Carl Vincent
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Prelude and Fugue (2007)

The Prelude and Fugue is a work that derives its melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic impetus from the opening bars of each section. In the Prelude this is a quiet unison passage that invokes an impression of both solemnity within ritual and the perception of Omniscience. The opening unison passage forms a recurring feature throughout the Prelude but undergoes various intervallic, rhythmic, and chordal transformations. A lyrical section interjects and leads towards harmonically dense chordal structures that bring a level of apprehension perhaps even trepidation to the proceedings, but this is short lived, for the opening motif reasserts itself and begins the final section in a manner which both generates a feeling of penitence and redemption. The Fugue incorporates elements of traditional practice and modernistic facets. The opening exposition section uses the standard formal requirements of subject and answer but not however with regard to being a perfect 5th apart. I have instead used an augmented 4th and this becomes important in the final section where subject returns in the key of the answer and vice-versa thereby imparting a degree of mirror image either side of the middle section.

Listen to Ourania Gassiou giving the first performance of the Prelude and Fugue on 27th October 2007 at St Dominic's Priory

Duration: 7mins
Available from: the composer
Price: £6:00