ANALYSIS: J.S. Bach, Fugue in C major, BWV 846 || Imitative Counterpoint 6 

That's a great way to put it!

I think that's probably one reason why fugue is usually taught and composed more according to contrapuntal processes rather than following certain forms. Whereas in other genres of music tonal and motivic organizations coincide more often than not, and thus these pieces may have a more defined form which can further be classified in regards to standardized versions, in fugue as I mentioned in my previous comment tonal and motivic organizations are almost always "out of sync".

Thank you! I plan on doing several more analysis videos, but they won't necessarily be on the most complex fugues (I don't have the D# minor on the docket, but nothing is fixed in stone), but instead I want to show the most instructive fugues, whether they are by Bach or anyone else. This one is perfect for teaching stretto fugues, I think.

Good point; let me start by clarifying that I don't think Bach would have included anything truly "incorrect" in a finished draft of a fugue. There is a rule in modern harmony textbooks that says that hidden octaves are permitted if the top voice moves by step, and this was probably created in order to provide an exception for the Perfect Authentic Cadence, where hidden octaves between outer voices are inevitable and the top voice always moves to ^1 by step. Direct fifths and octaves are inevitable in three and four voice writing in general, but they should still be avoided whenever possible, even if they are mitigated in various ways. Bach's choice here to have direct motion to an octave doubling of the chordal third (which also happens to be the leading tone) would not have been any common practice era composer's first choice in how to move from a root position F triad to a root position G triad. All else being equal, a voicing of the G triad like G - D - B - G would be much more natural. But Bach can't do that here for thematic reasons -- he is in the middle of a stretto that is only possible with this specific voice leading.

@@JacobGran Roger that. Makes sense! I also see that as the alto voice is moving into florid counterpoint, other chord tone options for it create errant parallel motion. A "break glass in case of emergency" option. ;) Thanks for the response!

Every voice moves in some sort of motion with respect to the others. So for instance if we're looking at the bass, we can see that it might move in similar motion with respect to the tenor, in contrary motion with respect to the alto, and oblique motion with respect to the soprano, or any other combination. We want as good of voice leading as possible between every voice, if we can, especially in a fugue. But the outer voices, the bass and soprano, are the ones that will typically stand out the most to the listeners' ears, so having good counterpoint (a preponderance of contrary motion) between the outer voices is a good idea. You can notice this even in Chopin's mazurkas and waltzes; he always maintains a certain independence between the bass line and melody.

The first thing requires memorization and practice. There is no real trick to it other than knowing what you're looking at on a sheet of music and being able to read music quickly.. The key is established in the beginning and doesn't change without modulation happening. When chords are used that are not contained by the scale they referred to as being "borrowed" from a different key. The clef shows the key. If there are no sharps or flats next to the clef, then the key is C maj. You have to memorize what key each combination represents. TBH, I'm slow at reading music, I just know how to do it when need be.

I find it pretty simple to understand the omnibus progression. It's just a progression where the outer voices of the chords move in chromatic contrary motion while the inner voices move as little as possible, usually also chromatically. Starting on a seventh chord in root position, you will get this snippet of chords that is then repeated over and over across the span of an octave: Root position seventh chord, second inversion triad, third inversion seventh chord This makes up a harmonic sequence that then builds to the full progression. And the start of each repeat of this harmonic sequence itself forms the outline of yet another harmony, the diminished seventh chord. So starting on G, you will get: G7, Bm, G7, E7, G#m, E7, Db7, Fm, Db7, Bb7, Dm, Bb7, G7 With every third chord being in third inversion(i.e. chordal seventh in the bass) and every minor triad being in second inversion. This progression can be very useful, not just to prolong a dominant seventh chord for as long as possible, but for modulations to distant keys as well. You could easily modulate from C major to A major using just the first 2 repeats of the harmonic sequence that makes up the Omnibus progression.

An example of this progression is the coda of Beethoven's 2nd symphony, movement 1

The omnibus progression is based on a voice exchange between a minor 7th and major 9th. (think C7 - Em/B - C/Bb) By continuing one extra semitone in contrary motion you reach another dominant 7th sonority a minor third lower, and can then begin the procedure again between the bass and the next voice it forms a minor 7th with. It essentially prolongs and then moves between dominant chords in a chain of descending minor thirds. So if you started on C7, you would prolong C7, then A7, then F#7, then Eb7, then end up back where you started, although the full progression is rare-it's more a nice chromatic merry-go-round to hop off in a remote key, or reinterpret one of the chords as an augmented 6th for even more modulatory possibilities.

I'm not sure I understand the question. In many of these videos I refer to the contrapuntal voices of a four-voice texture by their SATB choral names, although of course the topmost voice is not literally a Soprano, etc.

1.0. Soprano, alto, tenor, bass = voice registers. 1.1. When referring to singers, these types are defined by ther ABSOLUTE vocal range. Thus, a soprano is a person who has a particularly high-pitched voice range. A bass has a low-pitched voice range, and so on. 1.2. However, when referring to parts of a harmony, range is not the defining factor. Rather, each voice is defined by its register RELATIVE to the other parts. Thus, when discussing harmonic parts, the soprano is the part that plays higher than all the other parts, while the bass is the one that plays the lowest notes, regardless of their absolute range. In most practical situations, 1.1. and 1.2. tend to be identical, though it is important to understand that they don't have to be identical, and their roles can even change throughout a piece. It's not unusual to find instances where the soprano crosses under the alto and becomes itself the alto part harmonically speaking. 2.0. Sopranizans, altizans, tenorizans, bassizans = contrapuntal functions. A tenorizans is a motivic formula (a shred of a melody, so to speak) that during the Early Renaissance was typically reserved for the tenor voice register. 2.1. The word "tenorizans" means "he who is like a tenor". The suffix "-izans" denotes likeness. 2.2. Tenorizans is a term that was relatively often used, because the tenor used to sing the most important part of a composition, hence its name. "Tenor" (from Latin tenere = to hold) means "keeper". 2.3. Sopranizans, altizans and bassizans are awkward post-facto attempts to assign similar importance to other parts, which they historically never held. Particularly "altizans" is a modern invention, a complete anachronism, and was never used historically. To sum it up: Soprano = how a voice GENERALLY behaves. Sopranizans = what a voice (any voice) does AT A BRIEF, PARTICULAR MOMENT.

@@Timrath Eternal apple of chaos divine! ;P

@@eternafuentedeluzdivina3189 Uh, what?