Changes

The musical effect of the [[Counter-Reformation]] beginning in 1560 was to curtail the growing complexity of liturgical music, preferring [[homophony]] to polyphony. At the same time, the [[Lutheran]] church's newly-composed homophonic [[chorale]]s showed an emergent sensitivity to harmonic thinking. Whereas polyphony had been primarily linear, or horizontal, in nature, this new style focused on the vertical aspect. Out of this sensibility developed the type of counterpoint which would become the hallmark of the high [[Baroque]]. New rules developed which took into account both the horizontal and vertical aspects of the musical texture, and by the time of [[Bach]] and [[Handel]] this new kind of counterpoint had been “codified” into various forms; the most notable being the [[fugue]]. This high Baroque period (generally considered to be the first half of the 18th century) became the second high point of contrapuntal writing.

The musical effect of the [[Counter-Reformation]] beginning in 1560 was to curtail the growing complexity of liturgical music, preferring [[homophony]] to polyphony. At the same time, the [[Lutheran]] church's newly-composed homophonic [[chorale]]s showed an emergent sensitivity to harmonic thinking. Whereas polyphony had been primarily linear, or horizontal, in nature, this new style focused on the vertical aspect. Out of this sensibility developed the type of counterpoint which would become the hallmark of the high [[Baroque]]. New rules developed which took into account both the horizontal and vertical aspects of the musical texture, and by the time of [[Bach]] and [[Handel]] this new kind of counterpoint had been “codified” into various forms; the most notable being the [[fugue]]. This high Baroque period (generally considered to be the first half of the 18th century) became the second high point of contrapuntal writing.

Composers in the subsequent [[Classical period (music)|Classical period]], notably [[Joseph Haydn]] and W.A. [[Mozart]] studied it, and used it extensively in the development of sonata-form movements within their works. The [[Romantic period (music)|Romantic]] period saw the importance of the discipline decline, but not disappear. [[Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn]] and [[Brahms]] both found musical inspiration in its forms and disciplines. (Brahms would “doodle” with counterpoint as a cure for “writer’s block”.)  The rise of “neo-classicism” in many of the works of [[Igor Stravinsky]] in the 20th century gave it new impetus. It is still a part of the study of composition.

Composers in the subsequent [[Classical period (music)|Classical period]], notably [[Joseph Haydn]] and W.A. [[Mozart]] studied it, and used it extensively in the development of sonata-form movements within their works. The [[Romantic period (music)|Romantic]] period saw the importance of the discipline decline, but not disappear. [[Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn]] and [[Brahms]] both found musical inspiration in its forms and disciplines. (Brahms would “doodle” with counterpoint as a cure for “writer’s block”.)  The rise of “neo-classicism” in many of the works of [[Igor Stravinsky]] in the [[Twentieth Century period (music)|20th century]] gave it new impetus. It is still a part of the study of composition.

==Resources==

==Resources==