A fugue is a piece of music that begins with a simple tune which is then repeated by other voices or instrumental parts with small variations.
[technical]
fugue in British English
(fjuːɡ)
noun
1.
a musical form consisting essentially of a theme repeated a fifth above or a fourth below the continuing first statement
2. psychiatry
a dreamlike altered state of consciousness, lasting from a few hours to several days, during which a person loses his or her memory for his or her previous life and often wanders away from home
Derived forms
fuguelike (ˈfugueˌlike)
adjective
Word origin
C16: from French, from Italian fuga, from Latin: a running away, flight
fugue in American English
(fjuːɡ)
noun
1. Music
a polyphonic composition based upon one, two, or more themes, which are enunciated by several voices or parts in turn, subjected to contrapuntal treatment, and gradually built up into a complex form having somewhat distinct divisions or stages of development and a marked climax at the end
2. Psychiatry
a period during which a person suffers from loss of memory, often begins a new life, and, upon recovery, remembers nothing of the amnesic phase
Derived forms
fuguelike
adjective
Word origin
[1590–1600; ‹ F ‹ It fuga ‹ L: flight]
Examples of 'fugue' in a sentence
fugue
Samadhi and fugue and simultaneity, all the states of computer consciousness.
Zindell, David THE BROKEN GOD (2001)
He and his men had passed the centuries in a kind of fugue state.
Clive Barker COLDHEART CANYON (2001)
Onstage at Lincoln Center I was somehow able to deflect the fugue by a desperate effort of will.
Joyce Carol Oates FAITHLESS: TALES OF TRANSGRESSION (2001)