Fugue in D Minor, composed by Johann SebastianBach in the early eighteenth century, entered the treasury of world classical music as one of the most popular and famous compositions. It is performed most often together with a tokatu, sustained in the same key. Professional musicians and fans who are familiar with the basics of musical notation, the name is clear. All other music lovers need an explanation of what "D minor" means, and in which opuses of the great master (and also other composers) he meets.
And Bach is the author?
For a long time - more than two and a half centuries -no one doubted that this fugue was written by Bach. Then, in the eighties of the last century, two books appeared, in which, based on a detailed analysis of the stylistics and the musical techniques most often used by the composer, doubts about the authenticity of officially recognized authorship are expressed. The presence of parallel octaves, subdominant response and some other characteristic moments of the product either do not occur in other works of Bach, or are extremely rare.
These features are clear only to specialists,who have deep knowledge of the theory, so there is no point in going into the details. It remains only to believe Christophe Wolff (a supporter of the fact that Bach still wrote tokatu and fugue) or Peter Williams (opponent of the authorship of Bach). Besides, genius composers often created something that surprised them, such is their nature, that they do not obey given algorithms. "Fugue in D Minor" - a product of an extraordinary, not like anything else. Paradoxically, but in a sense it speaks in favor of its authenticity. The tone in which it is written, gives rich opportunities for expression of emotions, overflowing the talented soul.
A little bit about solfeggio and gamuts
Quite a bit to go into theory withoutthis is impossible. First, you need to remember that any harmonious sound is a collection of frequencies, among which the main, determining the position of the note stands out. For example, “la 1” corresponds to the air oscillations of 440 Hz.
The human ear distinguishes between seven tones and fivehalf tones in each scale, then everything begins again, in a different octave. Visually, this can be estimated by looking at the piano keyboard: the white keys are tones, and the black keys are semitones. It is clear that raising (major or “moll”) one tone to its half is the same as lowering the next. In other words, D minor is identical to the term “d-moll”.
A simple (though not always) exercise forPrimary music school students are such an important element of education, as learning scales. It gives the most important thing - memorizing where the key on the keyboard is, or which harp string (violin, cello, domra, etc.) creates the desired sound. The same applies to wind instruments. An ascending gamma on a guitar is sometimes written for ease of reading in Latin (H - semitone, Half) or Russian letters (T and P), for example, WWHWWWH (T-T-P-T-T-T-P), which reads like this: “ tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone). This method of memorization gives the opportunity to master the most popular tool for those who study professionally at the conservatory does not have the time or desire, but wants to play. Gamma in D minor sounds in the following sequence: D, E, F, G, A, B, D.
The products of this tonality
Music affects the human mind more strongly,than any other art form. Minor tonality, unlike the major one, creates a sad, thoughtful and even sometimes aggressive mood. This psychological peculiarity of perception was often used by composers of the past centuries, and contemporary works are very often sustained in it. The blues is based on "downward" harmony, like many rock samples. From classical music sustained in the key of “D minor”, in addition to the Bach fugue, his most famous works are his Concerto No. 1 for clavier and orchestra (BWV 1052), Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (widely known for Ode Joy "in its fourth part). The twentieth century gave us the Dvorzhak Seventh Symphony, Rachmaninov's First, his Fugu, the Third Concert and Sketch-picture, written in the same key, Prokofiev's second Piano Sonata, Shostakovich Piano Sonata and many other wonderful works.
In modern processing
Each composer has the right to choose whichtonality to his liking. Moreover, the harmony of consonance corresponds to the emotional fullness of the work, its meaning and super-task. Music is optimistic major, dark minor, or has all the possible intermediate shades. The richness of the heritage of past centuries prompts many jazzmen and rock artists to create original arrangements of works by classical composers of past centuries. For example, the famous band “Megadeth”, with the beginning of the song “Loved to Deth”, made a quotation played on the piano, in which every enlightened music fan easily guesses “Fugu in D minor” by Bach. There are other examples of how sonatas, fugues and concerts of this tonality used by current musicians become especially consonant with our anxious time.
