Counterpoint

Counterpoint, from the Latin: “against note” is the combination of two separate musical lines to form an harmonic whole.

It began in the 14th century and, as what is now termed polyphony, reached heights in the music of Palestrina, Byrd, Lassus and others during the 15th and 16th centuries. It continued to develop and by the time of Bach and Handel it 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) is the high point of contrapuntal writing.

Composers in the subsequent 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 saw the importance of the theory decline, but not disappear. Mendelssohn and Brahms both found musical inspiration in its forms. (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.