Wild Fugue

[HS Teoh]

Ear rating warning: this piece is highly dissonant, and may cause your ears to bleed and your sensibilities to be wounded. Listen at your own peril!  (Though fortunately, the ordeal only lasts for about 1 minute 32 seconds, so a visit to the hospital will probably be unnecessary. But still. Caveat emptor. ;-) )

I wrote this nonsense in answer to a member on the previous forum who wondered whether it was possible to compose a fugue that isn't Bachian.  I took up the challenge, deciding that my modus operandi in this fugue was to actively and deliberately ignore all vertical relationships between pitches.  This relaxation of the fugue's usual stringent tonal relationships made it surprisingly simple to write -- I finished it in just 2 days -- though the results were so atrocious even to my own ears that I was literally laughing at my own audacity in writing something this outrageous.

Well OK, this piece wasn't entirely devoid of thoughtful consideration. I did use at least one idea I've had for a long time of having a subject that contained chords as an integral part.  Upon much consideration (this was long before I decided to write this fugue) I came to the conclusion that the minor 2nd is the best candidate for a chord in a fugue subject because of its very obvious, easily-recognized sonority, a quality that would allow it not to get lost in the complex contrapuntal texture as the fugue develops.  I took up this idea here, and perhaps let it loose a little too freely... but I'll let you be the judge!  Take a gander (if you dare to subject your ears to the ordeal), and tell me what you think of this trash. ;-)

Score: [wildfugue.pdf]

Midi playback: [wildfugue.mp3]

[HS Teoh]

After my initial reaction of mixed disgust and bemusement, I have to admit it grew on me too, contrary to all my usual musical inclinations. It *does* have a kind of internal logic; although I was being quite tongue-in-cheek when I wrote it, I nevertheless took the fugal form and development quite seriously; I suppose that did add *something* to the music.

As for the rhythm, this being my first atonal piece I didn't want to dive too far into the deep end immediately, so I waded near the kid's pool tentatively, so to speak. Maybe if I was ever afflicted of... discordianism 😜 again, I'll try something more adventurous rhythm-wise.

Well actually, come to think of it, about 20 years ago I improvised something infested with tritones and augmented chords with rather free rhythm, depicting the winds, ice, and blowing snow in a winter storm. Well, borderline atonal... maybe one of these days I could try to reconstruct it. But it's been decades; I don't remember much of it anymore.

[gregrorio j]

HS - It was great listening to this one again! Light-hearted and a lot of fun! The knocking at the door motif - from high and low had me feeling I was in a mirrored fun-house.

[HS Teoh]

Thanks Gx! Glad you liked it. It was supposed to be over-the-top bombastic and refuse to take itself seriously. A mirrored fun house is right up its alley. 😅

[Raymond Jacob]

I came across Wild Fugue in the forum's playlist section and was intrigued enough to listen to it a bunch of times during the past several weeks. As intriguing as it is, it is also enjoyably listenable. I'm hearing (I think) aggressive stretto and development. Now on to the score....