Fugue in C-major by Richard Charlton (Peter Constant, guitar)

Описание: Three-voiced fugue in C-major by the Australian composer Richard Charlton, from the series 'So you want to play a fugue?'. Based on a melody from G.F. Händel's 'Hallelujah Chorus'.

Guitarist: Peter Constant

Guitar made by Jeroen Hilhorst

Recorded in January 2021 in De Voetnoot, Almere.

Order the sheet music from: www.richardcharlton.com.au

The composer tells:

These little studies were initially written many years ago (1977) as part of a composing
episode I like to call my “fugue-a-mania” period. I was studying harmony and
counterpoint with a wonderfully eccentric Irish organist named Mary Egan. Miss
Egan took me through lots of Bach (the Choral Preludes, the 48, the Organ Fugues
etc.), analyzing and copying Bach’s style; I think I wrote mainly fugues for a whole
year!

I am eternally grateful for this grounding and for her patience and encouragement of
my meagre skills. It was through Ms Egan that I met Miriam Hyde and she also gave
me very constructive advice on my early work.

The worthiest of these early guitar fugues are presented here, along with a couple of
other contrapuntal works; re-worked and fingered. They may be of use to guitarists
who, perhaps, are not quite ready to tackle the longer and more complex fugues in
Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas. These ones will test the technique but not tire the
fingers as they are mostly quite short. Holding all the voices is the main challenge
and sometimes it is only an ideal (on paper) and not a reality?
The title of the collection is a “take” on Glenn Gould’s composition “So you want to
write a fugue?” This was the finale for his TV show "The Anatomy of Fugue", which
was aired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on March 4, 1963.
All of the pieces exhibit various fugal devices such as stretto, diminution, inversion,
pedal points, episodes etc. Most are in the style of Bach and I dedicate this collection
to Mary Egan and Miriam Hyde.