BM or BMus Bachelor of Music Counterpoint and Fugal Analysis 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In the analysis of a fugue, what term describes a passage where the subject appears simultaneously in its original form and in inversion?
- Augmentation stretto
- Cancrizans
- Mirror fugue (Correct answer)
- Double stretto
Correct answer: Mirror fugue
A mirror fugue simultaneously presents the subject in its original form and its melodic inversion, creating a symmetrical contrapuntal texture.
Question 2: Which dissonance treatment is characteristic of Renaissance-style counterpoint but strictly forbidden in Baroque strict-style fugue?
- Suspensions resolving downward by step
- Cambiata figures (changing-note groups) (Correct answer)
- Passing tones on weak beats
- Neighbor tones returning to the consonance
Correct answer: Cambiata figures (changing-note groups)
The nota cambiata is a Renaissance idiom (leap of a third after a step) that Baroque strict-style rules prohibit as it introduces an unresolved quasi-dissonance.
Question 3: In first species (note-against-note) counterpoint, which interval is classified as an 'imperfect consonance' and generally preferred for intermediate motion?
- Perfect octave
- Perfect fifth
- Major sixth (Correct answer)
- Perfect fourth
Correct answer: Major sixth
Major and minor sixths (and thirds) are imperfect consonances that provide smooth voice leading and are favored for the interior of a phrase.
Question 4: The technique of 'augmentation' in a fugue involves:
- Increasing the dynamic level of the subject entry
- Presenting the subject with all note values doubled (or multiplied) in duration (Correct answer)
- Adding more voices to accompany the subject
- Transposing the subject upward by a major third
Correct answer: Presenting the subject with all note values doubled (or multiplied) in duration
Augmentation slows the subject by doubling its note values, often used near the climax of a fugue to create a sense of breadth and gravity.
Question 5: A 'fughetta' differs from a full fugue primarily in that it:
- Uses only two voices throughout
- Is shorter and less fully developed, often lacking middle entries or a developed episode section (Correct answer)
- Must be written in minor mode
- Contains no countersubject at any point
Correct answer: Is shorter and less fully developed, often lacking middle entries or a developed episode section
A fughetta is a small or miniature fugue that presents the basic fugal exposition but does not develop the full structural complexity of a complete fugue.
Question 6: In analyzing voice leading between two outer voices, 'contrary motion cadences' are preferred over similar motion cadences because:
- They always produce a perfect authentic cadence
- They avoid the risk of hidden octaves or fifths at the final interval (Correct answer)
- They require the inner voices to sustain pedal tones
- They mandate a suspension in the penultimate measure
Correct answer: They avoid the risk of hidden octaves or fifths at the final interval
Contrary motion at cadences eliminates the possibility of hidden (direct) parallels since the voices approach the final interval from opposite directions.
Question 7: The term 'soggetto' in Baroque fugal terminology refers to:
- A short motivic head used only in episodes
- The main theme or subject of a fugue, particularly in Italian 17th-century usage (Correct answer)
- The tonal answer of a fugue subject
- A type of chromatic countersubject
Correct answer: The main theme or subject of a fugue, particularly in Italian 17th-century usage
Soggetto (Italian for 'subject') is the term used in Baroque and Renaissance theory to denote the principal melodic idea upon which a fugue or ricercar is constructed.
BM or BMus Bachelor of Music Counterpoint and Fugal Analysis 5
In the analysis of a fugue, what term describes a passage where the subject appears simultaneously in its original form and in inversion?