Treefold Fugue (for string quartet) | Original Composition in F♯-Minor

Noteworthy features of this fugue:
→ this is a triple fugue, meaning it has three different subjects, which all play simultaneously in the course of the piece, along with other themes such as countersubjects; I colour-coded all seven pieces of thematic material that are interlaced and developed in this fugue (sometimes, it might not be directly evident why I coloured a certain segment because the derivation from the respective theme is rather distant)
→ the tail of the second subject is very similar in contour to the retrograde of the head of the second subject
→ at 2:26 and 2:45, the augmented head of the first subject enters
→ of the three subjects, the second one undergoes the most development:
→ at 4:18 and at 5:31, there is an augmented entry
→ at 5:31 and at 5:42, there is an inverted entry
→ at 5:53, there is an intervallic augmentation, meaning that not the duration is doubled but the intervals of the melody
→ there are countless stretto entries in the course of the fugue (apart from different pieces of thematic material overlapping with each other), especially with the first subject; the closest stretti are in the coda starting at 6:27
→ the first section (26 bars) and the third section (22 bars) form the golden ratio with the second (43 bars) and the fourth section (36 bars), respectively


The fugue has four parts and is written for string quartet.

Inspiration: the head of the first subject is insppired by Bach’s ‘Kunst der Fuge’ (Art of the Fugue), which is based on the motif ‘scale degree 1, 5, 3’

The title is a play on words: “threefold” means “triple”, but the fugue also reminds me of trees due to their branching form and nestedness. Furthermore, fugues are a bit like origami in that you fold several layers over each other, adhering to strict rules. And finally, the word “fold” can also refer to gentle hills or valleys, which suits the slow pace of the piece in my opinion.

Score: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/fo...

Have a nice day! ^.^


0:00 – First Subject
1:27 – Second Subject
3:43 – Third Subject
4:54 – Finale