Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor - (2020)   

for organ

in memory of my brother, Gordon

 

On the passing of my elder brother, I thought in part to express myself in music. The succession of two chords, D minor to B flat minor with but the one common tone, F, between them, in the voice leading at the beginning pulls the upper and lower voices apart by a half step. And this makes all the difference, so said a poet in metaphor. The retrograde of the succession returns to the tonic of the piece overall.

 

 

The more formal fugue has its thematic precursor in the fantasia which treats the theme in both tonic and dominant, in augmentation compared to the fugue's subject. This contrapuntto is treated with varying guises and interludes.

 

 

The formal fugue in 6/8 after the long duple meter fantasia breaks the mood. The alteration from harmonic minor to melodic within the subject itself extends the notion of chromaticism.

 

 

The fugue concluding, the choral succession is restated a number of times, before a coda and final summation. It is wished that the final chord with its fermata diminuendo into a resolution of peace, after the retrograde of the opening succession..

 

 

13 pages, circa 11' 30" an MP3 demo is here: 

 

Click here for An Appreciation on the Occasion of My Brother's Passing

 

The score is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this organ score.

 

Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor