Submitted by jsdubois015 on Sat, 02/20/2010 - 09:32
Counterpoint is all at once the most intricate, the most necessary, the least understood and most neglected technique in music. Just in case you're wondering, counterpoint is the simultaneous combination of two or more melodies. However, in my opinion, a better and broader definition is the relationship of two or more parts to each other in music.
Counterpoint is usually seen has having its heyday during the Renaissance and the Late Baroque. Its supreme masters are Palestrina and Bach. After the Baroque, counterpoint succumbed to a slow death. Even before Bach's death in 1750 the trend of the day was away from contrapuntal complexities essentially making Bach the last master of an apparently old and dying technique. Sadly, this is more or less true. Starting with Rameau's Treatise on Harmony and then later with the introduction of the use of Roman numerals, counterpoint did slowly wane in the face of so-called "harmonic thought." By the end of the Romantic period, the actual negligence of teaching counterpoint was the death knell for the technique.
Yet, a few masters kept the secrets of counterpoint. Haydn ushered in a brief revival of the use of counterpoint and Mozart was right there alongside him. Beethoven was a contrapuntal master of the same degree as Bach, although he is often not thought of in such a way. Felix Mendelssohn's music contains some of the purest part-writing in all of music. Finally, Brahms was also one of the greats, rivaling Bach and Beethoven. However, he was the last truly great master of counterpoint.
Once a vital and indispensable part of any young musician's training, counterpoint survives today as a theoretical study, with its practical application in composition nearly extinct. As a composer myself, I'm looking forward to a coming contrapuntal renaissance when this beautiful and intricate technique will once again be at the forefront of music.
A Brief History of Counterpoint
Submitted by jsdubois015 on Sat, 02/20/2010 - 09:32
Counterpoint is all at once the most intricate, the most necessary, the least understood and most neglected technique in music. Just in case you're wondering, counterpoint is the simultaneous combination of two or more melodies. However, in my opinion, a better and broader definition is the relationship of two or more parts to each other in music.
Counterpoint is usually seen has having its heyday during the Renaissance and the Late Baroque. Its supreme masters are Palestrina and Bach. After the Baroque, counterpoint succumbed to a slow death. Even before Bach's death in 1750 the trend of the day was away from contrapuntal complexities essentially making Bach the last master of an apparently old and dying technique. Sadly, this is more or less true. Starting with Rameau's Treatise on Harmony and then later with the introduction of the use of Roman numerals, counterpoint did slowly wane in the face of so-called "harmonic thought." By the end of the Romantic period, the actual negligence of teaching counterpoint was the death knell for the technique.
Yet, a few masters kept the secrets of counterpoint. Haydn ushered in a brief revival of the use of counterpoint and Mozart was right there alongside him. Beethoven was a contrapuntal master of the same degree as Bach, although he is often not thought of in such a way. Felix Mendelssohn's music contains some of the purest part-writing in all of music. Finally, Brahms was also one of the greats, rivaling Bach and Beethoven. However, he was the last truly great master of counterpoint.
Once a vital and indispensable part of any young musician's training, counterpoint survives today as a theoretical study, with its practical application in composition nearly extinct. As a composer myself, I'm looking forward to a coming contrapuntal renaissance when this beautiful and intricate technique will once again be at the forefront of music.