Some Principles of Fugue Writing in Bach’s Era in the Context of the Historical Evolution of Formal Categories (Publication and Commentary by T. S. Kyuregyan)

Yury Kholopov

Issue № 2 (794) | 2026

Research article

Some Principles of Fugue Writing in Bach’s Era in the Context of the Historical Evolution of Formal Categories (Publication and Commentary by T. S. Kyuregyan)

This article is written in Russian. You can read it here.

References

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DOI 10.34690/611

Author Yury N. Kholopov

Affiliation Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory, Moscow, Russia

Abstract

This report, originally delivered by Yury Kholopov on December 5, 1985, at a conference dedicated to Baroque art and its connections to modernity, is published for the first time. The author examines the similarities and differences between polyphonic forms (primarily the Bach fugue) and classical homophonic forms. Both types are grounded in a shared foundation—the well-developed tonal harmony of Bach’s era—and rely on a tonally stable exposition. Despite their differing structures (imitative fugato versus homophonic period), their functional logic is fundamentally similar: in both polyphony and homophony, the harmonic stability of the exposition gives way to more active development. Having become a benchmark for the genre as a whole, the Bach fugue was subsequently reproduced throughout music history within evolving harmonic systems, while retaining established internal principles. The question of what precisely constitutes the potential of polyphony at subsequent stages of musical evolution is, in the author’s view, one that demands serious scholarly investigation.

Keywords musical form, polyphony, homophony, structural difference, functional similarity

For citation

Kholopov, Yu. N. “Some principles of fugue writing in Bach’s era in the context of the historical evolution of formal categories (publication and commentary by T. S. Kyuregyan),” Muzykal’naya akademiya [Music Academy], no. 2, 2026, pp. 6–11, doi:10.34690/611. (In Russ.)

Published 10.04.2026

Approved 10.05.2026

Submitted 29.06.2026

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Some Principles of Fugue Writing in Bach’s Era in the Context of the Historical Evolution of Formal Categories (Publication and Commentary by T. S. Kyuregyan)

Some Principles of Fugue Writing in Bach’s Era in the Context of the Historical Evolution of Formal Categories (Publication and Commentary by T. S. Kyuregyan)

References

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