Now this has reached 350k views (lul what) I suppose you deserve the story behind the Ontological Fugue. But first... Please Subscribe! #ringthatbell Now for the story. It all started in March 2020 when for some strange reason we all started working from home, so I moved back in with my parents. At the time I was working as a music teacher in Southern England, which for the benefit of foreign audience is not in fact just London but has lots of places, such as Hampshire where I worked. As part of the GCSE Music course (two years of study for age 16+ qualification) you have to know about Baroque fugues. Normally I would show my classes using a keyboard, maybe some clapping games, standing up and sitting down, real interactive stuff #amazingteacher. But for some strange reason (possibly related to the previous strange reason), I had to teach over video call, which is rather rubbish for all that. Jumping back in time, at university I specialised in pastiche composition, with Baroque Fugues and Romantic Lieder the two specialisms I ended up examining on. Back forward to 2020 - with all the new-found free time I had, I decided to get back into pastiche composing, at the same time as I needed to find a way to teach fugues online. Hence, a fugue that explains a fugue. The actual writing of the fugue was not very exciting, mainly because the expected audience was a couple of online classes and that's about it. The recording on the other hand was rather interesting - I didn't know anything about multi-tracking or recording, so I had to ask my parents for help. Luckily they said they'd help, so we sight-read for a couple of takes, I recorded it on my phone, and called it a day. So yeah, if the performance sounds rough and ready, remember that this was the better take. 😂😂 I still have the other one, maybe one day I'll release the other take for a laugh. I shared it with some music friends and teachers for a laugh, put it in my lesson plan for the following year since it worked well, and called it a day. However, the story would change the following year, when I applied for a promotion at a new school. They told me that my interview lesson was - a GCSE introduction to Baroque Fugues!! What are the chances?! Lesson plan already written. 👌🏼 It was also at this time that my videos started hitting some views. So when I reached the point of teaching the lesson, we had hit 35,000 views. Kind of poetic that we're now at 10 times that. So anyway, that's the story about how moving back in with my parents and sight-reading a silly teaching aid over a glass of wine has led to a new job, a new composing hobby, and 16,000 subscribers. 😮🎉❤ If you've made it this far, you deserve a post-credits teaser trailer for this year. My next piece is nearly finished, and it's a big chunky boi, and I have no idea how I'm going to record it. You could say I'm really PASSIONate about it. I'm also tentatively trialling some live performances of musical comedy, including music I haven't published here! 28th May, St Margaret's Putney - South London crew I look forward to seeing you there! F x
this fugue is amazing ! can you please please do a video when you play this fugue but with only instrument ? i know... the whole point of this fugue that it's explain itself but please make another video where we could feel the great potential of this fugue with a piano ! i think that whould be great
Wait, these were your parents? Loads of congrats to all of you, but speacially your mom. Some notes there were pretty high for non-trained sopranos 😅, she managed them like a queen!
I would love to study a PDF of the score! This strikes me as not only funny, and a well-written fugue, but an excellent didactic resource for those wanting to understand what a fugue is made up of.
I posted one on my homepage for everyone to study, since the original author didn't provide one. There is another thread in these comments to direct you to it.
ALTO: Subject! Subject! Here's the entry of the subject, and now the Countersubject! It's the Countersubject! I bring harmony and contrasting rhythms, until the Answer's done and free counterpoint begins, using just material heard before in sequence. To the inner harmonies thickening the texture and finishing with a big melisma. Imitative modulating linking section moving by fifths... False entry! Here's the relative major of F minor. These suspensions are used a lot in linking sections. Answer! Answer! Overlapping now in stretto. Then some free counterpoint with interweaving parts, all moving in sequence and suspensions, modulating here for a climactic entry in the bass, from the subdominant back to the tonic. Using active rhythms helps create a strong dramatic ending heading to the perfect cadence. SOPRANO: Answer! Answer! Subject now becomes the Answer. until free counterpoint begins, using just material heard before in sequence moving in circles of fifths into the Countersubject! It's the Countersubject in the upper part, finishing the exposition with a big melisma. Subject! Subject! Now in the relative major linking into the Subject! Subject! An inversion of the Subject! Then some free counterpoint intensifies the texture with interweaving parts in sequence and suspensions. An entry in the bass now, leading into the final Subject! Subject! Final entry of the fugue and heading to a perfect cadence. BASS: Subject! Subject! Lower entry of the Subject, completes the exposition rather well. Then a modulating linking section; but I will trick you all by singing "Subject!" False entries are common fugue devices as are sequences in links. Using constant quaver movement keeps momentum with the upper parts in stretto. Ascending bass lines build tension where preparing for a pedal note. Subject! Subject! Powerfully in the bass line, and now the Countersubject! It's the Countersubject! Very loud and proud building up to the final cadence! _____________ As someone who really wants to learn how to write a fugue for a book of music I'm making, this video was a wonderful crash course. Thank you so much!
Well I learnt more by listening to that 3 times, concentrating on each part in turn, than I've learnt in 20 years of singing in church and cathedral choirs! Thank you Freddy!
@@elijahdecalmer613 yeah let's put things on a pedestal and remove all rights from anyone to make any slight critique. That kind of behavior always leads to a better society.
Your comment reads like "thanks for a great meal even though it was a bit burned and gave me explosive diahrea but nevertheless very tasty, great work"
@@DrMcFly28 there couldn't be a gentler wording for the slight inaccuracies I've heard. It's more like "this soup tastes almost perfect, but you've put a little too much salt in it, which is obvious". I believe in constructive criticism: tell what you like, what you do not like. As long as you don't object a person it's a constructive criticism.
Is there sheet music for this available somewhere? As a teacher, this would be an awesome study and intro into fugues. So much teachable material out of this!
@@mr.skeltal8687 yah but try printing this video out 🙃 It’s a *lot* easier to just get the sheet music pdf than to recreate the entire thing in a music software program!
@@jovetj Nice! You should drop a link for everyone; I'm sure it would be greatly appreciated by quite a few people! Still though, there's plenty of people who don't/won't have the time/patience/energy/experience for doing that kind of thing. A teacher is the kind of group that would easily fall into the "lack of time" and "energy" categories (not that the other two are of any lesser "quality" either).
This is hilarious, educational, and it sounds good as a fugue. The only downside is that the singing isn't as good as the composition. But that is a pretty high bar. Anyway, I love this.
Thanks so much. That was very informative and entertaining. After Glenn Gould's So You Want to Write a Fugue, this helped me see the parts clearly. Neatly done!
This is brilliant. I really want to write a fugue out of pieces of a small 2 part counterpoint guitar piece I wrote, as a second part. But it's been difficult trying to see and understand how the parts interact and how/when they repeat, etc. This makes it *so* obvious. I'm going to end up listening to it a few times while focusing on each specific element in isolation.
My regards to the Wickham Family Lockdown Choir, y'all sound pretty good. Also thank you for teaching me more about a fugue in these few minutes than I'd ever known all my life
Ahhhh, fugues. The only pieces where jokes about "False! You wrote an interesting alto part!" don't apply 💚 Also seconding everyone pointing out that this is brilliant and underrated, see you in x time when the algorithm gods smile on you etc.
Man I really anticipated an F major chord in the final measure. Lil perfect cadence to the parallel major? Awww yeah. Think about it man….hear it….it’d be bomb ass….🤘😝🤘
Our choir sang a melody with only Italian music words and most of them was sung in the right tempo and style. Sadly can't remember how it started, but it was fun to sing
Genius! And also a perfect example of why I don't really care for fugues...too much going on for casual listening. Maybe someday I should thoroughly analyze one, maybe I'd end up liking them a bit better. This would be the best option, since it thoroughly explains itself!
For me it's the perfect example why they are so relistenable. Anytime you listen to it, you focus on different parts of the melodies at different times, such that every listening experience is unique!
@@JustAnthon That makes sense. I do enjoy listening to pieces many times and hearing the different instruments and their different parts (like a symphony, or a quartet, or even a well-crafted classic rock song), but I guess I prefer pieces that are more accessible at first listen. So I can easily zone out and hear the melody yet can also focus in on details if I choose. But I don't think my preference is necessarily a good thing-- I've said before, only half-joking, that I'm not smart enough to really enjoy and appreciate too much Bach.
