To the Subject of the Fugue Typology of Western European Romantics

Main Article Content

Vitaly A. Shapilov

Abstract

On the basis of information from the specialized literature, the article describes the main four types of fugue of Western European romantics. The stylized, lyrical, concert and program types of the fugue are analyzed from the point of view of the content, themes and form formation specifics.
The stylized type of fugue is considered as a preliminary stage in forming neoclassicism, which has become one of the main artistic trends in the music of the 20th century. The lyrical type of fugue most fully expresses the characteristic desire of romantics to express the inner world of a person, therefore this type of fugue can be defined as a fugue lyrical miniature. In the concert type of fugue, the traditions of symphonization, established in the music of the late period of L. Beethovenʼs work, develop most fully. Also, this type of fugues is marked by signs of greater freedom of shaping and a brilliant concert style, reflecting the flowering of virtuoso instrumental performance of the
19th century. The program fugue was formed on the basis of the idea of the synthesis of arts, characteristic for the Romantics. Programming in music in this fugue type is interpreted in a wide sense, so program fugues are presented not only in instrumental music, but also in vocal and stage works. The stylistic peculiarity of the program fugue is manifested primarily in the freedom of form formation, which is largely determined by the specifics of the content.
Each of the described main types of fugue of Western European romantics contains specific qualities of content and form formation, indicating the stylistic integrity of the studied phenomena. Also, the described typology quite fully reflects the main stylistic tendencies of the Romantic epoch.


Keywords: polyphony, types of fugues, music of the 19th century, style in music, musical composition, symphonism, programming in music.

Article Details

How to Cite
Shapilov В. А. (2023). To the Subject of the Fugue Typology of Western European Romantics. Music Scholarship / Problemy Muzykal’noj Nauki, 50(1), 64–72. Retrieved from https://musicscholar.ru/index.php/PMN/article/view/1427
Section
History and Theory of Music
Author Biography

Vitaly A. Shapilov, Kurmangazy Kazakh National Conservatory, Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan

PhD (Arts), Associate Professor at the of Musicology and Composition Department