Composed by Joseph Dillon Ford. 20th Century. Score. 14 pages. David Warin Solomons2 #3692091. Published by David Warin Solomons2 (A0.958471).
The Fuga a quattro voci was composed by 22 April 1976, not long before my relocation from Miami, Florida, to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I enrolled at Harvard as a graduate student in music in the fall of the same year. Originally conceived as a solo keyboard work, it was readily apparent that this big fugue could not be comfortably performed by a single player, and that more work would be necessary before it reached its final form. Nevertheless, I shelved the piece and essentially forgot about it until I began revisiting and revising many of my earliest sketches in the fall of 2001.
My aesthetic criteria had not changed in that quarter-century: every voice had to be individually convincing as well as polyphonically compatible with every other voice, a difficult challenge requiring minute checking and rechecking. Parallel fifths and octaves were generally avoided, although some combinations of uneven parallel fifths were deemed desirable and consequently retained. Unlike the Fuga a tre voci that was composed just weeks before it, the musical style of this hundred-measure fugue is a hybrid of baroque and romantic stylistic elements, although the former clearly dominate. The fugal subject itself is unusual, as it gradually abandons its initial modal character and anchors itself firmly in the tonality of g minor. After several grueling days of editing and refining this seemingly intractable early work, which required transposition, addition of a brief coda, and arrangement of original and new material for two instruments, I believe I finally met with success: the "Quattro" has at long last seen the light of day!
The pdf file contains score and parts. The sound sample is an electronic preview.
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ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular
titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.
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print or digitally distribute individual copies to friends or students).
Composed by Joseph Dillon Ford. 20th Century. Score. 14 pages. David Warin Solomons2 #3692091. Published by David Warin Solomons2 (A0.958471).
The Fuga a quattro voci was composed by 22 April 1976, not long before my relocation from Miami, Florida, to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I enrolled at Harvard as a graduate student in music in the fall of the same year. Originally conceived as a solo keyboard work, it was readily apparent that this big fugue could not be comfortably performed by a single player, and that more work would be necessary before it reached its final form. Nevertheless, I shelved the piece and essentially forgot about it until I began revisiting and revising many of my earliest sketches in the fall of 2001.
My aesthetic criteria had not changed in that quarter-century: every voice had to be individually convincing as well as polyphonically compatible with every other voice, a difficult challenge requiring minute checking and rechecking. Parallel fifths and octaves were generally avoided, although some combinations of uneven parallel fifths were deemed desirable and consequently retained. Unlike the Fuga a tre voci that was composed just weeks before it, the musical style of this hundred-measure fugue is a hybrid of baroque and romantic stylistic elements, although the former clearly dominate. The fugal subject itself is unusual, as it gradually abandons its initial modal character and anchors itself firmly in the tonality of g minor. After several grueling days of editing and refining this seemingly intractable early work, which required transposition, addition of a brief coda, and arrangement of original and new material for two instruments, I believe I finally met with success: the "Quattro" has at long last seen the light of day!
The pdf file contains score and parts. The sound sample is an electronic preview.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global
self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters.
ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular
titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.
About Digital Downloads
Digital Downloads are downloadable sheet music files that can be viewed directly on
your computer, tablet or mobile device. Once you download your digital sheet music,
you can view and print it at home, school, or anywhere you want to make music, and
you don't have to be connected to the internet. Just purchase, download and play!
PLEASE NOTE: Your Digital Download will have a watermark at the bottom of each page
that will include your name, purchase date and number of copies purchased. You are
only authorized to print the number of copies that you have purchased. You may not
digitally distribute or print more copies than purchased for use (i.e., you may not
print or digitally distribute individual copies to friends or students).
Preview: Fuga a quattro voci (4 part fugue) for harpsichord (4 hands and 2 manuals)
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