Department of Music
MUSC 65: Tonal Counterpoint (spring 1999)
Note: In some listings of the Music Department's course offerings this
course is identified as "MUSC 38." Please note the correct course number:
MUSC 65.
This is a course in tonal counterpoint, that is, the art of counterpoint
as practiced in western Europe from around 1600 to 1900. Counterpoint can
be defined as the harmonious combination of two or more simultaneously
sounding melodic lines. It is one of the basic techniques of European art
music, developed during the Middle Ages (beginning around 1000) and
employed to the present day in many forms of Western music, including jazz
and much contemporary concert music. Training in counterpoint has been
one of the final stages in the teaching of musicians in the Western
tradition since the late Middle Ages.
Course Introduction
Tonal counterpoint is the particular brand of counterpoint employed
in music of the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic styles--studied and used
by such composers as Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. It has continued to be
studied in the twentieth century not only in order to help understand the
music of the past but because knowledge of older techniques can enrich
composition and performance in the present.
In the teaching of counterpoint, tonal counterpoint is
traditionally distinguished from modal counterpoint, that is, the
counterpoint of the late Renaissance (especially as found in the music of
Palestrina). More recently, it has been recognized that twentieth-century
music employs its own distinctive styles and techniques of counterpoint.
Unfortunately, a one-semester course cannot adequately cover all types of
music, and thus the present course focuses on tonal counterpoint,
especially as found in the music of J.S. Bach.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is recognized as perhaps the world's
greatest composer of contrapuntal music--that is, music in which the
various techniques of counterpoint are a particular source of interest and
expression. Indeed, Bach's music reveals that, far from being a dry topic
limited to theoretical interest, counterpoint is lively and fascinating,
essential to both the intellectual and emotional aspects of tonal
music.
The study of counterpoint has traditionally consisted mainly of
the writing of exercises. This course will include a substantial
amount of written work, but it will also include analysis and
discussion of contrapuntal music by Bach and his most important
contemporaries. Both written work and analysis will be based on
a historical approach, using concepts and methods that Bach and
other eighteenth-century composers are thought to have used in
their own studies and in teaching their own pupils.
Course Mechanics
Music 65 is the last of four courses in the Music Department's
sequence of theory courses required for the music major. It is
open to other undergraduates, but only with the consent of the
instructor. Students who have not taken the previous courses in
the theory sequence should consult with me, preferably before the
first day of classes. In any case, students entering Music 65
are expected to have mastered the principles of tonal harmony and
to have sufficient keyboard facility to play their written
exercises at the piano.
Assignments and texts. The textbook is a coursepack
prepared by the instructor. Work for the course will consist
mainly of: (1) the study of scores and recordings; (2) short
written exercises; and (3) class presentations. Class
presentations may include performance and discussion of scores
and exercises; individual students will be asked to prepare
presentations ahead of time.
In addition, in order to make the course relevant to the
interests of individual students, class members will be asked
from time to time to bring in passages from music being studied
in other classes (or in lessons) that illustrate material studied
in this class. The passages may be as brief as a measure or two
or as long as entire movements. Students will have the option of
performing these passages and/or leading class discussions in
which the contrapuntal content of the passages is analyzed.
Regular written work will count for approximately 50% of the
final grade; a take-home final examination will count for 25%,
and class participation 25%. Class attendance is mandatory;
there will be an automatic deduction of one letter-grade (e.g.,
from A to B) if there are three or more unexcused absences or if
three or more written assignments are turned in late.
Course syllabus. A detailed course syllabus is not yet
available. A tentative course outline is given below.
I (weeks 1-3). Review of figured bass: realization in three and
four parts of standard chord progressions; analysis of passages
using those progressions from trio sonatas and concerti grossi
for strings by Corelli
II (weeks 4-7). Basses and melodies: analysis of melodies and
bass lines from instrumental and vocal works by Corelli and
Handel; writing melodies and basses
III (weeks 8-14). Imitative counterpoint: analysis of Bach
inventions and fugues; writing inventions and fugal
expositions
Last updated 10/11/98