Humoresque and Fugue in A minor

 

Humoresque and Fugue in A minor - (2012)    

for piano

 

While thinking over some gestures for an organ work I am preparing, the notion of doublings at the twelfth came to mind for the mutation stops so well known in organ repertoire and registration. Employing some of these doublings for piano presented a different challenge, that of voicing lines and chords to accommodate the instrument and player. The opening line shows such a doubling of a voice, and at measures fifteen and beyond of entire chords and interwoven parts. The form for this humoresque is a modified chain.

 

 

The fugue subject is taken from the famous theme of Bach's Art of the Fugue, the intervals bent into 6/8 meter and with an accompanying line beneath. As with the humoresque, there are moments in which the lines are doubled at the twelfth. Oddly the first answer after the statement of the subject is in the sub-dominant, and thereafter the appearances swing between the dominant and tonic minor.

 

 

3 pages, circa 4' 20" - an MP3 demo is here: 

 

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 piano score.

 

Humoresque and Fugue in A minor