Ru
EnT. Frantova
On the “incorrect” multi-theme composition in Baroque fugues (towards a problem of contemporary classification of the fugal forms)
Music of the 20th and early 21st centuries is often characterized by art scholarship as the latest era of polyphonic flourishing. The intensive and multifaceted transformation of traditional expressive means in compositional practice has fostered significant advances in scholar thought focused on the polyphonic resources of musical art – both contemporary and those employed throughout earlier historical periods. Textbooks on polyphony for music schools are also being significantly updated. At the same time, existing differences in the positions of various authors on certain issues have reached the level of fundamental theoretical debate. A telling example is the description of the structural and thematic uniqueness of certain varieties of fugue, actively refined by Russian musicologists. In particular, the specific features of multithemed fugues were, until recently, interpreted based on theoretical propositions established in the 19th and first quarter of the 20th centuries (E. F. Richter, L. Bussler, E. Prout). Meanwhile, the steady expansion of the range of musical styles and works from various historical periods involved in contemporary concert and pedagogical practice, along with the development of music theory, has given rise to a problem requiring comparative analysis and in-depth study. For example, the latest polyphony textbooks by N. Simakova and A. Milka conceptualize the phenomenon of the multi-theme fugue differently. However, both textbooks are distinguished by a high level of theoretical development, which favors their active use in the educational process at Russian high schools. Based on an analytical comparison of the texts, the author concludes that these textbooks offer genuine “complementarity” and the potential for parallel use in contemporary teaching.
Key words
free-stylepolyphony of the 17th–18th centuries, multi-theme fugues, contemporary manuals for high schools of music, fugues with added themes, general classification of multi-theme fugues.
For citation
Frantova T. On the “incorrect” multi-theme composition in Baroque fugues (towards a problem of contemporary classification of the fugal forms). In: South-Russian Musical Anthology. 2025. No. 4. Pp. 38–47.
