Fugue Terms

Fugue: an imitative contrapuntal composition that develops a theme (Fugues usually incorporate three or four voices which enter one by one.)

Subject (S): the recurring theme of a fugue (The subject is stated at the very beginning of a fugue, usually unaccompanied. The subject is often in two parts, the head and the tail.)

Answer (A): the second (and sometimes fourth) statement of the subject transposed to the dominant (up a perfect 5th or down a perfect 4th)

Real Answer: an exact transposition of the subject (up a P5 or down a P4)

Tonal Answer: a transposed subject which is altered to maintain the tonic key

Countersubject (CS): the theme which regularly accompanies the subject (Not all fugues have countersubjects. Countersubjects usually follow the initial subject statement in the same voice and therefore first accompany the answer.)

Exposition: a section in which the complete subject appears, particularly the initial section which introduces the subject successively in each voice

Bridge: a short passage in the exposition which links entries of the subject (a.k.a. link or codetta)

Episode: a section which does not include the complete subject (Episodes often employ sequences or stretto.)

Sequence: a technique in which a motive or short figure is successively stated, the motive being transposed by equidistant intervals

Stretto: the introduction of two or more entries of the subject at a closer time-interval than that of the exposition to heighten the dramatic effect

False Entry: an incomplete subject entry often used in stretto