Flight

About

As a young music student I was intrigued by the Baroque musical form of fugue, so much so that I include a paper on the subject in my Master's degree. Unfortunately by that time the form had become irrelevant to my own composition style. However over the past decade fugues have been popping up in a number of works of mine - some in pseudo-Baroque style (Concerto Grosso No. 2) and some in a less traditionally tonal manner (Missa Pacifica and Concertino for Percussion and Chamber Orchestra).

The term 'fugue' is derived from either the French fugue or Italian fuga, which in turn come from Latin, also fuga. The word relates to words meaning 'to flee' or 'to chase'. Hence the title of this piece.

A fugue is a contrapuntal composition for a fixed number of parts (or 'voices'), with the main melody being heard at the beginning successively in each part. My own work is not a strict fugue, and in fact is really two fugal expositions (the second of which develops the counter-subject from the first exposition), surrounded by freer material. Overall the work could be seen as an extended fanfare, with the music beginning and ending energetically. Even in the quieter sections the music never loses its forward drive and rhythmic energy.