# A short Fugue in E minor



## soundandfury

This was a fairly spontaneous composition, and it wanted to end after just over a minute, so I let it.

http://dev-null.chu.cam.ac.uk/ogg/fugue_in_e_minor.ogg
http://dev-null.chu.cam.ac.uk/pdf/fugue_in_e_minor.pdf

I'm aware that it has several parallels of various kinds; I'm not trying to follow strict rules so much as produce something that sounds good, and to me the occasional parallel 5ths aren't really noticeable. The parallel 8ves at bar 32 are actually deliberate; it's not really fuguing there anyway.

I think the dynamics are fairly clumsy, as well.

Thoughts?


----------



## teknoaxe

Nice. I'm not an expert on Fugues, but I like it. It may be the instrument you are using or an effect, but it almost seems like some of the notes are bleeding together slightly. It may help to change the reverb so you can hear the melody a little more clearly. That's about it though. The composition was great!


----------



## Weston

I always have this trouble when listening to pipe organ, whether real or virtual. It may be the king of instruments, but it lacks clarity, especially when all the stops are out as in this sample. (My apologies to Krummhorn). I'd be interested in hearing the fugue arranged for other instruments, as in when someone arranged Bach's organ trio sonatas for lute, mandolin, and harpsichord to good effect. Of course since the score is provided I could always do that for myself.


----------



## Krummhorn

The composition itself is wonderful. The registration seems a bit awkward when the lower manual voices cross under the pedal part. The lack of clarity that Weston mentions (and no offense taken, btw ) could be due to the unusually "heavy" registration and the use of 16' stops in the manual parts. Might suggest a more contrasting registration between pedals and manuals, perhaps a light reed with foundation stops in the manual bass line, and a lighter combination in the upper voice part. 

I also agree on less reverb ... unless there is more articulation in the manual parts to compensate for it. 

Kh


----------



## soundandfury

"when the lower manual voices cross under the pedal part." - actually, I don't think it does; it might not be obvious, but the pedal part is 8vb (look carefully at the clef, there's a little '8' under it).

As for instrumentation, one thing I did do was to try playing it with a pizz. strings soundfont, and it was rather amusing.

Anyway, I've done what I can with the organ sample (it's from a free soundfont), and the link above now points at the new version. I agree that virtual organ is hard to listen to.

Weston: having to re-enter that score would probably be tedious for you, so...
http://dev-null.chu.cam.ac.uk/mid/fugue_in_e_minor.mscz <-- MuseScore source file
http://dev-null.chu.cam.ac.uk/mid/fugue_in_e_minor.xml <-- MusicXml export
(Also if anyone with a decent organ sample wants to record it, same)


----------



## MJTTOMB

I can't play back .ogg files on my computer, but looking over the score it's not immediately apparent what your subject is. What do you perceive to be the subject?


----------



## soundandfury

The subject is the tune in the upper manual - first 12 crotchet beats after the entry; and the counter-subject is in the first 24 crotchet beats of the lower manual.
Although, the piece isn't really so much using a subject as a series of fragments and ideas. Hence why, bizarrely, the counter-subject appears before the subject.

To maybe phrase that better, the piece isn't /strictly/ a fugue, in the JSB kind of sense; but it seems silly to call it something else, when it definitely /sounds/ like a fugue.

To play ogg, try VLC Media Player; also see www.playogg.org.


----------



## MJTTOMB

It really doesn't sound like a fugue at all to me. How much do you know about the form of fugues?


> Although, the piece isn't really so much using a subject as a series of fragments and ideas. Hence why, bizarrely, the counter-subject appears before the subject.


The very point of writing a fugue is to develop a subject, I don't quite understand how you can admit to not using a subject and still call it a fugue just because it "sounds like a fugue".


----------



## soundandfury

Well, and apologies for the coarse language, what the hell else can one call it then? Besides, I didn't say it wasn't using a subject, just that it wasn't strictly using a subject and nothing else.

I realise that it's too loose and varied to count as a 'proper' fugue - I mean, if you were being assessed on it and the task was to write a fugue, it would get few if any marks. If you look again at my original post, you'll see I'm quite aware it doesn't qualify as a proper fugue. But that's not what this is, it's a piece I wrote because I wanted to, and I called it a fugue because that seemed to be the closest term to what it was. If there's a more suitable term, I am eager to learn it.

(I hope the above doesn't sound angry; I can't find a better way to word it)


----------



## nefigah

Hmm, free soundfonts in an ogg posted to a site called "dev-null"... What can we assume about our friend soundandfury?


----------



## MJTTOMB

Fantasia? Prelude? Neither of the above has a definite form and thus it's easier to put borderline pieces into categories that don't make an explicit statement about the form and construction of the piece.


----------



## soundandfury

Alright then, consider it a Prelude. You'll forgive me, I hope, if I don't change the thread title, file names, title on the score, etc... because I care more about the music than the designation of it, the latter being somewhat arbitrary in any case.


----------



## Kopachris

Sounds pretty good, though (as has already been clarified) not a fugue. It does sound a little slow to be an allegro. As for the parallel 5ths, I thought the rule was never to use _salient_ parallel 5ths.  Very nice!


----------



## zauberflotemeister123

I'd have to say it was very creative. A mix of a fugue and a bit of bach's intensity. It was a bit scratchy in parts, maybe a misuse of layering, but the melody was perfect for what your intentions were (from what I know). good job


----------

