Definition
The exposition is the first section of the fugue: each voice enters once with the subject or with the answer. It ends when all the voices have entered (plus any extra entries). It is the most regulated part of the fugue, the one in which the listener learns to recognize the subject.
The basic scheme
- 2-voice fugue: subject (tonic) – answer (dominant).
- 3-voice fugue: subject – answer – subject.
- 4-voice fugue: subject – answer – subject – answer.
- 5-voice fugue: S – A – S – A – S, with possible variants.
The voices that have already made their entry continue with the countersubject (if it is regular) or with free counterpoint.
The order of the voices
There is no required order: it is chosen according to the register of the answer and the desired effect. Examples:
- The Art of Fugue, Contrapunctus 1: alto (subject, bar 1), soprano (tonal answer, bar 5), bass (subject, bar 9), tenor (answer, bar 13); the exposition ends at bar 17.
- The Well-Tempered Clavier I, Fugue in C minor BWV 847: middle voice, then high voice (answer in G minor), then bass.
- The Well-Tempered Clavier I, Fugue in C# minor BWV 849: the five voices enter from the bottom up to the top.
- Handel, Messiah, He trusted in God: basses, tenors, altos, sopranos.
- The Well-Tempered Clavier I, Fugue in C major BWV 846: order subject, answer, answer, subject (an exception to the alternation).
The codetta
Between the end of one entry and the beginning of the next a codetta (bridge) may be inserted: a few notes or bars that lead back from the dominant to the tonic, prepare the register of the new voice, or delay the entry to make it more anticipated. The first codetta, between subject and answer, is usually absent or very short.
Redundant entry and delayed voice
- Redundant entry (extra entry): an additional entry at the end of the exposition, in a voice that has already made its entry. It is frequent in fugues with an odd number of voices, to rebalance subject and answer.
- Delayed voice: sometimes a voice enters much later (in the Fugue in C minor for organ BWV 549 the pedal presents the subject near the end), to create an effect of arrival.
Map of a three-voice exposition (model)
| Bars | Soprano | Alto | Bass | Key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | — | Subject | — | C |
| 3–4 | Answer | Countersubject | — | G |
| 5 | codetta | codetta | — | modulates to C |
| 6–7 | free counterpoint | Countersubject | Subject | C |
How to write an exposition
- Write the subject and the answer (real or tonal).
- Write the countersubject against the answer, in double counterpoint at the octave.
- Check the combination with the voices inverted (countersubject below the subject).
- Add the codetta to return to the tonic.
- Write the third entry with the countersubject and a free third line.
Typical mistakes
- A first voice that, when the second enters, stops or becomes a banal accompaniment.
- Codettas that are too long and make you lose the thread.
- Entries that overlap in register (the new voice gets confused with the one that continues).
- An exposition that modulates beyond the dominant.
Modern application
- Film scores: the exposition of a fugue is a perfect build-up technique for a growing scene: each entry adds a section of the orchestra (cellos, violas, second violins, first violins).
- Orchestral pop and progressive rock: a fugato in the intro of a song (guitar, then bass, then keyboards) creates anticipation before the drums come in.
- Choirs: ordering the entries from the bottom up gives a natural crescendo; from the top down it gives an effect of descent and grounding.
Related topics
Fugue: subject and answer, countersubject, counter-exposition, formal plan, analysis of the Fugue BWV 846.