Definition

1. Noun:
   • A contrapuntal musical composition: A fugue is a complex musical form built on a principal theme (subject) that is introduced and then successively imitated by different voices or parts in a structured manner.
   • A dissociative psychological state: A fugue is a rare psychiatric condition involving memory loss and physical wandering or travel away from one's familiar environment, often with the assumption of a new identity.

Examples of Usage

• Noun (Music):

  • Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor" is one of the most famous organ works.
  • The composer demonstrated great skill in the development section of the fugue.

• Noun (Psychology):

  • After the traumatic event, he experienced a fugue and was found miles from home with no memory of his past.
  • Dissociative fugue is characterized by sudden, unexpected travel away from one's home or place of work.

Advanced Usage

• "In fugue": Used to describe a state of being absorbed or lost in a complex, repetitive mental process, often by analogy to the musical form.
  • The programmer was in a fugue, writing code for hours without noticing the time.
• Fugue state: The specific altered state of consciousness in the psychological disorder.
  • During the fugue state, the individual may appear normal but has no access to their autobiographical memories.

Variants and Related Words

• Fugal (adj): Pertaining to or in the style of a fugue.
  • The piece features a fugal section in its final movement.
• Double fugue (n): A fugue with two subjects that are developed simultaneously.
• Dissociative fugue (n): The full clinical term for the psychological condition.

Synonyms

• For the musical term: Canon, invention (though these are distinct, related contrapuntal forms).
• For the psychological term: Psychogenic fugue, dissociative flight.

Related Phrases

• To write/compose a fugue: The act of creating a fugue.
  • Mozart studied how to write a fugue in the style of Bach.
• To be in a fugue state: To be experiencing the psychological condition.
  • The character in the novel was in a fugue state, unaware of his true identity.

Related Idioms

• A fugue of activity: A period of intense, often repetitive or complex activity. (This is a metaphorical extension of the term).
  • The trading floor was a fugue of activity as the market closed.

Noun

1. a musical form consisting of a theme repeated a fifth above or a fourth below its first statement
2. a dreamlike state of altered consciousness that may last for hours or days
3. dissociative disorder in which a person forgets who they are and leaves home to creates a new life; during the fugue there is no memory of the former life; after recovering there is no memory for events during the dissociative state