| Share page | Visit Us On FB |
|
The Sonata and the Fugue 135 |
||
|
(5) Theme B, now transposed into the original tonic key. In a minor piece this will sometimes involve change of mode, but this is optional. The whole may end as soon as the subjects have been restated, or it may be followed
by
(6) A Coda, built either upon new matter, or, more frequently, on portions of what has already been heard.
The extempore player can gain a mastery of this form only by diligent study, by the analysis of standard works, and by personal experience in writing such movements.
The great difficulty is to bear vividly in mind what has already been presented during the performance, so as to be able to reproduce it accurately. The best way to acquire experience is to select subjects familiar to the student, perhaps popular airs, and experiment with working them up into a sonata movement.
Celebrated players have not infrequently gained eminence by playing in the fugue-form extempore. This is, perhaps, the most difficult feat of all; but diligent study, analysis, and written experience, will pave the way to success.
The first essential is to acquire the power of inventing two equally interesting melodic lines simultaneously, and then inverting them. The essence of counterpoint is, of course, melodic lines in combination. A fugue is a piece in which such lines are developed and worked out to their furthest limit.
The varieties of the fugue-form are even more diverse than the sonata. No two specimens are alike. The main features are, however,
(a) The exposition; in the keys of the tonic and dominant, with the subject appearing in each part successively.
(b) Episodes, in which the subject does not appear, but which consist of melodic developments in numerous ways, usually in sequence, forming a contrast to the subject.
(c) Further entries of the subject, in new keys, either separately or in pairs. These may be alternated with the |
||