Class Notes for Counterpoint
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Computational Methods for Tonality-Based Style Analysis of Classical Music Audio Recordings
Fakult¨at fur¨ Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik Computational Methods for Tonality-Based Style Analysis of Classical Music Audio Recordings Christof Weiß geboren am 16.07.1986 in Regensburg Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doktoringenieur (Dr.-Ing.) Angefertigt im: Fachgebiet Elektronische Medientechnik Institut fur¨ Medientechnik Fakult¨at fur¨ Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik Gutachter: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. rer. nat. h. c. mult. Karlheinz Brandenburg Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Meinard Muller¨ Prof. Dr. phil. Wolfgang Auhagen Tag der Einreichung: 25.11.2016 Tag der wissenschaftlichen Aussprache: 03.04.2017 urn:nbn:de:gbv:ilm1-2017000293 iii Acknowledgements This thesis could not exist without the help of many people. I am very grateful to everybody who supported me during the work on my PhD. First of all, I want to thank Prof. Karlheinz Brandenburg for supervising my thesis but also, for the opportunity to work within a great team and a nice working enviroment at Fraunhofer IDMT in Ilmenau. I also want to mention my colleagues of the Metadata department for having such a friendly atmosphere including motivating scientific discussions, musical activity, and more. In particular, I want to thank all members of the Semantic Music Technologies group for the nice group climate and for helping with many things in research and beyond. Especially|thank you Alex, Ronny, Christian, Uwe, Estefan´ıa, Patrick, Daniel, Ania, Christian, Anna, Sascha, and Jakob for not only having a prolific working time in Ilmenau but also making friends there. Furthermore, I want to thank several students at TU Ilmenau who worked with me on my topic. Special thanks go to Prof. -
Out of Death and Despair: Elements of Chromaticism in the Songs of Edvard Grieg
Ryan Weber: Out of Death and Despair: Elements of Chromaticism in the Songs of Edvard Grieg Grieg‘s intriguing statement, ―the realm of harmonies has always been my dream world,‖1 suggests the rather imaginative disposition that he held toward the roles of harmonic function within a diatonic pitch space. A great degree of his chromatic language is manifested in subtle interactions between different pitch spaces along the dualistic lines to which he referred in his personal commentary. Indeed, Grieg‘s distinctive style reaches beyond common-practice tonality in ways other than modality. Although his music uses a variety of common nineteenth- century harmonic devices, his synthesis of modal elements within a diatonic or chromatic framework often leans toward an aesthetic of Impressionism. This multifarious language is most clearly evident in the composer‘s abundant songs that span his entire career. Setting texts by a host of different poets, Grieg develops an approach to chromaticism that reflects the Romantic themes of death and despair. There are two techniques that serve to characterize aspects of his multi-faceted harmonic language. The first, what I designate ―chromatic juxtapositioning,‖ entails the insertion of highly chromatic material within ^ a principally diatonic passage. The second technique involves the use of b7 (bVII) as a particular type of harmonic juxtapositioning, for the flatted-seventh scale-degree serves as a congruent agent among the realms of diatonicism, chromaticism, and modality while also serving as a marker of death and despair. Through these techniques, Grieg creates a style that elevates the works of geographically linked poets by capitalizing on the Romantic/nationalistic themes. -
Counterpoint MUS – Spring 2019
Counterpoint MUS – Spring 2019 Dr. Julia Bozone Monday and Wednesday at 11:00 - 11:50 in Rm. 214 Email: [email protected] Office Hours MWF 8:00-9:00, and By Appointment during 11-3 MWF Concurrent Enrollment: Required Materials: Counterpoint, Kent Kennan, 1999. A Practical Approach to 16th Century Counterpoint, Robert Gauldin A Practical Approach to 18th Century Counterpoint, Robert Gauldin Course Description: Theory II is the second in a four-semester sequence which examines the notational, harmonic, and compositional practices of the Western art- music tradition. This course emphasizes the development of analytical and compositional skills, with particular focus on the music of the Common Practice Era (CPE). Student Learning Outcomes: Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to accomplish the following in each category: Melody Identify proper use of melodic contrapuntal lines Identify melodic properties: apex, sequences often found in melodic lines Harmony Construct and identify properly resolved interval relationships between voices Construct and identify chord progression for contrapuntal voicing. Demonstrate, through composition and analysis, an understanding of diatonic sequences Demonstrate, through composition and analysis, an understanding of common- practice functional harmony Rhythm Demonstrate, through composition and analysis, an understanding of rhythmic notation and of all common meters Composition Compose original works utilizing two and three voice counterpoint Course Requirements: There will be frequent homework assignments utilizing both analytical and compositional skills. All work should be done with either pencil or computer notation software. Homework is to be turned in during class on the day on which it is due. Late assignments will not be accepted for credit unless by previous arrangement with the instructor. -
Schenkerian Analysis in the Modern Context of the Musical Analysis
Mathematics and Computers in Biology, Business and Acoustics THE SCHENKERIAN ANALYSIS IN THE MODERN CONTEXT OF THE MUSICAL ANALYSIS ANCA PREDA, PETRUTA-MARIA COROIU Faculty of Music Transilvania University of Brasov 9 Eroilor Blvd ROMANIA [email protected], [email protected] Abstract: - Music analysis represents the most useful way of exploration and innovation of musical interpretations. Performers who use music analysis efficiently will find it a valuable method for finding the kind of musical richness they desire in their interpretations. The use of Schenkerian analysis in performance offers a rational basis and an unique way of interpreting music in performance. Key-Words: - Schenkerian analysis, structural hearing, prolongation, progression,modernity. 1 Introduction Even in a simple piece of piano music, the ear Musical analysis is a musicological approach in hears a vast number of notes, many of them played order to determine the structural components of a simultaneously. The situation is similar to that found musical text, the technical development of the in language. Although music is quite different to discourse, the morphological descriptions and the spoken language, most listeners will still group the understanding of the meaning of the work. Analysis different sounds they hear into motifs, phrases and has complete autonomy in the context of the even longer sections. musicological disciplines as the music philosophy, Schenker was not afraid to criticize what he saw the musical aesthetics, the compositional technique, as a general lack of theoretical and practical the music history and the musical criticism. understanding amongst musicians. As a dedicated performer, composer, teacher and editor of music himself, he believed that the professional practice of 2 Problem Formulation all these activities suffered from serious misunderstandings of how tonal music works. -
Counterpoint | Music | Britannica.Com
SCHOOL AND LIBRARY SUBSCRIBERS JOIN • LOGIN • ACTIVATE YOUR FREE TRIAL! Counterpoint & READ VIEW ALL MEDIA (6) VIEW HISTORY EDIT FEEDBACK Music Written by: Roland John Jackson $ ! " # Counterpoint, art of combining different melodic lines in a musical composition. It is among the characteristic elements of Western musical practice. The word counterpoint is frequently used interchangeably with polyphony. This is not properly correct, since polyphony refers generally to music consisting of two or more distinct melodic lines while counterpoint refers to the compositional technique involved in the handling of these melodic lines. Good counterpoint requires two qualities: (1) a meaningful or harmonious relationship between the lines (a “vertical” consideration—i.e., dealing with harmony) and (2) some degree of independence or individuality within the lines themselves (a “horizontal” consideration, dealing with melody). Musical theorists have tended to emphasize the vertical aspects of counterpoint, defining the combinations of notes that are consonances and dissonances, and prescribing where consonances and dissonances should occur in the strong and weak beats of musical metre. In contrast, composers, especially the great ones, have shown more interest in the horizontal aspects: the movement of the individual melodic lines and long-range relationships of musical design and texture, the balance between vertical and horizontal forces, existing between these lines. The freedoms taken by composers have in turn influenced theorists to revise their laws. The word counterpoint is occasionally used by ethnomusicologists to describe aspects of heterophony —duplication of a basic melodic line, with certain differences of detail or of decoration, by the various performers. This usage is not entirely appropriate, for such instances as the singing of a single melody at parallel intervals (e.g., one performer beginning on C, the other on G) lack the truly distinct or separate voice parts found in true polyphony and in counterpoint. -
Kostka, Stefan
TEN Classical Serialism INTRODUCTION When Schoenberg composed the first twelve-tone piece in the summer of 192 1, I the "Pre- lude" to what would eventually become his Suite, Op. 25 (1923), he carried to a conclusion the developments in chromaticism that had begun many decades earlier. The assault of chromaticism on the tonal system had led to the nonsystem of free atonality, and now Schoenberg had developed a "method [he insisted it was not a "system"] of composing with twelve tones that are related only with one another." Free atonality achieved some of its effect through the use of aggregates, as we have seen, and many atonal composers seemed to have been convinced that atonality could best be achieved through some sort of regular recycling of the twelve pitch class- es. But it was Schoenberg who came up with the idea of arranging the twelve pitch classes into a particular series, or row, th at would remain essentially constant through- out a composition. Various twelve-tone melodies that predate 1921 are often cited as precursors of Schoenberg's tone row, a famous example being the fugue theme from Richard Strauss's Thus Spake Zararhustra (1895). A less famous example, but one closer than Strauss's theme to Schoenberg'S method, is seen in Example IO-\. Notice that Ives holds off the last pitch class, C, for measures until its dramatic entrance in m. 68. Tn the music of Strauss and rves th e twelve-note theme is a curiosity, but in the mu sic of Schoenberg and his fo ll owers the twelve-note row is a basic shape that can be presented in four well-defined ways, thereby assuring a certain unity in the pitch domain of a composition. -
Keyboard Playing and the Mechanization of Polyphony in Italian Music, Circa 1600
Keyboard Playing and the Mechanization of Polyphony in Italian Music, Circa 1600 By Leon Chisholm A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Music in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Kate van Orden, Co-Chair Professor James Q. Davies, Co-Chair Professor Mary Ann Smart Professor Massimo Mazzotti Summer 2015 Keyboard Playing and the Mechanization of Polyphony in Italian Music, Circa 1600 Copyright 2015 by Leon Chisholm Abstract Keyboard Playing and the Mechanization of Polyphony in Italian Music, Circa 1600 by Leon Chisholm Doctor of Philosophy in Music University of California, Berkeley Professor Kate van Orden, Co-Chair Professor James Q. Davies, Co-Chair Keyboard instruments are ubiquitous in the history of European music. Despite the centrality of keyboards to everyday music making, their influence over the ways in which musicians have conceptualized music and, consequently, the music that they have created has received little attention. This dissertation explores how keyboard playing fits into revolutionary developments in music around 1600 – a period which roughly coincided with the emergence of the keyboard as the multipurpose instrument that has served musicians ever since. During the sixteenth century, keyboard playing became an increasingly common mode of experiencing polyphonic music, challenging the longstanding status of ensemble singing as the paradigmatic vehicle for the art of counterpoint – and ultimately replacing it in the eighteenth century. The competing paradigms differed radically: whereas ensemble singing comprised a group of musicians using their bodies as instruments, keyboard playing involved a lone musician operating a machine with her hands. -
Josquin Des Prez: Master of the Notes
James John Artistic Director P RESENTS Josquin des Prez: Master of the Notes Friday, March 4, 2016, 8 pm Sunday, March 6, 2016, 3pm St. Paul’s Episcopal Church St. Ignatius of Antioch 199 Carroll Street, Brooklyn 87th Street & West End Avenue, Manhattan THE PROGRAM CERDDORION Sopranos Altos Tenors Basses Gaude Virgo Mater Christi Anna Harmon Jamie Carrillo Ralph Bonheim Peter Cobb From “Missa de ‘Beata Virgine’” Erin Lanigan Judith Cobb Stephen Bonime James Crowell Kyrie Jennifer Oates Clare Detko Frank Kamai Jonathan Miller Gloria Jeanette Rodriguez Linnea Johnson Michael Klitsch Michael J. Plant Ellen Schorr Cathy Markoff Christopher Ryan Dean Rainey Praeter Rerum Seriem Myrna Nachman Richard Tucker Tom Reingold From “Missa ‘Pange Lingua’” Ron Scheff Credo Larry Sutter Intermission Ave Maria From “Missa ‘Hercules Dux Ferrarie’” BOARD OF DIRECTORS Sanctus President Ellen Schorr Treasurer Peter Cobb Secretary Jeanette Rodriguez Inviolata Directors Jamie Carrillo Dean Rainey From “Missa Sexti toni L’homme armé’” Michael Klitsch Tom Reingold Agnus Dei III Comment peut avoir joye The members of Cerddorion are grateful to James Kennerley and the Church of Saint Ignatius of Petite Camusette Antioch for providing rehearsal and performance space for this season. Jennifer Oates, soprano; Jamie Carillo, alto; Thanks to Vince Peterson and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church for providing a performance space Chris Ryan, Ralph Bonheim, tenors; Dean Rainey, Michael J. Plant, basses for this season. Thanks to Cathy Markoff for her publicity efforts. Mille regretz Allégez moy Jennifer Oates, Jeanette Rodriguez, sopranos; Jamie Carillo, alto; PROGRAM CREDITS: Ralph Bonheim, tenor; Dean Rainey, Michael J. Plant, basses Myrna Nachman wrote the program notes. -
Trent 91; First Steps Towards a Stylistic Classification (Revised 2019 Version of My 2003 Paper, Originally Circulated to Just a Dozen Specialists)
Trent 91; first steps towards a stylistic classification (revised 2019 version of my 2003 paper, originally circulated to just a dozen specialists). Probably unreadable in a single sitting but useful as a reference guide, the original has been modified in some wording, by mention of three new-ish concordances and by correction of quite a few errors. There is also now a Trent 91 edition index on pp. 69-72. [Type the company name] Musical examples have been imported from the older version. These have been left as they are apart from the Appendix I and II examples, which have been corrected. [Type the document Additional information (and also errata) found since publication date: 1. The Pange lingua setting no. 1330 (cited on p. 29) has a concordance in Wr2016 f. 108r, whereti it is tle]textless. (This manuscript is sometimes referred to by its new shelf number Warsaw 5892). The concordance - I believe – was first noted by Tom Ward (see The Polyphonic Office Hymn[T 1y4p0e0 t-h15e2 d0o, cpu. m21e6n,t se suttbtinigt lneo] . 466). 2. Page 43 footnote 77: the fragmentary concordance for the Urbs beata setting no. 1343 in the Weitra fragment has now been described and illustrated fully in Zapke, S. & Wright, P. ‘The Weitra Fragment: A Central Source of Late Medieval Polyphony’ in Music & Letters 96 no. 3 (2015), pp. 232-343. 3. The Introit group subgroup ‘I’ discussed on p. 34 and the Sequences discussed on pp. 7-12 were originally published in the Ex Codicis pilot booklet of 2003, and this has now been replaced with nos 148-159 of the Trent 91 edition. -
MTO 18.4: Chenette, Hearing Counterpoint Within Chromaticism
Volume 18, Number 4, December 2012 Copyright © 2012 Society for Music Theory Hearing Counterpoint Within Chromaticism: Analyzing Harmonic Relationships in Lassus’s Prophetiae Sibyllarum Timothy K. Chenette NOTE: The examples for the (text-only) PDF version of this item are available online at: http://www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.12.18.4/mto.12.18.4.chenette.php KEYWORDS: Orlandus Lassus (Orlando di Lasso), Prophetiae Sibyllarum, chromaticism, counterpoint, Zarlino, Vicentino, diatonicism, diatonic system, mode, analysis ABSTRACT: Existing analyses of the Prophetiae Sibyllarum generally compare the musical surface to an underlying key, mode, or diatonic system. In contrast, this article asserts that we must value surface relationships in and of themselves, and that certain rules of counterpoint can help us to understand these relationships. Analyses of the Prologue and Sibylla Persica demonstrate some of the insights available to a contrapuntal perspective, including the realization that surprising-sounding music does not always correlate with large numbers of written accidentals. An analysis of Sibylla Europaea suggests some of the ways diatonic and surface-relationship modes of hearing may interact, and highlights the features that may draw a listener’s attention to one of these modes of hearing or the other. Received April 2012 Introduction [1.1] Orlandus Lassus’s cycle Prophetiae Sibyllarum (1550s) is simultaneously familiar and unsettling to the modern listener. (1) The Prologue epitomizes its challenges; see Score and Recording 1. (2) It uses apparent triads, but their roots range so widely that it is difficult to hear them as symbols of an incipient tonality. The piece’s three cadences confirm, in textbook style, Mode 8, (3) but its accidentals complicate a modal designation based on the diatonic octave species. -
Chromatic Sequences
CHAPTER 30 Melodic and Harmonic Symmetry Combine: Chromatic Sequences Distinctions Between Diatonic and Chromatic Sequences Sequences are paradoxical musical processes. At the surface level they provide rapid harmonic rhythm, yet at a deeper level they function to suspend tonal motion and prolong an underlying harmony. Tonal sequences move up and down the diatonic scale using scale degrees as stepping-stones. In this chapter, we will explore the consequences of transferring the sequential motions you learned in Chapter 17 from the asymmetry of the diatonic scale to the symmetrical tonal patterns of the nineteenth century. You will likely notice many similarities of behavior between these new chromatic sequences and the old diatonic ones, but there are differences as well. For instance, the stepping-stones for chromatic sequences are no longer the major and minor scales. Furthermore, the chord qualities of each individual harmony inside a chromatic sequence tend to exhibit more homogeneity. Whereas in the past you may have expected major, minor, and diminished chords to alternate inside a diatonic sequence, in the chromatic realm it is not uncommon for all the chords in a sequence to manifest the same quality. EXAMPLE 30.1 Comparison of Diatonic and Chromatic Forms of the D3 ("Pachelbel") Sequence A. 624 CHAPTER 30 MELODIC AND HARMONIC SYMMETRY COMBINE 625 B. Consider Example 30.1A, which contains the D3 ( -4/ +2)-or "descending 5-6"-sequence. The sequence is strongly goal directed (progressing to ii) and diatonic (its harmonies are diatonic to G major). Chord qualities and distances are not consistent, since they conform to the asymmetry of G major. -
Renaissance Counterpoint Towards a Better Understanding of Basso Continuo Repertoire Prepared by Lucas Harris Revised 10/2000
A Crash-Course in Renaissance Counterpoint Towards a Better Understanding of Basso Continuo Repertoire Prepared by Lucas Harris Revised 10/2000 I. Introduction In the period of the birth of basso continuo, it is certainly true that musicians and composers began to think more ‘vertically’ and less ‘horizontally,’ meaning that harmonic thinking in terms of block chords began to challenge the long-reigning contrapuntal procedures of Renaissance composition. This probably happened for a number of different reasons, not least of which is that it simplified accompaniment, thereby making self-accompanied singing more practical as well as freeing more attention to expressing the text. However, the highly evolved and complex system of Renaissance counterpoint could not have just disappeared overnight. In fact, despite the radical challenges that it sustained around 1600, Renaissance counterpoint still informed how music was made throughout the whole Baroque (think of music today nearly a century after the ‘collapse of tonality’). This is just to recognize that in many ways we are coming to the basso continuo repertoire from the opposite direction from its composers: the dominant approach to making music in our day involves melodies over chords, whereas theirs was one where individual but inter-dependent parts meshed to form a texture. It might do us some good to get some basics as to how Renaissance music theory worked. Though the whole corpus of rules is huge and took years to learn and master, we can be selective and brush on a few small topics that are fairly easy to grasp and will offer the most help in understanding the ‘horizontal’ component of basso continuo repertoire.