Understanding the Tonal Answer

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• Modulating fugue subjects are uncommon • The new key is always V. • The answer MUST modulate back to I (i), because to allow the answer to modulate up to its dominant is unacceptable so early in the fugue (C Å G Å D?). • At some point, the answer is transposed up only a P4 instead of a P5 (C Å G Å C). • There is no definite formula for answering modulating fugue subjects that works in all cases.
Charles Nalden (Fugal Answer, 1969) groups fugue subjects into three melodic types, which determine where the P4 transposition will occur: 1. Subjects whose opening is marked with a prominently placed ^1 and ^5. 2. Subjects whose melodic line is marked by a division (usually a rest or implied cadence). 3. Subjects with an ‘indivisible’ or ‘unyielding’ melodic line.
Page 2 and 3: • The melodic structure of the fu
Page 4 and 5: • First, if given a fugue subject
Page 6 and 7: • Here is J. S. Bach’s subject
Page 8 and 9: In actual practice, the answer ente
Page 10 and 11: • Change the subject’s ending h
Page 12 and 13: Assume that a fugue subject will ta
Page 14 and 15: • The subject starts on ^5, so we
Page 16 and 17: • Consider the fugue subject by B
Page 20 and 21: • The alteration takes place at t
Page 22 and 23: • In the actual context it sounds

Understanding the Tonal Answer

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