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Where are the fugues?

4K views 33 replies 10 participants last post by  tdc 
#1 ·
Hi Everyone! I am brand-new to this forum. Amateur pianist and composer for a long time, part-time music teacher, full time software engineer. Also into close-up magic and swing and salsa dancing.

I play the "Magnificat" fugues by Pachelbel, four fugues by Handel (are there more?), two by Domenico Scarlatti (including the "Cat Fugue") and one by Alessandro Scarlatti, one by Beethoven (in the A-flat sonata) and some of the Bach fugues, and I recently found a book of twenty short fugues by Telemann.

What other baroque or classical keyboard fugues exist?

I ask because I love fugues and am teaching myself to write them (five so far) and would like more styles and examples to play and study.

Thanks everyone!
 
#2 ·
JS Bach's Art of Fugue (BWV 1080). This is essential studying for anyone who wants to learn about fugues. They were not written specifically for a keyboard instrument (no instrumentation is indicated in the original manuscript if I recall correctly), but there are likely keyboard transcriptions of them.
 
#4 ·
Thank you very much.

I am wondering why 80% of the keyboard fugues I know about were written either by Bach or Pachelbel. (Bach 62, Pachelbel 120, everyone else combined: less than 40). The fugue is such a famous style or form. Where are the rest of them?
 
#5 · (Edited)
Fugues often exist within another piece of music for example various instrumental works (often in passacaglias and chaconnes) choral pieces, symphonies or string quartets etc. as I'm sure you know they are not just stand alone keyboard works. I know it is not the answer you are looking for here but if I was wanting to study keyboard fugues specifically I would look into Bach's Well Tempered Clavier. There are 48 keyboard fugues right there of the highest quality.
 
#7 ·
I just found out about a set of 20 fugues written by Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer - which will hopefully be included in a book I just ordered. His lifetime (1656 - 1746) is contemporaneous with that of J.S. Bach (1665 - 1750). I have previously studied Fischer and hope to find this new material to be valuable.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I agree that Bach's Art of Fugue and Well-Tempered Clavier Books 1 & 2 are essential. IMO, harpsichordist Christian Rieger understands fugues better than most. At least his playing of Bach fugues has added to my understanding of what a fugue is. I've also liked harpsichordists Gustav Leonhardt and Bob van Asperen in Bach fugues, as well as pianist Ivo Janssen.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/js-bach-the-art-of-fugue-mw0001429127
www.biberfan.org/reviews/2011/02/16/bach-art-of-fugue-christian-rieger






What I love most about Bach fugues is how multi-directional they are--at times musical lines can seem to come out of nowhere, and they shouldn't work within the whole, but they do, they fit brilliantly & organically with everything else. There are moments like that in Bach's Art of Fugue that I treasure.

One of most mind blowing fugal movements in all of Bach is the opening to his "Michaelmas" Cantata BWV 19. I'd suggest you turn the volume up for this movement to get the full effect:



Like many composers, Beethoven had a strong interest in Bach fugues. Not only did he play the Well Tempered Clavier in his youth, but Bach's Preludes & fugues were very influential on his late piano sonatas and string quartets (& appear in Beethoven's sketchbooks). For example, the difficult fugal movement in Beethoven's Hammerklavier Piano Sonata, Op. 106 (which can end up becoming a mess on modern grands, but works better on period pianos):



And of course the single movement "Grosse fuge", Op. 133--a double fugue, which Beethoven discarded from his late String Quartet No. 13, Op. 130:



Among others that come to mind, I'd suggest getting to know the following:

Robert Schumann's fugues, such as his Six Fugues on Bach, Op. 60 and Four Fugues, Op, 72 (as Schumann was very influenced by Bach):




Max Reger's Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Bach, Op. 81:



And finally, Dmitri Shostakovich's 48 Preludes and fugues for solo piano, Op. 87 (modeled after you know who):



Hope that helps.
 
#9 ·
Hi Everyone .... four fugues by Handel (are there more?),....
I assume Handel's 8 keyboard suites have fugues in them?? On piano I like Lisa Smirnova from the ECM label (in case you are looking for recordings.
Cloud Sky Atmosphere Natural environment World


I'm not a musician, but these are fugues I have come across that may interest you if you are not already familiar with them:

You would probably win some sort of award if you can find a work by JS Bach that is NOT fugal!

Mozart composed a fugue for piano in C major - it's KV 394 (383a) from 1782. I have it in a box from Bis with R. Brautigam playing a period instrument:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mozart-Com...518633458&sr=8-4&keywords=brautigam+mozart+cd
It must be on Spotify too because they have most of Bis' catalog.

Mozart arranged some Bach fugues for string quartet - a genre that hadn't been invented in Bach's time.

Mozart dazzles all the scholars with the fugal parts of his last symphony - "Jupiter" (nr. 41).

One of JS Bach's longest fugue is from the 3rd sonata for solo violin BWV1005 in C major. - about ten minutes long.

Welcome on board martonic - I am also newish here...
 
#11 ·
Thank you for your reply! I play Handel's fugues in B minor, B flat major, C minor and G major. I have played through most of his suites, enjoyed them for many hours through the years, but never found any fugues there.

Bach is surely the supreme "contrapuntalist" of the known universe.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Thank you for your reply! I play Handel's fugues in B minor, B flat major, C minor and G major. I have played through most of his suites, enjoyed them for many hours through the years, but never found any fugues there.
Without looking at scores of the Handel Suites, my recording of all 8 suites have several fugues listed for certain movements

No. 2: last movement
No. 3: second movement
No. 4: first movement
No. 6: second movement after a Largo section
No. 8: second movement
 
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#15 ·
Great, I found all of them. My (Dover) edition does not include the same numbering. The suite in F# is in F# minor. For some reason I did not get into that suite yet but I have played each of the other cited movements numerous times. Of course they are fugues, although my edition labels each of them simply "Allegro". Thank you very much for pointing these out.

The fugal first movement ("Allegro") in E minor is a masterpiece and I like to play it as a conclusion to Handel's other E minor suite (of which there are two AFAIK).

I have been playing these for years without stopping to label them as fugues, although I certainly understood them as such.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Hi Everyone! I am brand-new to this forum. Amateur pianist and composer for a long time, part-time music teacher, full time software engineer. Also into close-up magic and swing and salsa dancing.

I play the "Magnificat" fugues by Pachelbel, four fugues by Handel (are there more?), two by Domenico Scarlatti (including the "Cat Fugue") and one by Alessandro Scarlatti, one by Beethoven (in the A-flat sonata) and some of the Bach fugues, and I recently found a book of twenty short fugues by Telemann.

What other baroque or classical keyboard fugues exist?

I ask because I love fugues and am teaching myself to write them (five so far) and would like more styles and examples to play and study.

Thanks everyone!
It's interesting you play the some magnificat fugues, do they sound interesting on a piano?

One off the wall suggestion is Cabezon's intabulation of the Osanna from Josquin's Missa L'homme Arme 6th tone, it's a canon I think, but I'm not sure if it needs more than one keyboard, you'd have to check.

Ah, I've just seen that you want baroque or classical. Well maybe think of Buxtehude's toccatas, these have been recorded on piano by Francesco Tristano Schlime, and in Russia at least some of them were commonly used in conservatories (Sofronitsky played one, and I think so did Prokofiev.) They have alternating free and fugal passages.

Another thing to think of is from Bach's Clavier Ubung III. This book contains quite a few pieces for manuals only which are fugal, BWV 679, 681 and 689, though again I don't know how they will fit onto a single keyboard. To me, they sound as though they would be great fun to play! There is, of course, a famous transcription of the St Anne Fugue by Busoni, if that's the sort of thing you want.

You also asked for classical. My favourite classical fugue is Mozart's K 608 fantasy for a musical clock, there are plenty of transcriptions for two pianos, and it may well be possible to put the fugal sections on a single keyboard, you'd have to look.
 
#18 ·
Wow, I certainly came to the right place with my question! Thanks everyone so much!

Pachelbel's "Magnificat" fugues sound fantastic on the piano. However, I am not aware of any published recording of these performed that way. I am just learning about the ways in which music information and performances, including amateur performances, are now being shared on the Internet. No promises, but I will look into posting some Magnificat on the piano one of these days.
 
#27 ·
Oh and here I thought you would jump on the opportunity to mention the monumental fugue from Beethoven's Hammerklavier, since I don't think its been mentioned yet.

Don't worry Ken I'm just teasing - I appreciate your efforts.
I took the time to listen to the Britten fugue you posted and was thoroughly impressed, thanks for reminding me of it. :tiphat:
 
#29 · (Edited)
Wow! I can't thank everyone enough for the fantastic breadth of the replies to my seemingly simple question.

However, undeniably, this one takes the cake.

Slurp!

(intended as a reply to Star's post of Glenn Gould's vocal composition and its performance).

I need to work on my forum posting skills.
 
#30 ·
A few more comments.

Britten: great conclusion, earlier, strings sound like a wind tunnel under distortion.
Shostakovic: cat collection burglarized by creepy clown wielding a pitchfork.
Beethoven: great music, please lighten up on the pedal.
Brahms: did he write this to torture piano students.
Clara Schumann: mighty fine work!

Conclusion: Bach put the lights out, at least for me. Nothing else quite measures up, but Beethoven gets second place.

Thanks again everyone!
 
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