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October 11, 2021 By Aron Bernstein 8 Comments

Weekly Music Theory Challenge 10/11/21

Show off your theory chops with my weekly challenge! You’ll find a new question here every Monday. Please comment to post your reply.

This week’s challenge:

Below is one of Beethoven’s last and greatest utterances: the opening fugue from his C-sharp Minor String Quartet, Op. 131. The subject melody is in blue, and the answer is in red. What’s unorthodox about this fugue’s answer?

Listen to Audio: Beethoven, String Quartet No. 14 in C# minor, Op. 131

Reply to post your answer, and check back on Friday, October 15 to see if you’re right!

ANSWER for 10/11/21

This fugue’s answer is in the key of IV, the subdominant. It’s in F-sharp minor. The more standard key for an answer would be V, the dominant (G-sharp minor in this case). But by having the answer in the subdominant, Beethoven avoids a more typical emphasis on the V–I relationship. J. S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor is an even more famous example of an answer in IV instead of V.

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Filed Under: music theory challenge Tagged With: baroque, breakingbarlines, classicalmusic, counterpoint, fugue, music, musiceducation, musiclessons, musictheory, musicvideo, popmusic, romantic

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