Running away

A spontaneous process: the imitation

The imitation, like the counterpoint, has a medieval and vocal origin. It is a process used spontaneously by the singers improvising in group, as one can observe it still today, for example, in the whole of Negro spiritual.

As a process of writing, it is the repetition by a voice of a melody fragment carried out beforehand by another voice. The fragment carried out in first is known as “antecedent”, its reproduction (imitation) the consequent one. The imitation is known as “regular” when the consequent one is identical to the antecedent. The consequent one can be transposed, tightened (“strette”, when the imitation starts before the execution of the antecedent is not finished), increased, etc

The masses of Palestrina, one of the large Masters of the vocal counterpoint, give us the examples richest and most erudite of writing in imitation.

A step moreover towards the running away: the gun

A gun is an imitation which follows the antecedent by overlapping it, it is a succeeded form of the Strette. Simplest and most known being the gun with the octave of the type “Jacques Brother”. The gun was practiced from time immemorial since the end of the Middle Ages. The Deo Gratias of Ockeghem, with thirty-six voice, is one of the most ambitious guns of all times. Bach gives of them very erudite examples in its Art of the running away (Die Kunst der Fuge). At the 20th century, the type-setter of American jazz Louis Hardin (known as “Moondog”), is the author of a number impressing of guns with three, four votes or more, of a great science of writing and a great rhythmic invention.

The gun requires the control of an extremely difficult technique, the capsizable counterpoint, essential to the composition of runnings away. One calls capsizable counterpoint a melody whose accompaniment can be written without disadvantage nor inaccuracy indifferently with the lower part or the top of this melody. It is this process which allows the realization of the countersubject of running away. There exist capsizable counterpoints with two, three and four votes, the difficulty growing with the number of voices. One can use only three types of agreement, the triad without fifth, the agreement of sixth without fifth and the agreement of triton. Mozart, in the final one of his symphony “Jupiter”, proposes a particularly lifting example of capsizable counterpoint to five votes.

Towards the running away itself: Motet, Ricercare, imagination

The running away becomes as from the 17th century a true musical form as well as the sonata. But the real ancestor of the running away is the ricercare, which one sees many examples under the feather of Palestrina, Frescobaldi, Battiferi. The running away can be regarded as being born with “the instrumentalisation” from the ricercare, the motet, the songs or madrigaux; the transcriptions for keyboard instruments of these vocal parts (masses, of the cantatas, etc) were thus one of the elements of maturation of the running away.

Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707), the “Master of Lübeck”, can be regarded as a hinge author between Bach and its predecessors (Bach of the quite moderate keyboard), certain runnings away of Buxtehude having even been allotted by error to Bach. This large virtuoso, for the listening of which one crossed Germany (as Bach made it, with for consequence missing with some his loads, but also Haendel and his friend Mattheson), preceded this one in imagination, the harmonic audacity, ease and the creativity improviser. Nevertheless, the form of its runnings away presents still certain archaisms.

The running away in its current conventional form, i.e. such as bequeathed Bach, is in oneself the resolution of a problem of structure and coherence unsolved by the preexistent forms. The ricercare, the motet and other old forms suffered from a lack of unit that the running away, with the modern direction of the word, solves by a succeeded architecture whose Bach is regarded as having definitively fixed the framework. The 16th running away (in minor ground) of the first book of the Keyboard well Tempéré is very close to this archetypal form, it is this form which is employed still today at the school.

The running away of school

The analysis of the great runnings away reveals, as in any musical form, a structure which one can regard as a model whose type-setter, since it controls it, can deviate only with irrefutable artistic arguments. We thus briefly will describe here (a thorough analysis would require a true course of composition) than it is agreed to call the running away of school.

The running away starts with the exposure of a topic, known as “prone”, followed of what one calls the “answer”, which is not other than the subject repeated with the tone, either of the dominant one, or more seldom of under dominant, by another voice. This answer is accompanied by the first, which exposes then what one calls the countersubject, which is only one accompaniment of the subject in capsizable counterpoint. One calls capsizable counterpoint a melody whose accompaniment can be placed without inaccuracy with the top or in lower part of this one. This requirement involves thorny difficulties of writing.

When the three or four votes (even five) exposed the topic, occurs then, after “entertainments” generally taking the form of harmonic steps (which generally use fragments of the subject or countersubject), which it is agreed to call the development. Any kinds of processes of writing are then put at contribution to use, even deform, the subject or the countersubject: variations, changes, ornaments, “minorisation” or “increase”, etc This part of the running away allows a greater apparent freedom. Final rate approaching, are often used what one calls of the strettes, in other words guns where the subject overlaps itself, revealing whereas he was written beforehand in preparation for this canonical episode. Bach often finishes its runnings away by a rate plagale and, when they are written in a minor tone, by a Picardy third.

Here, as example, the first measurements of the running away in the minor for harpsichord of Johann Sebastian Bach BWV.895, 2:

It will be noticed that the first interval of the subject is a downward fifth ( semi - the ) whereas this same interval became a downward quad ( the - semi ) in the answer. This modification of interval, which deteriorates only very little the impression of identity between subject and answer, is called a change . This artifice is sometimes necessary to the maintenance of tonal coherence, in order to return surprising more one possible later modulation.

In general, only one topic underlies all the composition, ensuring the unit. One of the great difficulties of the running away is to obviate the impression of monotony which could emerge from the multiple repetition of a topic. All the art of the type-setter is to proportion the return of this one, in other words to know to stop before wearying the listener. These difficulties are however not specific to the running away in oneself, but are those of the composition in general.

There exist runnings away comprising more than one subject , which one calls double or triple fugues . It is however about an artifice, because these apparently new subjects, talks alone (news exposure) after subject and against subject were largely used and developed, are, actually, of the additional countersubjects, written in capsizable counterpoint with three (or four) voices, which then come to be integrated in the polyphony already formed by the subjects and countersubjects heard previously. It goes without saying that the control of the capsizable counterpoint to more than two votes is essential to such prowesses. The examples of which any type-setter can benefit find in the “Art of the running away”, in particular celebrates it running away of which one of the against-subject-second subjects was BACH, that is to say, in the German notation, sib - the - C - B natural . The interest of the double or triple runnings away is the composition of longer structures, without entertainment virtuoso, of “filling” (they were brilliant) like Buxtehude and Bach gives of them many examples in their runnings away for organ, decorated vast impromptu passages. The multiple running away is thus a demonstration of contrapunctic science, the essential “Meisterstück” of any type-setter.

The interested reader will have to refer to the work of Andre Gedalge “Treated of the running away”, published at ENOCH Co, Editeurs, the written work approximately a century ago presents the running away of school remarkably.

Bach and its successors

Bach used the running away in a big part of its works. the quite moderate keyboard, that any pianist, any harpsichordist knows, offers accomplished models of the running away for instrument to keyboard, just like its runnings away for the Orgue. Its runnings away of monumental size, like the Kyrie of Mass in If, or the finale of the Brandenburger Concerto n° 5 is models that no romantic was unaware of. The runnings away or fugatos are in addition very numerous in the immense catalog of the Cantatas (Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis" …) The running away is used truly as native tongue in Bach. Its erudite works, left practical application of the incipient theory, the musical Offering and the Art of the Running away, provide a strong foundation to which undertakes the thorough study of the science of the counterpoint.

The runnings away of Bach did not cease inspiring its successors, the first of which Mozart, literally confronted with a major, consecutive creative crisis with its discovery of the Master of Leipzig then fallen into a relative lapse of memory. Although Mozart was already in full possession of his genius, the knowledge of the large Master shows through in his later works, like the Requiem or the Jupiter Symphony.

Mendelssohn will be one of the burning flatterers of Bach, of which it will have the privilege to remake to live work. Some as of its pages are masterly pastiches: the chorals of “Paulus”, for example, are chorals of Bach imitated to perfection.

Beethoven was not unaware of anything the running away at Bach, and even manages, sometimes, to exceed it in complexity: IIIe movement of IXe Symphonie is only one vast running away with titanic dimensions, just like that which intervenes after the chorus “Wie ein Held Zum Siegen” in IVe movement (electronic interpretation of Wendy Carlos celebrates it, realized in 1971 for film “Clockwork orange”, makes it possible to perceive with a high degree of accuracy all the counterpoint of this top of the orchestral running away). The Great Running away op.133, for string quartet, illustrates the form brilliantly. The running away was also practiced by Beethoven with an amazing control in several of its sonatas.

The large romantic ones like Brahms and Wagner, in the “Tristan” whose the influence of Bach is obvious, will practice the running away like a knowledge essential to freedom of writing and the control of the counterpoint. No large type-setter was unaware of, nor even did not fail to excel, in the running away.

The running away enters the XXe century by the large door with the most erudite modern successor of Bach, max Reger. This organist who started to compose on late, badly known until recently in France, enjoys a considerable prestige in Central Europe, or its very abundant work had a strong influence on its contemporaries, of which Schoenberg.

Although it had a perfect command of it in its still tonal youth, (the choruses at the end of monumental the Gurre Lieder of it are the admirable proof), Arnold Schoenberg wanted to release the running away of its tonal constraints, which can be considered with a certain reserve, as the musicologist Charles Rosen raises it. Indeed, without the rules which make a exercise of it where “freedom is acquired only in the constraint”, without harmonic pivots, agreements, controlled intervals, the term of running away can lose its direction partly.

These last years, the vexations of the Atonalité called in question the abandonment of the counterpoint, corollary of the melody, this old discipline, like the running away, not having never ceased being regarded at the school as a exercise essential to the control of the sound material.

Instruments used

With regard to the running away, isolated part, this form can be carried out by any polyphonic instrument, by any group of instruments monodic, any orchestra and any type of chorus. Nevertheless, most known are intended for the keyboard instruments, and provide a repertory of choice to the executant (Orgue or Clavecin). The keyboards are particularly adapted to the fuguée writing. But Bach wrote an admirable running away for solo violin (BWV 1005,2) which is a challenge for the executant accustomed to a generally monodic use of its instrument.

Famous runnings away

Runnings away for organ

Johann Sebastian Bach: Prelude S and Runnings away, Toccata S and Runnings away, Imagination S and Runnings away, Fugues isolated consituent the height of work for organ of the type-setter, which one can quote celebrates it Toccata and Fugue in minor D BWV 565 and it not less famous Fantaisie and Running away in minor ground BWV 542.
César Franck: Prelude, running away and variation COp 18
Marcel Dupre: 3 preludes and runnings away opus 7, 3 preludes and runnings away opus 36.
Maurice Duruflé: Be a prelude to and running away on the name of Alain, Fugue on Cariilon of the hours of Soisson

Runnings away for keyboards and other instruments or formations

Johann Sebastian Bach: the quite moderate keyboard, intended for the organ or the harpsichord.
Johann Sebastian Bach: the Art of the Running away, intended for one or two keyboards or an orchestra.
Ludwig van Beethoven : Great Running away COp 133, for string quartet.
Ludwig van Beethoven : Finale of the Sonata for piano n°29 " Hammerklavier" COp 106 (" Allegro risoluto").
César Franck: Be a prelude to, choral and running away for piano

External bonds

prettiest end of the world where the author of this short Cartoon explains the principles of the running away.
Notes for the course of running away of Michel Baron

Simple: Running away Zh-yue: 賦格曲

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