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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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Comments

  1. Patricia Cunningham says

    October 11, 2021 at 10:17 pm

    Not having a great knowledge of fugue theory, I’ll take a guess.
    The answer starts on the tonic C# after the subject starts on the fifth. Is that special? I don’t know.
    Also, the answer starts after the subject ends. Again, anything?

    When I don’t know the Orthodoxy, I can only observe and report. It was kind of fun. Thanks, Aron.

    Reply
    • Aron Bernstein says

      October 12, 2021 at 9:13 am

      Hi Pat! You’re on the right track, and I love how carefully you’re looking at the music! Typically the answer does begin after the subject concludes, so that’s pretty standard in a fugue. But what key is the answer in, compared to the key of the subject? 🙂

      Reply
  2. Thomas Proctor says

    October 12, 2021 at 9:44 am

    The answer is in F-sharp minor… Assuming the subject is in the natural minor mode, I can’t see any incongruity in the pitch collection. Is it because the answer is a 4th, and not a 5th, from the subject?

    Reply
    • Thomas Proctor says

      October 12, 2021 at 9:46 am

      Oops, except for the D-natural in the answer…

      Reply
      • Thomas Proctor says

        October 12, 2021 at 9:55 am

        And I meant to say “melodic minor”! I’ve only had one cup of coffee…

        Reply
  3. Randy Rowoldt says

    October 14, 2021 at 8:55 am

    I think that traditionally the answer comes in at a fourth below instead of a fifth-but saying that, I can suddenly think of lots of exceptions.

    Reply
    • Aron Bernstein says

      October 14, 2021 at 11:10 am

      Hey Randy, you’re on the right track! Think in terms of key: the subject is in the key of I, and the answer is traditionally in the key of…

      Reply
      • Randy Rowoldt says

        October 14, 2021 at 1:12 pm

        The answer is usually in the key of V, but this answer is in the key of IV, which can happen but less often. So the subject is in C# minor while the answer is in F# minor. I do know that by the end we are in C# Major.

        Reply

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