Real Answer or Tonal Answer in a G-minor Exposition
An undergraduate writes an exposition for a three-voice fugue in G minor. The subject begins D4–G4–F-sharp4–G4–A4–B-flat4–A4–G4. For the second entry the student writes an exact transposition beginning A4–D5–C-sharp5–D5–E5–F5–E5–D5. The countersubject, first heard against the subject, begins on B-flat and has a descending leap of a perfect fifth. In the third entry the student brings the subject back on G4 while the answer is still sounding in the middle voice, creating a short overlap. The exposition is to remain in G minor; no modulation is intended before the third entry. The teacher asks whether the second entry should be a real answer or a tonal answer, and whether the third entry and overlap are defensible in a tonal fugue. The student protests that exact transposition is 'more contrapuntal'.
1. Decide whether the second entry should be a real answer or a tonal answer, and give a corrected opening for the answer.
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The second entry should be a tonal answer. The subject begins on D, the dominant of G minor, and immediately leaps to G, the tonic. In a tonal answer, that dominant-to-tonic opening is answered tonic-to-dominant, so the answer should begin on G and move to D, not begin on A and move to D. The student's A–D–C-sharp–D is a real answer at the dominant; it is not ungrammatical in the abstract, but here it tonicizes D minor too early with C-sharp. The tonal answer will use C-natural at the corresponding point, keeping the exposition in G minor. A practical correction is to begin G4–D5–C5–D5 and continue so that the answer outlines G minor rather than D minor. The point is not 'exactness' but the tonal relationship between subject and answer.
2. Is the third entry on G while the answer is still sounding acceptable? Explain what the composer must check.
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The third entry on G is the expected tonic return after subject and answer. The overlap is a short stretto, which is defensible in a tonal fugue if it is intentional and contrapuntally clean. The composer should check three things: the vertical intervals between the answer's tail and the subject's head, especially parallel fifths or octaves; the treatment of the answer's C-sharp, which should resolve to D and not clash with the subject's G; and whether the overlap obscures the entry's first note. If those checks pass, the overlap can strengthen the exposition. If the answer's tail produces a dissonance that is neither prepared nor resolved, the third entry should wait until the answer finishes. The student's claim that exact transposition is 'more contrapuntal' does not settle the question; tonal answers and controlled stretto are standard fugal procedures.
3. What tonal problem does the student's real answer create, and how does the tonal answer solve it?
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The real answer's C-sharp is the leading tone of D, so it makes the second entry sound like a tonicization of D minor, the dominant. In a short exposition that can weaken the home key before the third entry and make the later return to G minor sound like a modulation rather than a structural return. The tonal answer avoids this by answering the subject's dominant opening with a tonic opening and by using C-natural instead of C-sharp at the altered point. That keeps the answer within G minor while preserving the subject's contour and rhythmic identity. The candidate should compare the answer's cadence with the subject's: if the answer cadences on D with C-sharp, it has modulated; if it cadences on G or D without C-sharp, it remains tonal. The teacher's objection is therefore about tonal function, not about a fear of chromaticism.