Back to the Fugue Trivia Quiz

Answer: imitative counterpoint

Homophony, where all the voices change notes at the same time (as is typical in four-part church hymns), is the opposite of counterpoint. Counterpoint refers to independent melodic lines, and in the case of fugues, those melodic lines "imitate" or echo each other. Imitative counterpoint doesn't just appear in fugues; a major example is the many sacred choral works from the 16th century that rely on this texture.

Answer: redaction

Composers may vary the subject after its initial appearances in the fugue's first exposition by augmenting, diminishing, inverting, or retrograding it. If you would like detailed definitions of these processes, take a music theory class, or send me a note.

A crash course in fugue structure and terminology: the exposition section introduces the subject, one voice at a time. While each new voice plays the subject, the voice that preceded it may play either a countersubject (which may later be transformed as described above), or free counterpoint (melodic material that does not necessarily return or receive transformation). Whether the new voice enters with the subject ("answer") at the unison/octave or fifth determines whether the answer is tonal or real. Other terms to consider when analyzing fugues are stretto (an accelerated progression of overlapping subject entries) and episode (a contrasting section occurring between the sections that present the subject).

Answer: organ

The fugue originated in the Baroque era, and the organ and harpsichord were typical instruments of the period. Fifes and drums, banjos, and bass guitars may be unlikely candidates for fugal compositions, but fugues from more recent eras may be scored for chamber ensembles, orchestra, band, or voices.

Answer: ricercar

As with fugues, the primary emphasis in ricercars is on imitative counterpoint. The organ masses of Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) include ricercars.

Suggested listening: Rinaldo Alessandrini's recording of Frescobaldi's "Fiori Musicali" on the orgue Antegnati de S. Maurizio, Milan (Astrée E 8714).

Answer: overture

An overture (from the French, "opening") usually appears at the beginning of an opera or instrumental suite. Bach frequently opened his fugues for keyboard with preludes, but he composed passacaglias, fantasias, and toccatas for this purpose as well. Fantasias and toccatas, with their free, improvisational characters, are intended to contrast and complement the rigorous, highly structured nature of the fugue that follows.

A passacaglia is a set of melodic variations that unfolds over a repeating "ground bass"; a similar form is the chaconne. One of Bach's crowning works for the organ, in this author's opinion, is the "Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor" BWV 582, a massive, endlessly fascinating juggernaut that leaves the listener inspired, exalted, and exhausted.

Suggested listening: E. Power Biggs at the Flentrop Organ on Sony SBK 46551. Uwe Kraemer's excellent liner notes for this disc are enlightening.

Answer: Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of the Fugue)

Note the German spelling, "Fuge."

One of the last pieces Bach composed before his death, "Die Kunst der Fuge" is a collection of 14 fugues, all tied together by a single subject. He never completed the final contrapunctus (his term), which he had planned to be a quadruple fugue (that is, a fugue with four subjects), nor did he specify an instrument or ensemble to play these fugues.

Suggested listening: The Canadian Brass playing "The Art of the Fugue" on Sony SBK 89731.

Answer: polka

Legions of young musicians have been required in school bands or orchestras to play Weinberger's "Polka and Fugue" from "Schwanda the Bagpiper."

As a side note on one of the incorrect answer choices, "The Loco-Motion" was a 1962 dance-craze hit for Little Eva, with Grand Funk Railroad releasing their own version in 1974.

Answer: string quartet

Here again, note the German spelling, "Fuge."

Beethoven (1770-1827) wanted the "Grosse Fuge" to be the finale of his 13th string quartet, but had to concede to his publisher, and released it as a standalone piece. His Op. 134 was an arrangement of the fugue for piano four hands.

Suggested listening: The Kodály Quartet on Naxos 8.554593, "Beethoven: Complete String Quartets Vol. 8."

Answer: an abnormal mental or behavioral state

The definition from "Merriam-Websters's 11th Collegiate Dictionary": "a disturbed state of consciousness in which the one affected seems to perform acts in full awareness but upon recovery cannot recollect the acts performed."

One may be tempted to relate this condition to the word "fog," as in "a mental fog" or "feeling foggy," but the etymology is more likely from Italian or Latin words meaning "flight."

Answer: Picardy third

The plagal cadence (IV-I or V-I-IV-I) is another cadential effect that composers of fugues may choose to exploit.

Bonus fugue terminology: a pedal point is a sustained bass note played beneath extended melodic figuration, so called for the organ pedals on which it may be played. A sustained treble or top-voice note is called an inverted pedal, while internal pedals occur between the bass and treble voices.

Bonus listening suggestion: "Introduction and Fugue" from the "Suite in B-flat major" by Richard Strauss. Performed by Michael Collins and the London Winds on Hyperion CDD22015, "The Complete Music for Winds."