Noises in Two Voices: Fugue in D (live recording)

[HS Teoh]

I've posted this fugue in the old forum a long time ago. However, this time round I have a live recording played by Hanna Horokhova, so I thought to share it with y'all. Besides, I find myself often referring to this fugue in various discussions, so might as well have a dedicated thread for it. Plus I did make some minor revisions since the last time.

This fugue was intentionally written to be humorous, and was my way of poking fun at the stereotype of fugues being "serious" music. And my way of mocking the tradition of the answer coming in at the dominant key: starting out with an answer in a key a minor 3rd above the home key rather than the expected dominant, the music clambers back to the home key, only to repeat the same "mishap", this time with the answer coming in at a different "wrong" key. This repeats time and again, each time in a different "wrong" key, until it finally chances upon the "right" answer in the dominant key, upon which it interrupts itself and walks away with a huff, refusing to complete the "right" statement of the answer.

These shenanigans reminded me of Dr. Seuss' story The Cat in the Hat, in which two characters, Thing One and Thing Two, run amok causing havoc around the house. So I christened this fugue "Noises in Two Voices", an alliterative reference to Dr. Seuss, in honor of his two characters.

Hanna's rendition didn't really quite have the slapstick comedy feeling that I was going for, but it nevertheless has a highly exaggerated, bouncy cartoon-character feel for each voice, which I thought was also a good interpretation of this piece.

Score (with jokes): fugue7.pdf

Horokhova's interpretation: fugue7-hanna.mp3

[Raymond Jacob]

I like the straight version of this (in your playlist) better, although, I so much enjoyed Ms. Horokhova's playing here. It's possible that in a recital setting, some acted-out body language and facial expressions would bring out the comedic effect you were seeking. The bouncy cartoon-character is, I think, innate to the fugue subject you crafted (which is a good one), and I felt the light-heartedness of the music in the playlist version.

I'm getting used to the flexible harmony shifts in your music so no surprises here when something enters in the "wrong" key. And speaking of which, if you have a moment to discuss Wild Fugue, which I first heard last week, am I hearing scalular runs in 2nds? Or is that a sonic deception due to clever voicing? --Ray

[HS Teoh]

The subject of the Wild Fugue has minor 2nd chords as an inherent part of it. It's an idea I had of fugue subjects that inherently contain chords. Eventually I came to the conclusion that the minor 2nd is the best candidate chord for this, due to its easily recognizable sound that won't easily get lost in the texture of thick counterpoint.

There's a thread dedicated to discussing the Wild Fugue by the way: https://composersforum.ning.com/analysis-critique/wild-fugue