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Line 1: − + − It began in the 14th century and, as what is now termed [[polyphony]], reached heights in the music of [[Pallestrina]], [[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 (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 theory decline, but not disappear. [[Felix Mendelssohn|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.+ − + + + + + + + + + +
no edit summary
'''Counterpoint''', from the [[Latin]]: “''against note''” is the combination of two separate musical lines to form an harmonic whole.
'''Counterpoint''', from the [[Latin]]: “against [[note (music)|note]]” is the combination of two or more separate musical lines to form an [[musical harmony|harmonic]] whole. It also refers to the academic discipline used throughout history to teach [[composer]]s how best to combine [[voice]]s in a musical texture. The term [[polyphony]] is sometimes used synonymously with counterpoint, and sometimes to distinguish medieval multi-voice music from that of the Renaissance and Baroque.
Before the 10th or 11th century, all Western music was [[monophony|monophonic]], or consisting of only one voice, which was usually a liturgical [[Gregorian chant|chant]]. The earliest known example of polyphony, discovered in a document called the "Winchester Troper," adds voices to the chant moving at parallel intervals, such as the fifth and octave, a practice called [[organum]]. Later documents would yield examples of parallel organum at the third and sixth. The practice of singing independent lines (and often to completely different texts) began in the 14th century in France, and reached its first heights in the music of [[Palestrina]], [[William Byrd|Byrd]], [[Lassus]] and others during the 15th and 16th centuries.
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.
[[Category: Musical terms]]
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 [[Neoclassicism (music)|Neoclassicism]] in many of the works of [[Igor Stravinsky]], [[Paul Hindemith]] and other [[Twentieth Century period (music)|20th century]] composers gave it new impetus. It is still a part of the study of composition.
==Resources==
Donald J. Grout and Claude Palisca, ''A History of Western Music''
Robert Gauldin, ''A Practical Approach to Sixteenth-Century Counterpoint,'' 1985
Robert Gauldin, ''A Practical Approach to Eighteenth-Century Counterpoint,'' 1988
[[Category:Musical Terms]]