fugue

noun

ˈfyüg 

1

a

: a musical composition in which one or two themes are repeated or imitated by successively entering voices and contrapuntally developed in a continuous interweaving of the voice parts

The organist played a four-voiced fugue.

b

: something that resembles a fugue especially in interweaving repetitive elements

a story that … is as rich and multilayered as a fugue

—Heather Vogel Frederick

2

: a disturbed state of consciousness in which the one affected seems to perform acts in full awareness but upon recovery cannot recollect the acts performed

fugue verb

fuguist

ˈfyü-gist 

noun

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Fugue and Bach

Bach and Handel composed many fugues for harpsichord and organ in which the various parts (or voices) seem to flee from and chase each other in an intricate dance. Each part, after it has stated the theme or melody, apparently flees from the next part, which takes up the same theme and sets off in pursuit. Simple rounds such as "Three Blind Mice" or "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" could be called fugues for children, but a true fugue can be long and extremely complex.

Examples of fugue in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Ben and Jennifer are driving around in a fugue state, unwilling to accept that their own love story will also bring about the end of the world. —Scott Meslow, Vulture, 8 Aug. 2024

There’s a techno track charting climate change, a fugue about European bureaucracy, an experimental epic about beer tasting, and more. —Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 15 Oct. 2024

Ka’s music, which is largely self-produced, is at once stark and enveloping, a fugue of dread and predatory housing law punctured by shards and wisdom and, occasionally, discrete moments of joy. —Paul A. Thompson, Pitchfork, 15 Oct. 2024

The Dies Irae comes in during the final movement, in a fugue with dancing witches, a bubbling cauldron, and a diabolical orgy (in this recording, at about 3:25). —Staff, Quartz, 25 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

probably from Italian fuga flight, fugue, from Latin, flight, from fugere

First Known Use

1597, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

fugue

noun

ˈfyüg 

: a musical composition in which themes are repeated in complex patterns

fugal

ˈfyü-gəl

adjective

Medical Definition

fugue

noun

ˈfyüg 

: a disturbed state of consciousness in which the one affected seems to perform acts in full awareness but upon recovery cannot recollect them