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[[Image:lighterstill.jpg]][[Image:Bach_fugue200px.jpg|right|frame|<center>A "''Bach Fugue''"</center>]]

[[Image:lighterstill.jpg]][[Image:Bach_fugue200px.jpg|right|frame|<center>A "''Bach Fugue''"</center>]]

In [[music]], a '''fugue''' (pronEng|ˈfjuːg) is a type of [[counterpoint|contrapuntal]] composition or technique of composition for a fixed number of parts, normally referred to as "voices". [http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t76.e3627]  In the [[Middle Ages]], the term was widely used to denote any works in canonic style; by the [[Renaissance]], it had come to denote specifically imitative works.[http://www.xreferplus.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=4663031&secid=.3.2.]  Since the 17th century, the term ''fugue'' has described what is commonly regarded as the most fully developed procedure of imitative counterpoint. A fugue opens with one main theme, the ''subject'', which then sounds successively in each voice in imitation; when each voice has entered, the ''exposition'' is complete; this is occasionally followed by a connecting passage, or ''episode'', developed from previously heard material; further "entries" of the subject then are heard in related keys. Episodes (if applicable) and entries are usually alternated until the "final entry" of the subject, by which point the music has returned to the opening key, or [[tonic]], which is often followed by closing material, the [[coda]]. In this sense, fugue is a style of composition, rather than fixed structure. Though there are certain established practices, in writing the exposition for example,[http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t114.e2723] composers approach the style with varying degrees of freedom and individuality.

In [[music]], a '''fugue''' (pronEng|ˈfjuːg) is a type of [[counterpoint|contrapuntal]] composition or technique of composition for a fixed number of parts, normally referred to as "voices". [https://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t76.e3627]  In the [[Middle Ages]], the term was widely used to denote any works in canonic style; by the [[Renaissance]], it had come to denote specifically imitative works.[https://www.xreferplus.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=4663031&secid=.3.2.]  Since the 17th century, the term ''fugue'' has described what is commonly regarded as the most fully developed procedure of imitative counterpoint. A fugue opens with one main theme, the ''subject'', which then sounds successively in each voice in imitation; when each voice has entered, the ''exposition'' is complete; this is occasionally followed by a connecting passage, or ''episode'', developed from previously heard material; further "entries" of the subject then are heard in related keys. Episodes (if applicable) and entries are usually alternated until the "final entry" of the subject, by which point the music has returned to the opening key, or [[tonic]], which is often followed by closing material, the [[coda]]. In this sense, fugue is a style of composition, rather than fixed structure. Though there are certain established practices, in writing the exposition for example,[https://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t114.e2723] composers approach the style with varying degrees of freedom and individuality.

The form evolved during the 18th century from several earlier types of contrapuntal compositions, such as imitative [[capriccios]], [[canzona]]s, and [[fantasias]]. Middle and late [[Baroque]] composers such as  [[Johann Pachelbel]] (1653–1706) contributed greatly to the development of the fugue, and the form reached ultimate maturity in the works of [[Johann Sebastian Bach]] (1685–1750). With the decline of sophisticated contrapuntal styles at the end of the baroque period, the fugue's popularity as a compositional style waned, eventually giving way to [[Sonata]]. Nevertheless, composers from the 1750s to the present day continue to write and study fugue for various purposes; they appear in the works of [[Mozart]] (e.g. Kyrie Eleison of the [[Requiem (Mozart)|Requiem in D minor]]) and [[Beethoven]] (e.g. end of the Credo of the [[Missa Solemnis]]), and many composers such as [[Felix Mendelssohn]] (1809-1847), [[Anton Reicha]] (1770–1836) and [[Dmitri Shostakovich]] (1906–1975) wrote cycles of fugues.

The form evolved during the 18th century from several earlier types of contrapuntal compositions, such as imitative [[capriccios]], [[canzona]]s, and [[fantasias]]. Middle and late [[Baroque]] composers such as  [[Johann Pachelbel]] (1653–1706) contributed greatly to the development of the fugue, and the form reached ultimate maturity in the works of [[Johann Sebastian Bach]] (1685–1750). With the decline of sophisticated contrapuntal styles at the end of the baroque period, the fugue's popularity as a compositional style waned, eventually giving way to [[Sonata]]. Nevertheless, composers from the 1750s to the present day continue to write and study fugue for various purposes; they appear in the works of [[Mozart]] (e.g. Kyrie Eleison of the [[Requiem (Mozart)|Requiem in D minor]]) and [[Beethoven]] (e.g. end of the Credo of the [[Missa Solemnis]]), and many composers such as [[Felix Mendelssohn]] (1809-1847), [[Anton Reicha]] (1770–1836) and [[Dmitri Shostakovich]] (1906–1975) wrote cycles of fugues.

The English term ''fugue'' originates in the 16th century and is derived from either the French or Italian ''fuga'', which in turn  comes from Latin, also ''fuga'', which is itself related to both ''fugere'' (‘to flee’) and ''fugare'', (‘to chase’). "fugue n." [http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t23.e22155]] The adjectival form is ''fugal''.[http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t23.e22149] ] Variants include ''fughetta'' (literally, 'a small fugue') and ''fugato'' (a passage in fugal style within another work that is not a fugue).

The English term ''fugue'' originates in the 16th century and is derived from either the French or Italian ''fuga'', which in turn  comes from Latin, also ''fuga'', which is itself related to both ''fugere'' (‘to flee’) and ''fugare'', (‘to chase’). "fugue n." [https://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t23.e22155]] The adjectival form is ''fugal''.[https://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t23.e22149] ] Variants include ''fughetta'' (literally, 'a small fugue') and ''fugato'' (a passage in fugal style within another work that is not a fugue).

==Perceptions and aesthetics==

==Perceptions and aesthetics==

In presenting Bach's fugues as among the greatest of contrapuntal works, Peter Kivy  points out that "counterpoint itself, since time out of mind, has been associated in the thinking of musicians with the profound and the serious" (''Music Alone: Philosophical Reflections on the Purely Musical Experience'' ISBN 0-8014-2331-7)  and argues that "there seems to be some rational justification for their doing so." (''Music Alone: Philosophical Reflections on the Purely Musical Experience''. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, p210. ISBN 0-8014-2331-7.) Because of the way fugue is often taught, the form can be seen as dry and filled with laborious technical exercises. The term "school fugue" is used for a very strict form of the fugue that was created to facilitate teaching.

In presenting Bach's fugues as among the greatest of contrapuntal works, Peter Kivy  points out that "counterpoint itself, since time out of mind, has been associated in the thinking of musicians with the profound and the serious" (''Music Alone: Philosophical Reflections on the Purely Musical Experience'' ISBN 0-8014-2331-7)  and argues that "there seems to be some rational justification for their doing so." (''Music Alone: Philosophical Reflections on the Purely Musical Experience''. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, p210. ISBN 0-8014-2331-7.) Because of the way fugue is often taught, the form can be seen as dry and filled with laborious technical exercises. The term "school fugue" is used for a very strict form of the fugue that was created to facilitate teaching.

Others, such as Alfred Mann, argued that fugue writing, by focusing the compositional process actually improves or disciplines the composer towards musical ideas. This is related to the idea that restrictions create freedom for the composer, by directing their efforts. He also points out that fugue writing has its roots in improvisation, and was, during the baroque, practiced as an improvisatory art.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugue]

Others, such as Alfred Mann, argued that fugue writing, by focusing the compositional process actually improves or disciplines the composer towards musical ideas. This is related to the idea that restrictions create freedom for the composer, by directing their efforts. He also points out that fugue writing has its roots in improvisation, and was, during the baroque, practiced as an improvisatory art.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugue]

==References==

==References==

#"fugue" The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. Ed. Michael Kennedy. Oxford University Press, 1996. "Oxford Reference Online, subscription access". Retrieved on 2007-03-16.

#"fugue" The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. Ed. Michael Kennedy. Oxford University Press, 1996. "Oxford Reference Online, subscription access". Retrieved on 2007-03-16.