How do you (not) write a fugue?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 พ.ค. 2024
- In my first semester of tonal counterpoint class, our final assignment was to write a 4-voice fugue... so I said yOLO and wrote this meme fugue as the final assignment - with the lyrics being my revision notes from class haha. Huge shoutout to Prof. Nicole Biamonte for accepting this fugue as a valid assignment and not instantly dunking on my grades, especially with the "intentional parallel fifths" section. I later gathered 4 singers (with me playing the piano part) and played through this, huge thank you to Alice Boissinot (Soprano), Elissa Dresdner (Alto), Adam Schmidt (Tenor), and Tristan Pritham (Bass) for singing this, and Mehdi Rahimdokht, Victoria Barroso, and Matthew Souaid for the recording. It was incredible - the singers learnt and sung this fugue at this level with only 2 hours of rehearsal!
I also have to shoutout my two inspirations for this fugue: the first being my favorite fugue to this day, Glenn Gould's parodistic "So You Want to Write a Fugue?" • Glenn Gould - So You W... and second is Freddy Wickham's self-explanatory "Ontological Fugue" • Ontological fugue - th... . I decided to go in the direction of these two pieces, but take a step further by adding theatrics, intentional "counterpoint error" sections, and slipping in familiar quotations (Art of Fugue, Double Violin Concerto, Christmas Tunes).
The piece can be summarized in three sections - The exposition (which introduces basic fugal techniques), the middle/"development" (where errors/fugal parodies are gradually introduced in a tongue-in-cheek manner), and the "recapitulation" (where the singers break the 4th wall, address the listener, and question the philosophy of compositional aesthetics and rules... yep it gets pretty off-the-rails haha).
Overall, I wanted a piece that could be appreciated by all levels - those that do not have much familiarity with fugal writing will gain something from it, and those that are experts in fugues will enjoy the humorous parodistic subversion of counterpoint expectations. (And of course the main reason, I needed to write a fugue for a tonal counterpoint class assignment).
Please listen to this with headphones/stereo, as I've panned the voices to make it easier to distinguish the lines (Soprano/Bass to the left, Alto/Tenor to the right).
A more detailed analysis (For word count's sake, Subject/Answer/Countersubject = Sub/Ans/CS, Soprano = S, Alto = A, Tenor = T, Bass = B)
0:00 - Ridiculous 10 bar Sub. in B (this is gonna be a long exposition)
0:15 - Ans. in T, CS in B (for the sake of keeping it simple, only real answer at the 5th will be explained in the lyrics)
0:32 - Codetta/Mini-Episode/Retransition Section
0:45 - Sub. in A, CS in T
1:00 - Ans. in S, CS in A
1:17 - End of Exposition, fragments presented
1:21 - Episode: Sequence with sub. fragment that forms a canon at the 7th below (With S and B)
1:31 - Deck the Halls quote, modulation to D Maj
1:35 - Triple entry of modified sub. in A, T (augmentation), and B (technically not a true stretto)
1:42 - For a 10 bar subject, metrically starting on a weaker beat makes the harmonic rhythm a bit wack (shorter subjects can be displaced easier)
1:50 - Ans. in T, CS in A (Voice crossing frowned upon)
2:06 - Episode: Sequence with diminution of sub. fragment
2:21 - Inversion of Sub. (Parodying a Double Fugue Entry)
2:30 - Intentional Parallel Fifths
2:33 - Inv. Sub. in A, New CS in B, almost like a new double fugue exposition
2:41 - I thought it would be funny to leap while the singer complains about said leaps (though in this case, those "random leaps" in A are part of the inverted sub.)
2:50 - Inv. Sub. in S, New CS in A, but this exposition is thrown out of the window with what comes next!
3:01 - I asked myself: how far can I take the idea of stretto? This was the result! Diminution of Sub. in T and B, Diminution of inverted Sub. in S and A.
3:14 - S does augmentation/upward suspensions against the diminution stretto
3:27 - Inv. of sub. fragment (bar 3 idea) in ascending stretto
3:36 - Phrygian Cadence (Modal counterpoint reference!)
3:42 - Bach Art of Fugue in Piano (hinted by S and B lyrics previously)
3:49 - Bach Double Violin Concerto quotation
3:53 - Art of Fugue against the original subject! (Start of "recapitulation" - parodies a double fugue where one combines the two previously heard themes, but in this case it's art of fugue, literally heard a few bars ago by a random piano solo haha)
4:07 - Sub. in B, CS in A
4:23 - CS intentionally enters in the "wrong" voice (S), Sub. in T (had to be modified as some notes are out of a standard tenor's range). Final entry of the recap is skipped.
4:38 - Dominant Pedal with sub. + inverted sub. diminution in S
4:46 - Crunchy suspensions!
4:54 - Even crunchier suspensions!
5:07 - Final entry of subject head (augmented version in A), + 4-3 suspension resolving to picardy in T
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#fugue #counterpoint #satb #choir - เพลง
i barely know music theory but i really feel like writing a fugue after hearing this
That's awesome! It's always good to start learning now rather than later, so I'm glad to hear this fugue is motivational!
"For the only way to write one,
Is just to plunge right in and write one.
So just forget the rules and write one"
:) Ok, you probably won't write *good* fugue following Gould's advice, but hey its fun to imagine!
@@JT29501 4:45 "Writing a 'bad' fugue is better then never writing one at all"... he's got you covered!
Writing one in first species has many rules. But it's a start. 73
I took music theory first in the tenth grade then repeated it in the twelfth grade then in college. But I had a taste of counterpoint in my Jr year in college. I could not sight-read and failed the piano Proficiency test so I went into electronics. That's all she wrote. 73
This is unironically a masterpiece
Thank you, happy you enjoyed this!
IT FUCKING IS
Come on, Bach is always better than this.
@@sibionic Maybe Bach in the day, but times have changed. I'll get off your Bach about it though, should probably Bachpedal some of what I said
@@elricardodos It's still clever stuff though!
honestly this should be used for music composition classes
I showed it to my choir teacher
She said "if only you could sing like that"
How?
How is this an educational piece, a motivational speach, unapologetic propaganda for fugue-writing, an actual university assignment and good music simultaneously?
The "walk on-stage like a diva" and "in a sassy manner" for the soprano was so accurate x) it's a true masterpiece. Thank you so much.
Glenn Gould would be proud.
A bit of augmentation is a serious temptation, as he would say!
Fun fact: During my brief tenure as a music major I had just one shining moment of "genius". I wrote a very short, kick ass counterpoint piece for my Music Theory 102 class...my prof actually called it genius. To this day I have no idea what I did and as I am now a historian, I have obviously never been able to replicate it. It's probably a good thing though, because I would much rather be an enthusiastic audience member for people like you, Nicholas, who are actual musical geniuses. One thing I love about this piece of music is the humor you inject in lyrics and staging suggestions. 💕
Thank you so much! That’s great to hear your positive experience, and hey you could always try writing another one! After all, (as the ending of this fugue’s lyrics imply), it’s always better to try to write something and learn from the experience than to never write one at all!
You should upload it!!
please share it with the world!
Can you send me a link to it?
And why are you now a historian? What's a tenure?
This was so good yet confusing at same time I’m thinking a writing a fugue now
Haha love to hear that, definitely go write one! As a certain fugue once said, "now it's your turn, show us how to write a fugue!"
@@NicholasMaMusic LOL- 3:55, after the piano solo
THIS IS AMAZING WTF 😩 everyone sounds incredible but especially the soprano wow
The soprano is amazing
Thank you! It was honestly incredible how quickly they managed to learn the piece and put it together (we had about 2 hours of total rehearsal time!)
@@NicholasMaMusic Wow! That is incredible alone, not even mentioning the limited rehearsal time. I love watching things like this because it really is inspiring to see a piece that takes a fun concept and makes such incredible art out of it. I'm definitely still pretty new to music theory but now I want to do a little research and write a fugue lol. Thank you!
I now need to see a video of this being performed with all the actions.
"Um... tenor, something's wrong! But let's see what our alto has to say!"
This is truly awesome! I love how from the middle onwards, when the "how to NOT write a fugue" passage begins, this piece goes instantly into pre-classical / renaissance territory, strongly reminiscent of Monteverdi, Palestrina or Josquin. I think these are the most striking and original parts. Bach is cool and all, but I believe the Bach dogma is still too imposing on contemporary counterpoint writing even 300 years later. Please do more of that stuff.
It's basically a madrigal at that point!
I for some reason find "Bach dogma" to be unreasonably funny
this tiny moment in my life is when id actually like to study music
Haha thank you! And hey now's always the best time to start!
This made me appreciate fugues way more than all my years of piano lessons did
HOLY MOLY The best fugue ever written
Irrelevant but I love your profile picture
Nah, Bach fugues are still the best.
The Art Of Fugue reference in the middle is amazing ! 👌
Fuguetastic work 👌
Fuguebulous
You guys should get together and write some fugues.
@@jr2470 that's a fugueiful idea
Thank you Freddy! Yours is also amazing and fun, this truly is an unfuguettable experience :)
Brilliant. I love it. It is on the same level with Glenn Gould’s ‘So you want to write a fugue’ and Ben Comeau’s ‘Boris Johnson’ fugue. Brings a smile to my face...
3:14 feels so emotional. Idek how to express this harmonic beauty. It just feels so good deep within and makes me want to cry.... This is, without a doubt, a masterpiece!! Bravo!!
Those stage directions make this even better than it is
I'd kill to see this on video
Laughing my ass off while looking at the score with awe. This is exceptionally great!
Amazing! I'll to listen it some more times to get everything. That Deck The Halls at 1:29 broke me!
This is fugueing brilliant
Exceedingly brilliant. Possibly your grweatest work.
It's fuguetastic
Thank you! I had so much fun composing this :)
The singers have such lovely voices. Great musicianship!
This is genius !! Exactly the kind of content I love to see from the counterpoint music community ! I’m adding your work next to Glenn Gould’s !
Thank you for holding this in such high regard!
Me too. It is already in my player in the same folder of "so, you want to write a fugue".
First ever self-aware Fugue. Very Genius, Much Polyphonie !!
This is amazing, i wanna try writing a fugue but now that I know the “rules” of music theory i have a habit of breaking all of them any time I compose
That's great to hear! It's fun learning the rules but also even more fun to intentionally (or unintentionally) break them!
@@NicholasMaMusic it definitely is fun, I like working with dissonance a lot, although it isn’t most people’s favorite, I might end up posting something I’ve done that’s very dissonant soon lol
You're a genius, Nicholas! I love fugues, and you've written something better than I ever could. Even when it breaks the 'rules'...your writing is fantastic. I *knew* you were going to quote the 'Art of Fugue' theme when I heard the words.
I could be wrong, but I, pretty sure this is a Bach fugue that was given lyrics
@@ChristopherNelson42 Most of it wasn't, but the bit in the middle was 100% Bach's "art of the fugue" (as the lyrics hinted). The rest was (as stated in the description) composed by Nicholas for his final project in tonal counterpoint.
As a singer I had a stroke while listening to this, well done! But, some parts did mix really well, if only it wasn't how you write a fugue.
Thank you!
Bach's been real quiet since this dropped.
Brilliant cameo for the art of fugue subject!
I've never listened to a fugue before, so I can't comment on its quality as compared to other fugues, but it sounds brilliant, was very informative, and also everyone sung beautifully (props to that tenor especially).
Bro that was freaking amazing, I felt like my brain was elevating
Nicholas's greatest masterpiece. Added to The List of music to never forget!
Thank you for your praise, I'm flattered to hear that haha!
This was so great but I had to pause because I couldn't stop laughing at "deck the halls with boughs of holly"
You are utterly brilliant, Nicholas Ma!
In love with "a fifth higheeeeer" part (and bar 122 - soprano, of course).
Damn this is the greatest fugue ever
Big fan of the note for the bass section in the Deck the Halls quote modulation timestamp
It’s so considerate of the Basses who wish to sing this masterpiece
For moments like this, stumbling upon a piece of pedagogic genius, I feel grateful for the TH-cam algorithm highlighting this video. Thank you!
The part "I want to write a double violin concerto instead" is the best! 😂😂
Not only is this a beautiful fugue, but an inspiring one too
Brilliant. I wish I had this video 30 years ago when I was a composition student trying to unravel fugues from the literature !!!!
picardy sent me lmao. honestly picardy thirds sound like satire 90% of the time so that was very fitting hahaha.
@TheLauroth i know technically not, i just think theyre goofy so i found it fitting
Thank you! It definitely was a fun way to end such a piece haha
So beautiful! I need to show my theory teacher this!
That is amazing and somewhat amusing (almost hilarious). Well done! (and you sneaked in the Art of Fugue theme from Bach himself. I'm sure he would be grinning)
I can't be the only one singing along with the voices
You're not.
Don’t worry you’re not 💀
its actually like so well written i can't believe how it went as a joke and turned to a masterpiece
Brilliant, sir. Thanks for the reference to BWV 1043, a masterpiece among Herr Bach's masterpieces. It is quite amazing enough to do this at all let alone with such a long subject!
Thank you! It was a fun challenge trying to fit multiple references like the double violin concerto in here, glad you’re noticing them and liking it!
Omg
I must say you are a genius
The E2 on the bass voice is chilling. Great job to him and the others!
Great piece and congratulations from a Bach enthusiast !
this feels like Freddy Wickham's "Ontological Fugue" but even better
I've been trying to write a fugue for a while now, but every attempt I've made so far I've given up on.
This really gives me a much-needed push to go and do something with my summer break!
Thank you
Thank you! It'll be a productive summer - always better now than never to have this experience of fugue writing!
just a point you might want to consider. most fugues I see online here are written in the melodic style of Bach and the Baroque.
are you familiar with the Fugues of Alan Hovhaness, the composer of over 65 symphonies and a huge array of other works?
he writes fugues in a more melodically modern style, and so demonstrates that it can be done.
It can be done!! :)
Thank you! And yes I agree, it's fascinating to see how other more modern composers go about writing fugues (like Hindemith's Ludus Tonalis, Shostakovich's Op 87, or the one in Bartok's Music for Strings Percussion and Celesta!)
its giving Byrd's sing joyfully that I had to sing for District Choir and im unironically loving it
Hi Nicholas. This has been such an amazing contribution to youtubes fugue-writing landscape. Your inspirations, Gould and Wickham, I have heard countless of times. I am very thankful for what you have done and I am now more motivated than ever to return to learning the art of the fugue.
I hope to see more from you and those amazing singers.
Wow, you've expanded on Glenn Gould's idea and added humor, with inventive and informative lyrics.
Picardy ending for the tenor 🤣 Bravo!!
My own compsitions thus far have been fairly simple and strictly amateur, but now I feel inspired to dabble in fugue. Great video!
Man the reference to the Art of the Fugue and the usage of it's subject was great! Really sold it for me I think.
Please keep making more music like this!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the art of fugue bits, the combination of the alto subject in counterpoint with the soprano art of fugue quotation was probably my favorite part to write :)
@@NicholasMaMusic I was hoping for it to turn into a full blown double fugue but even so, it's great!
This is so good till a question can be a song
Im amazed
Thank you!
Love this😄 as someone who has played the Bach Double sooo many times it made me extremely happy to hear the reference 😁
Haha yeah the Bach is such a great piece!
The Deck the Hall😭
Bravo. Really, truly, bravo. This is genius.
I've been considering going into music as a career/hobby and seeing other people's compositions are just breathtaking...
Brilliant! Love all the different texts, stage directions - and the music itself! Beautifully sung and played too
this is hilarious! and now i have an ear worm. *sings badly* hoooooow to not write a fuge..... I will share this with people who actually know what they are doing (cause I don't really) and pester them to have a choir sing it.
Thank you for sharing this with everyone! Honestly it would be hilarious to see a full choir perform this, I can only imagine how fun it would be :)
This is actually brilliant. Fantastic work!!
This is a headbanger masterpiece.
👍 for the double violin easter egg.
Always love a sneaky double violin reference!
Es ist so wunderschön.
It's so beautiful.
I wish you all the best for your future musical career. I don't know many with such talent.
Glenn Gould meets Freddy Wickham
The contrapunctus one reference lol, loved this!
Proof that you can definitely be clever for the sake of being clever. This is a masterpiece. Hats off.
This is genius 😂
This is a masterpiece ❤
Thank you!
To all those people commenting that it's a masterpiece, I wonder, have you ever heard a Bach fugue ?
@@EugeneOneguine yes, and obviously Bach fugues are better but this is an excellent attempt to compose one
Awesome!! I love the way you write it as an answer to Glenn Gould's one. It is actually well written, and I find it more easily singable than Gould's - which is extremely pleasurable (but yes, Gould's is a great one too). Is the sheet music available somewhere?
Beautiful! Well done!
It's fuguetastic
@@sofiabosco7892 Haha so true!
@@BlackHermit the soprano was so good
Thank you!
You sir, deserve more like and abo. 👍
Thank you!
Brilliant! Congrats on this wonderful demonstration!
haha, this is a lovely fugue :)
Thank you!
incredible
3:00-3:27 I love it so much ! What an amazing work, this is a masterpiece
amazing! suddenly feel inspired to write a fugue now hasja
Thank you! Let’s go write a fugue!
Darn, I didn't notice that the voices came from certain ears, this is legitimately fun to listen to!
I actually watched it 5 times now to listen to each voice
Left to right: soprano, bass, alto, tenor (I think- I might have gotten alto and tenor switched)
This is very well done. Each voice can be understood both musically and verbally. Its also amusing how its the answer to Glenn Gould's question fugue, so you want to write a fugue...
I should arrange this into a recorder quartet.
I keep coming back to this video I can never get enough of it, and I bet that in a year I’ll still come back to it
This is absolutely brilliant! 👏🏆👏
Absolutely amazing!!
This is rather brilliant!
Great work!
This was incredibly beautiful and funny at the same time! Very well done!
This is amazing
The theme is stuck in my head now😂 I really need to see a performance of this piece!
Great job. Genius! ❤
i got goosebumps! this is seriously amazing, i love glenn goulds similiar composition but i believe yours is so much better! more developed and beautifully composed!
It's a lovely fugue - very inspirational.
This is fantastic 🤣