• A fugue is a piece of music in which a melodic theme (or subject) is introduced in one voice, and the imitated by a second/third/fourth etc. Whilst new material is introduced, the subject returns several times in imitation (it has to return in order for it to be a fuge).
Subject: the theme which is the basis do the whole fugue. It is introduced by one voice before being imitated by the other(s).
Answer: this is the subject in a new voice. There are two types of answer:
• Real: exact (in terms of intervals used) - always has the same intervals, but may start on a different degree of the scale.
• Tonal: some intervals are modified (they are adjusted slightly to fit in the key)
Exposition: this is the first section of a fugue, in which each voice introduces the subject or answer.
Countersubject: This is when melodic material is used in one voice as the subject occurs in another. For the material to be labelled as a countersubject, it must be quoted several times throughout the piece.
Episode (Development): this often introduces new material whilst quoting gesture from the subject and countersubject. They tend to modulate before the subject returns in a new key. (Like ritornello form)
Stretto: a technique in which musical material is essentially squashed together. In fugue, this is when a subject (or an answer) starts before the previous subject/answer has finished.
Pedal point: when a pitch is usually suspended, it is normally in the lowest register. Fugues often end with a pedal point.
