culture and about musical modernity // Asafiev B. On the music of the XX century. - L., 1982. - S. 175-187.

Dolzhansky A. Brief information about polyphony and polyphonic forms // Dolzhansky A. 24 preludes and fugues by D. Shostakovich. - L., 1963. - S. 244-272.

Kurt E. Fundamentals of Linear Counterpoint (Bach's Melodic Polyphony). - M., 1931.

Kushnarev H. S. About polyphony. - M., 1971.

Taneev S.I. Movable counterpoint of strict writing. - M., 1959.

CHAPTER 8. HARMONY

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Fugue and its elements

Fugue (lat., ital. - running, flow) - a form consisting of an imitative exposure of an individualized theme, its subsequent implementation in different voices with contrapuntal, tonal-harmonic development and completion. AT XIV-XV for centuries, a fugue was called an ordinary canon. The classical period in the history of fugue is associated with the names of Bach and Handel. AT XIX - XX centuries, under the influence of symphonic music, the fugue is enriched by the dynamics of development and the ability to embody contrasts. Application fugues universal. It can be an independent instrumental or choral work, part of an instrumental or vocal-symphonic cycle, a section of a larger form (in a reprise of a sonata form, one of the variations of a variation cycle, etc.).

The fugue is written in 3 or 4 voices, sometimes in 5 voices, rarely in 2. Choral fugues may have accompaniment. There are 3 sections in the fugue: exposition, development and final. Their ratio determines the variety of forms. Elements fugues: theme, answer, counterposition, interlude, stretta.

Topic or leader(lat. - dux) - the leading musical thought of the fugue, representing a relatively complete melody, originally stated in one voice. Thanks to its conciseness and concentration, the theme is an impulse for movement; its implementation forms the constructive framework of the fugue. The theme has a fairly pronounced genre definition : song, dance, recitative, chant, motor skills. The range of genres in the music of the 20th century is expanding: polka, fanfare, tarantella, lamentation.

The theme of the fugue is melody on a harmonic basis , therefore, it has a harmoniously clear beginning (from I or V steps) and an ending (at strong time on III, I, rarely V steps). Topics are monophonic, modulating (only in the dominant key!), may contain deviations.

From the point of view of the melodic-rhythmic content, the themes can be homogeneous and contrasting. In about heterogeneous topics there are no deep caesuras, no rhythmic oppositions. They are based on transformations of one motif or on different but not contrasting motifs.

Contrasting themes contain motive and rhythmic oppositions

The most common themes are nuclei(bright intonation and rhythmic turns) and deployment (even durations, stepwise movement)

Most themes have hidden polyphony giving a harmoniously full sound to a monophonic theme

Answer or satellite- imitation of a theme in a dominant key (in a minor, the dominant is minor!). real is called a response representing a strict imitation. Tonal the answer contains the changes necessary for a smoother transition to the key of the dominant. Tone response necessary if there is a V step among the initial sounds of the theme and if the theme modulates. In response, the sound of the V stage goes down for a second, and the entire section with modulation also goes down for a second.

counteraddition called counterpoint to the theme. The counterposition sets off the answer, being at the same time a melodic continuation of the theme. The melody of the opposition is more often based on the elements of the theme. Less common oppositions based on general forms of movement, as well as contrasting ones. The counteraddition follows the harmony of the answer, complements and refines it. withheld counterposition accompanies all or some of the theme. withheld the opposition is usually thematically significant. Fits with the theme in complexcounterpoint. Unrestrained counterposition, updated at all subsequent holdings, usually less significantly.

Sideshow- unstable construction between the conduct of the topic. The main function of interludes is to connect different tonal conducts. Besides, in interludes, the development of elements of the theme and counterpositions is carried out. StructureInterludes are mostly sequential. Sequences can be simple, canonical, with or without free voices. Various imitations and canons are also used. Sideshows are usually arranged along the line of gradual complication ( simple sequences becomecanonical, the number of votes increases).

Stretta(Italian strindgere - to squeeze) - imitation theme holding (canon on the theme of the fugue). Stretta saturates the musical fabric with a theme, she creates an effect thematic concentration, thickening of the fabric, therefore, in the dramaturgy of the fugue, the appearance of the stretta is associated with important, key moments. Activitystretta depends on the number of voices, contrapuntal complexity, tempo, distance of entry of voices.A stretta in which all voices participate is called a maestral (Italian maestro, master).

Complete tasks