Newsgroups: rec.music.compose Subject: Re: fugues...why not? Summary: Expires: References: <40o8qu$3ud@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU> <40olb9$bju@zip.eecs.umich.edu> Sender: Followup-To: Distribution: Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Keywords: In article <40olb9$bju@zip.eecs.umich.edu> fields@zip.eecs.umich.edu (Matthew H. Fields) writes: > In article , > Jeff Harrington wrote: > >difference; and that's just phony. Especially for composers who wear > >their fugues like those religious martyrs wear their scars from bashing > >their heads with chains.... > > Leviticus: And thou shalt put fugues upon thine garments, with a > strand of the blues in each corner. And these words which I have > commanded you shall be in thy heart and upon thy hand and as a > frontlet between thine eyes, thou shalt think of them when thou liest > down and when thou risest up and when thou goest by the way, thou > shalt write them upon thy gates and the doorposts of thine house. An analysis of the text (which is in Numbers 15, not Leviticus) reveals that God was indeed instructing the Israelites to write fugues: :: Then spoke the LORD to Moses, saying: Speak unto the Children of :: Israel, and say to them, In this structure we can clearly see the four entrances, occuring on the words "Then spoke" (one word in Hebrew), "saying", "Speak", and "and say" (also one word). Each occurs at the start of a grammatical unit. This is clearly the exposition section of the passage, in which the theme (speaking) is introduced in each voice. :: that they should make for themselves fringes (tzitzit) Here Matthew translated "fugues" -- this is clearly a case where the ktav (the written text) differs from the kri (the way the text is read); the word "tzitzit" with its reduplication of sounds not only indicates a fugue, but specifically indicates stretto entrances. :: on the corners of their garments (bigdeyhem) In Hebrew, letters also have numerical values. Aleph, the first letter, is used for 1; bet 2; gimel 3; daled 4; and so in. It's also important to understand that the Torah does not contain the vowels, only the consonants. The Talmud tells us that instead of reading "bigdeyhem", we should read "b.g.d.-hem", or "their 2-3-4". From this, the Rabbis learned that fugues should be written in common time, with the leader counting the leadin bar from 2. :: throughout their generations; Here we find a reference to the designation of the fugue as the "ancient art". :: and they shall give to the tzitzit of the corner a thread of blue. As Matthew pointed out, this is the source of the Biblical commandment to include blues threads, especially when performing on a street corner. The most famous adherent to this commandment is probably Rav Frank the Loesser, who wrote the "Tzitzit l'karney-b'deel" (Fugue for horns of tin). Now that the text has given us the laws concerning the writing of fugues, it explains why this commandment was given. :: It shall be to you tzitzit, and you will see it, This seems strange at first. How does one "see" a fugue, which is a musical form? Schoenberg perhaps touched on the true meaning of this when he said "There is much good music yet to be written; and the key is `see'". The fugue is the key to seeing on a different, holier level. :: and you will remember all the commandments (kol-mitzvot) of the LORD, :: and you will do them; This is God's command to include a recapitulation. (Others consider this an obligation to use a fugue within the recapitulation, the "slam-bang fugal finale" against which heretics such as Mr. Harrington rail.) The word for commandments, "mitzvot", is related to the word "tzitzit" that we have been treating as "fugue". [Additionally, the gematria of "tzitzit" is 590; the gematria of "kol-mitzvot" is 586. The difference, 4, refers to the four voices of the fugue at the beginning of this passage.] :: and you will not explore after your hearts and after your eyes, those :: after which you stray. This is such a clear blast against the impressionists (French or Russian) that no further comment is needed. :: For the sake that you will remember When this phrase is recited in synagogue, particular emphasis is placed on the word "you will remember" -- "tiz-ch'ru" -- because it is similar to the word "tach-z'ru", which means "you will repeat"; repetition of the theme is, of course, the essence of a fugue. :: and do all My commandments, as explained above. This is yet another example of the Torah's self-referentiality; it's an episode within the very passage discussing fugues. Little-known fact: Bach modelled several of his fugues on the structures of fugal biblical passages. :: and you will be holy to your God. I am the LORD your God, The root for "holy" is "kodesh", which the Italians clipped to "coda". Tradition holds that this clause, like the word "selah", actually serves to mark a musical separation in the passage, and that this line actually reads "...and you will be. [Coda] Your God am I, the LORD your God, who..." Certainly, the remaining material wraps up the "excess energy" left over in the rigorous form (as we discussed recently in another thread), and in fact it reintroduces a motif "the LORD" and a countermotif "your God" not heard since the beginning of the passage. :: who brought you out of the land of Egypt (mey-eretz Mitzrayim), Looking at the letters here, we have mem-aleph-resh-tzadi mem-tzadi-resh-yod-mem. This introduces the idea of retrograde, as this phrase is a palindrome (aside from the substitution of vowel-holders, which can be explained by comparing it to the raising of the sixth and seventh degree in minor in an ascending sequence.) :: that I shall be God to you; I am the LORD your God. The Kabbalists also derive inversions, augmentations and diminutions from this ending; others rely on other, related passages to get into the more sophisticated forms of counterpoint. - Andrew Greene [sprinkle smileys liberally]