How do you (not) write a fugue?

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!

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

[jj]

i barely know music theory but i really feel like writing a fugue after hearing this

[shiekahfan]

honestly this should be used for music composition classes

[dawnnoele]

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. 💕

[DebaeckerRemi]

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.

[borbarrad]

How is this an educational piece, a motivational speach, unapologetic propaganda for fugue-writing, an actual university assignment and good music simultaneously?

[Graham_M]

THIS IS AMAZING WTF 😩 everyone sounds incredible but especially the soprano wow

[larkwinth_real]

This was so good yet confusing at same time I’m thinking a writing a fugue now

[JorWat]

I now need to see a video of this being performed with all the actions.

[ChronisArt]

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.

[Fumozart]

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!!

[simaanhabib]

Amazing! I'll to listen it some more times to get everything. That Deck The Halls at 1:29 broke me!

[AutumnSonderness]

The singers have such lovely voices. Great musicianship!

[taliaprewette]

This made me appreciate fugues way more than all my years of piano lessons did

[dashiedev]

The Art Of Fugue reference in the middle is amazing ! 👌

[eris]

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).

[ffs]

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...

[jgcodes]

Those stage directions make this even better than it is

I'd kill to see this on video

[starpawsy]

Exceedingly brilliant. Possibly your grweatest work.

[LeBingeDoctor]

Laughing my ass off while looking at the score with awe. This is exceptionally great!

[MitchBoucherComposer]

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.