Download Bach and the Development of the Fugue

Luke Heter
FAMH 452
Dr. Wright
November 24, 2015
Bach and the Development of the Fugue
Johann Sebastian Bach made his mark during the Baroque period as music history’s
preeminent composer of fugues. His fugal works are treasured as compositional gems and
studied as prime examples of contrapuntal rules and techniques. Though the emergence of the
fugue was before his time, Bach took what his predecessors had done and expanded upon it. This
creative expansion led to changes to the genre that may appear subtle without a careful
examination but are actually quite significant and must have been revolutionary at the time. After
Bach, composers continued to write fugues, but very rarely did they compare to the magnitude of
Bach’s work, neither in their importance within their pieces nor in the sheer number of fugues
composed. Bach’s fugues are among the most popular in the genre, and are still enjoyed by the
musically literate and illiterate alike to this day. J. S. Bach greatly affected the development of
the fugue, allowing it to reach its peak as a genre in the Baroque period.
A late nineteenth century musicologist, Ebenezer Prout, wrote one of the first modern
pieces of literature on fugues. He defines a fugue as “a composition founded upon one subject,
announced at first in one part alone, and subsequently imitated by all the other parts in turn,
according to certain general principles.”1 However, with the passage of time, this definition has
come to be seen by scholars as antiquated and overly simplistic. Alberto Ghislanzoni, a
composer and musicologist in the early twentieth century, offered a more in-depth definition,
however it is so long and unwieldy that it is impractical to use in real application. Nevertheless,
it does offer a broader list of characteristics than Prout’s definition, essentially stating that a
1
Ebenezer Prout, Fugue (London: Augener Ltd., 1891), 1.
fugue may have one or more themes which are then imitated in other voices beginning on the
same pitch or another diatonic pitch, with possible alterations to rhythm and contour.2
Although Prout’s overall definition of a fugue is viewed as outdated, his work on the
subject remains perhaps the most definitive, as he offers sound definitions and descriptions of
various aspects of the fugue that are still relevant. Ghislanzoni’s and other more recent
discussions tend to operate with Prout’s working definition. According to Prout, a fugue is, in
essence, a work that begins with a subject in one voice with an answer in subsequent voices,
with the possibility of one or more countersubjects, or secondary themes. All of these are
introduced in the exposition, the section in the beginning of the piece, and are then developed
through the rest of the piece leading to the conclusion.3 The strictness of imitation between
voices is not very definitive; they may begin to vary as early as the exposition or may remain
alike longer.4
Oftentimes, especially in examples from the Medieval and early Renaissance periods, the
first of which date to the fourteenth century,5 fugal works fall into the category of canon, which
operate much like fugues except that the voices never alter the subject, but rather retain strict
imitation of the first voice throughout the piece.6 In fact, the earliest uses of the word “fugue”
were in reference to canons. From the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries, the word “fugue”
referred not to a genre of piece, but rather to the practice of writing voices in imitation of one
another.7 Then, in the middle of the sixteenth century, a distinction was made between fugue and
2
Alfred Mann, The Study of Fugue (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1958), 7.
Prout, Fugue, 3.
4
Mann, The Study of Fugue, 13.
5
Paul Mark Walker, Theories of Fugue from the Age of Josquin to the Age of Bach (New York:
Rochester University Press, 2000), 7.
6
Prout, Fugue, 2.
7
Walker, Theories of Fugue from the Age of Josquin to the Age of Bach, 9.
3
2
imitation: the famed music theorist Gioseffo Zarlino defined a fugue as a theme repeated starting
on the unison, octave, fourth or fifth from the original subject, and an imitation as beginning a
second, third, sixth, or seventh away.8 However, additional scholarly analysis determined that
what he truly meant was that the answer in a fugue must imitate the exact intervals of the subject,
whereas the answer in an imitation need not adhere as strictly to the intervals of the subject. This
definition is much more specific. It also happens that the strict repetition necessary of a fugue is
most easily created on the fourth, fifth, or octave using mostly diatonic pitches, explaining why
Zarlino states that a fugue starts on these intervals and imitations begin on the others.9
During the sixteenth century, composers like Johannes Buchner began writing the first
organ works containing examples of fugue. Buchner wrote a collection of pieces for organ called
the Fundamentbuch circa 1525 that were the first organ works to feature examples of fugue. This
collection, in some ways a predecessor to Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier, was written as an
instructional aid for teaching others to improvise over plainchant. Buchner believed that all
subjects must begin with an ascending or descending second, third, fourth, or fifth, and there are
examples of each in the Fundamentbuch. These pieces were generally short, composed for three
voices and usually restricted to even note lengths. As a general rule, Buchner’s pieces introduce
voices a perfect fourth or fifth away from each other (see Example 1). Buchner’s pieces also
mark the first instance of multiple imitative voices being played by one player on a single
instrument, the organ, rather than multiple singers or players.10
Example 1: from Buchner’s Fundamentbuch11
8
Walker, Theories of Fugue from the Age of Josquin to the Age of Bach, 10.
James Haar, “Zarlino’s Definition of Fugue and Imitation,” Journal of the American
Musicological Society 24, 2 (Summer 1971): 231.
10
Mann, The Study of Fugue, 13.
11 Mann, The Study of Fugue, 14.
9
3
m.8
Subject and two subsequent entries.
The subject begins with a descending perfect fifth and is made of long, even note values.
The first answer begins a perfect fourth up from the subject, and the second answer
begins a perfect fourth up from the first answer.
After Buchner, the genre continued to develop through the remainder of the Renaissance,
during which time composers utilized several new and innovative fugal techniques. One such
technique was contrary motion, meaning that as one voice ascends, another descends. This
became an important practice which composers incorporated into their fugal works as it grew
more prevalent during the Renaissance. It necessitated that a fugue’s subject be somewhat more
balanced in its ascending and descending motion so that when subsequent voices entered, they
would move in the opposite direction of the previous voice.12
In 1597, the English music theorist Thomas Morley wrote Plain and Easy Introduction
to Practical Music. In this book, he describes how Italians composers were looser in their fugal
imitation than British composers. They altered their imitations in order to create certain
harmonies, placing the importance of functional harmony over that of the polyphony created by
individual melodic lines.13 For example, rather than strictly adhering to the intervals established
in the subject, the answer might contain altered intervals so that, in conjunction with the other
voice or voices, it would create a specific cohesive chord. This lent itself to the cohesion of the
12
13
Ibid., 24.
Ibid., 30.
4
voices but meant that the answer, if played by itself, would not sound exactly like the subject.
This compositional innovation, along with contrary motion, made the fugue more closely
resemble what it would eventually become in the Baroque period.
During the Baroque, J. S. Bach took the innovations of his predecessors and greatly
expanded on them, eventually allowing the fugue to blossom into a well-known and independent
genre. Bach wrote some fugues for choir but most for organ and harpsichord14 (although modern
players often use the piano instead of the harpsichord). Perhaps the most profound development
between the Renaissance and the Baroque is that the fugue became an independent genre. Before
Bach, imitative works were either canons with very strict imitation or had elements of fugue but
were not “fugues” in the sense that the entire piece was fugal. Bach wrote pieces that were
entirely fugal, establishing the fugue as an independent and legitimate musical genre. This, in
itself, was the essential innovation in the development of the fugue; without its own place in the
Western musical sphere, any further advancement would have been slowed or halted because
composers would not have given sufficient attention to further its development.
Aside from firmly establishing the genre in the musical sphere, Bach’s fugues have some
distinct overarching characteristics that enhanced the genre’s development. Sound examples of
his fugal composition techniques are contained in Das Wohltemperierte Klavier or The Well
Tempered Clavier (WTC), a collection of twenty four preludes and fugues composed as
instructional aids for his students, and Die Kunst der Fuge or The Art of Fugue (AF),15 a
collection of fourteen fugues and four canons all based on a single subject. Though some of the
A. E. F. Dickinson, Bach’s Fugal Works: With an Account of Fugue Before and After Bach
(New York: Pitman Publishing Corporation, 1956), 150.
15
Zoltan Kocsis, “BWV 1080 – Art of the Fugue (Keyboard Reduction),” YouTube video,
1:36:22, posted by “gerubach,” June 22, 2013, accessed October 20, 2015,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgmpBHAwFLk.
14
5
pieces are for three voices, much like the work of Buchner in the Renaissance, Bach wrote many
of his pieces for four voices, demonstrating both greater virtuosity on the instrument as well as a
more progressive approach to fugal composition. Some of his works continue to follow trends set
earlier in history, such as beginning a subject on the tonic (WTC 1,16 2,17 13,18 and AF
Contrapunctus I) or the dominant (WTC 1419), as well as subsequent entries of the subject being
a fourth or fifth away. In these instances, subsequent entries of the subject remain fairly similar
to the original subject with few, if any, minor deviations (see Example 2). Other works, however,
such as the later AF contrapuncti, take the subject upon which The Art of Fugue is based and
alter it significantly. For example, Contrapunctus XII inverts the theme and adds notes in
between the notes of the subject.20 This is certainly quite different from the strict canonical
imitation of voices characteristic of the Renaissance that Zarlino described in his text. Likewise,
while many of Bach’s fugues restrict themselves to one subject some have multiple subjects or
elaborate countersubjects, such as WTC 2 and 4 (see Example 3).21 As an overall trend, Bach
employed some of the practices created before him but introduced and expanded upon new
techniques that became common to fugal composition.
Kimiko Ishizaka, “Well-Tempered Clavier - Prelude and Fugue 1 in C major BWV 846 / Sheet
Music Piano Tutorial,” YouTube video, 4:39, posted by “MuseScore Sheet Music,” May 15,
2015, accessed October 20, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaDNUru_q1w.
17
Kimiko Ishizaka, “Well-Tempered Clavier - Prelude and Fugue 2 in C minor BWV 847 /
Sheet Music Piano Tutorial,” YouTube video, 3:43, posted by “MuseScore Sheet Music,” May
15, 2015, accessed October 20, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAL16u2eCvw.
18
“Richter plays Bach: WTC1 No. 13 in F sharp major BWV 858,” YouTube video, 3:41, posted
by “Pianoplayer002's Classical Scores,” November 19, 2007, accessed October 20, 2015,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJCpUW1Q1yc.
19
“Richter plays Bach: WTC1 No. 14 in f sharp minor BWV 859,” YouTube video, 5:09, posted
by “Pianoplayer002's Classical Scores,” July 12, 2008, accessed October 20, 2015,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjAQLU23keI.
20
Kocsis, “BWV 1080 – Art of the Fugue (Keyboard Reduction),” 48:18.
21
Joseph Kerman, The Art of Fugue: Bach Fugues for Keyboard 1715-1750 (Los Angeles:
University of California Press, 2005), 13 and 24.
16
6
Example 2: WTC Fugue in C Minor22
m.1
m.3
Subject (top) and subsequent entry (bottom)
Subsequent entry is a perfect fifth up and is made of almost all the same intervals.
Example 3: WTC 4 Fugue in C# Minor23
m.1
m. 10
Primary subject (top) and secondary subject (bottom)
Just as Bach reinterpreted the genre of fugue to suit his own creativity, composers after
him in the Classical period took what he had done and further adapted it. Despite their
“Bach: Prelude and Fugue No.2 c minor, BWV 847,” All Piano Scores, retrieved November
10, 2015.
23
“Bach: Prelude and Fugue No.4 c# minor, BWV 849,” All Piano Scores, retrieved November
10, 2015.
22
7
differences, the lineage between Bach’s fugues and those of the Classical period is somewhat
easy to follow. Austrian composer Joseph Haydn became the preeminent composer of fugues in
the Classical period.24 Some characteristic and well-known examples are the finales of three of
his string quartets in Op. 20 (numbers 2, 5, and 6). Haydn, following the example of Bach,
frequently incorporates multiple subjects into his fugues, sometimes up to four distinct ones; this
is to ensure that each voice contains a thematic line rather than simple harmonic texture since
each voice is assigned to a different player (see Example 4).25 Haydn also inverts subject lines,
just as Bach began to do in the latter contrapuncti of The Art of Fugue, but differs in that he
notates it on the score to make it very clear where the subject is.26
Example 4: Haydn, Op. 20, No. 2 in C Major, IV. Fuga a 4 Soggetti (Fugue with 4 Subjects)27
24
Leonard G. Ratner, Classic Music: Expression, Form, and Style (London: Collier Macmillan
Publishers, 1980), 263.
25
James Grier, “The Reinstatement of Polyphony in Musical Construction: Fugal Finales in
Haydn's Op. 20 String Quartets,” The Journal of Musicology 27,1 (Winter 2010): 57.
26
Grier, “The Reinstatement of Polyphony in Musical Construction: Fugal Finales in Haydn's
Op. 20 String Quartets,” 58.
27
“Violin Sheet music, String Quartet, Haydn, Joseph,” free-scores.com, accessed November 10,
2015.
8
m. 1
m. 2
m. 8
m. 12
Subjects 1, 2, 3, and 4, all distinct from one another.
Despite these similarities, one crucial difference exists between Bach’s fugues and the
fugues of the Classical period: while Bach wrote pieces that were entirely fugal in nature, the
concept of a fugue as a stand-alone piece essentially died with him. Instead, fugues were written
as parts of greater pieces, as they are in Haydn’s Op. 20.28 Thus it could be said that the fugue, as
a genre, reached its peak with Bach. His zeitgeist was the only time in history that the fugue
gained so much popularity; Bach wrote over 150 of them in his lifetime.29 Although the fugue
appears here and there in later time periods, it has never had as much strength as it did during
Bach’s time. Bach certainly left a great legacy in fugal composition.
One of Bach’s greatest contributions, not only to the specific genre of fugue but to all of
music for the remainder of the Common Practice era before composers strayed from tonal
28
29
Ibid., 55.
Dickinson, Bach’s Fugal Works: With an Account of Fugue Before and After Bach, 160.
9
harmony in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, was the solidification of the principles of
voice leading. Through the polyphonic texture of his fugues, Bach was able to create smooth
voice leading that emphasized tonality and functional harmony; through a study of practices he
employed in his compositions, many of the Common Practice rules were synthesized. These
rules were generally observed by all the great composers, at least through the Classical period,
including Haydn in his Op. 20.30
Another significant aspect of Bach’s fugal legacy is the sheer magnitude of some of his
fugal works. His Fugue in A Minor is over five minutes long, and, following an A B A’ form, it
contains a smaller distinct fugue within it.31 Few great composers, if any, have given this much
focus to fugue since Bach, but rather treat it as a light yet driving manner to end a multiplemovement piece.32 Though the genre of fugue is not nearly as popular as it was in Bach’s time,
those written today often emulate his style, showing the extent of Bach’s influence.
The genre of fugue, then, essentially reached its peak with Bach, and as such, Bach was
arguably the preeminent composer of fugue throughout history. His fugues adopted some of the
stylistic practices of the canons and fugues of composers before him in the Renaissance, but he
took these practices and expanded on them. He produced fugues that require extreme virtuosity
from keyboard players in order to manage the polyphony created by three or four intricate and
simultaneous melodic lines. He also adopted and further developed the concept of functional
harmony. Before Bach, a strict imitation between voices was more common, but Bach’s fugal
voices imitate each other in a much more relaxed fashion, placing the importance of harmony
Grier, “The Reinstatement of Polyphony in Musical Construction: Fugal Finales in Haydn's
Op. 20 String Quartets,” 56.
31
Kerman, The Art of Fugue: Bach Fugues for Keyboard 1715-1750, 115.
32
Grier, “The Reinstatement of Polyphony in Musical Construction: Fugal Finales in Haydn's
Op. 20 String Quartets,” 55.
30
10
over that of the individual melodies of the separate voices. Bach also took the concept of
“subject” to its most extreme interpretations, manipulating subjects to the point that they do not
even resemble their origins without careful analysis. Bach certainly employed various highly
musically intelligent and progressive compositional practices in his fugues.
In addition, and perhaps more importantly, Bach’s fugues are wonderful to listen to. They
have endured throughout the two and a half centuries since his death and remain extremely
popular. Several are familiar even to the musically illiterate, such as WTC 1 and the “Little”
Fugue in G Minor. Their melodies are very appealing to the ear, and the intricacies of the
polyphony are an aural delight. Arguably, since Bach, no composer has mastered the fugue to the
extent that he did in a way that so greatly appeals to an audience. Clearly, Bach was a
compositional genius that mastered the art of the fugue.
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11
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaDNUru_q1w.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAL16u2eCvw.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgmpBHAwFLk.
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Publishers, 1980.
“Richter plays Bach: WTC1 No. 13 in F sharp major BWV 858.” YouTube video, 3:41. Posted
by “Pianoplayer002's Classical Scores,” November 19, 2007. Accessed October 20, 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJCpUW1Q1yc.
12
“Richter plays Bach: WTC1 No. 14 in f sharp minor BWV 859.” YouTube video, 5:09. Posted
by “Pianoplayer002's Classical Scores,” July 12, 2008. Accessed October 20, 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjAQLU23keI.
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Rochester University Press, 2000.
13