Definition of fugue
1a : 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
fuguistplay \ˈfyü-gist\ noun
Recent Examples of fugue from the Web
Owen/Cox Dance Group Bach is appreciated for his complex and cerebral fugues, theological symbolism and heart-breaking lyricism.
Knauss is a master of the organ — the baroque pipes, the swelling fugue soaring in a church nave.
Highlights were a haunting prelude and fugue of Shostakovich’s and a powerhouse performance of Prokofiev’s Sonata No.
The colluding members of the APA were worried about the organization’s public image (because it was caught up in the post-9/11 patriotic fugue).
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fugue'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
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.
Origin and Etymology of fugue
probably from Italian fuga flight, fugue, from Latin, flight, from fugere
First Known Use: 1597See Words from the same year
FUGUE Defined for English Language Learners
Definition of fugue for English Language Learners
: a piece of music in which tunes are repeated in complex patterns
Medical Definition of fugue
: a disturbed state of consciousness in which the one affected seems to perform acts in full awareness but upon recovery cannot recollect them
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