The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Fugue

FUGUE (Lat. fuga, flight), a species of musical composition in which one voice or part seems to be perpetually flying away from another, whence the name. The principal musical thought of the piece, or the subject, having been performed by one voice or part, is taken up by another, and so on with all the voices or parts, each commencing after the others, and all performing together. The result is an endless pursuit and flight of the same theme by the different parts. Fugues are simple, double, or counter, the last being much the most complicated.