Page:Fugue by Ebenezer Prout.djvu/11

Rh assistance he has derived from this little work, which indeed it would be impossible for any later writer on the same subject to ignore. To Mr. Higgs we owe the clearest exposition yet written of the important matter of fugal answer; and, though it will be seen that the rules given in this volume differ in several material respects from those in the "Primer," the author frankly confesses that it was Mr. Higgs who first put him on the right track.

It is on this very subject—fugal answer—that the great composers depart most widely from the old rules. The new and, it is hoped, very simple rules given in Chapters III. and IV. are enforced by nearly 150 examples, of which more than sixty are by Bach. Other composers are also freely drawn upon; but throughout the volume, in all cases of doubt, Bach is treated as the final authority.

In order to assist the student, it has been thought best to take the different portions of a fugue separately, that he may learn how to construct each part before he proceeds to the composition of an entire fugue. The chapters on Countersubject, Exposition, Episode, and Stretto, contain not only numerous illustrations from the great masters, but specimens of each, written expressly for the guidance of the student. While an endeavour has been made to make them musically interesting, it must be remembered that they are merely intended as exercises, and have no claim to be judged as compositions.

The chapter on "The Middle and Final Sections of a Fugue" will, it is believed, be found new by English readers. The author cannot, however, claim the credit of the first discovery that a fugue is written in ternary form. That honour is due to Dr. H. Riemann, in his analysis of Bach's "Wohltemperirtes Clavier." It is nevertheless so obvious when once pointed out, that the author of course availed himself of it, and herewith acknowledges his obligations to Dr. Riemann for the idea, though he has developed it in a somewhat different way from that of the original discoverer.

Of the later chapters of the volume not much need be said here. The concluding chapter, on "Accompanied Fugue," deals