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Theory II Notes

Apr 5 (notes by Leonidas A.)

Today’s lesson was focused on second species counterpoint.

Here are the rules that a second species contrapuntal composition must follow in addition to all first species counterpoint rules:

  • 2:1 ratio of counterpoint line to cantus firmus

    • 2 half notes per one C.F. whole note

  • The counterpoint line can either begin at the start or on a upbeat

  • Strong beat (the first half note) must be consonant

  • Weak beat (the second half note) can be consonant or dissonant

    • The dissonant note can only be the result of passing or neighboring movement

    • You are not allowed to leap to or from the dissonant note

  • Oblique motion is not allowed

Here is an example of second species counterpoint from Wikipedia

Mar 22 (notes by Leonidas A.)

Today’s lesson expanded on the Baroque Era, specifically about J.S. Bach, one of the most influential composers ever.   

Timeline*:

1150-1400 “Medieval” 

1400-1600 “Renaissance” 

1600-1750 “Baroque” 

1750-1820 “Classical” 

1820-1900 “Romantic” 

1900-Current “20th-21st Century Music”

*Note that these dates are not exact and there are always outliers. See Debussy or Beethoven, both who composed music that was more advanced than the “expected” of that time. 

J.S. Bach was born in 1685 in Eisenach Germany to a musical family. He started learning the clavichord and organ from his older brother at the age of 10. He spent his entire life in Leipzig, Germany as the music director of Thomaskirche. He was described as a master of counterpoint and fugues, and would integrate fugues into many of his works. He died at the age of 65 due to complications from eye surgery - most likely an infection.

Here are his many works

  • Vocal

    • 524 complete vocal works

      •  Cantatas, motets, masses, Magnificats, Passions, oratorios, four-part chorales, songs and arias

  • Instrumental

    • 250 works for Organ

    • 300 works for keyboard (not including organ)

    • 5 works for Lute

    • 39 works for chamber ensembles

    • 30 works for orchestra

Many of Bach’s works were not published during his lifetime, and therefore, were not assigned opus numbers. This is why the BWV system was invented by Wolfgang Schmeider. 

The BMV system is split into 13 sections

  1. Cantatas

    1. Vocal music with instrumental accompaniment

  2. Motets

    1. Sacred vocal music typically written in Latin

  3. Masses/Mass movements

    1. Sacred vocal music

  4. Passions and Oratorios

    1. Biblical vocal music

  5. Chorals

    1. SATB music

  6. Songs, Arias, and Quodlibet

    1. Aria - Work for solo voice with accompaniment

    2. Quodlibet - Work that combines several melodies

  7. Organ

  8. Keyboard

  9. Lute

  10. Chamber music

  11. Orchestral music

  12. Canons

  13. Musical Offering and The Art of Fugue

Bach was heavily influenced by a German organist named Dietrich Buxtehude, and Bach once made a pilgrimage to see him perform live. Bach’s works are considered by many scholars to be the pinnacle of contrapuntal music, and organ works considered to be highly virtuosic. Unlike his counterpart, Handel, Bach did not write any operas, as he was a deeply religious man. Instead he wrote many dance suites, which would typically go in the following order:

  1. Prelude

  2. Allemande

    1. German, 2/4 with a moderate tempo

  3. Courante

    1. French, 3/4 with a lively tempo tempo

  4. Sarabande

    1. Spanish, 2/4 in a slow tempo

  5. Minuet

    1. French, 3/4 or 6/8 in a flexible tempo

  6. Gigue

    1. Irish, typically 3/8 or 6/8 in a lively tempo

The Gavotte and Bourree might also be included.

Feb 1 (notes by Leonidas A.)

In today’s lesson we learned about the basics of species counterpoint, what was considered consonant vs dissonant, and the types of contrapuntal movement. 

Here is some essential vocabulary to know:

  • Voice: 

    • A single musical line in a monophonic texture

  • Counterpoint: 

    • The movement or relation of two or more voices

  • Cantus Firmus (Abbreviation: CF): 

    • Translates from latin to “Fixed song”

    • Essentially an already existing melody that the counterpoint and rest of the song is built off of

    • Typically a Gregorian Chant

    • Found in almost every early polyphonic composition

  • Species:

    • Added voice set against the CF

    • Called the counterpoint line

    • Numbered 1-5

      • Each level gets more advanced

      • Each level has different rules about the intervals, rhythm, ect.

Here is a quick history behind counterpoint:

  • Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

    • 1526 - 1594

    • Director of Capella Giulia at St.Peter’s Basilica (1551-1554, 1571-1594)

    • Composed many masses

      • Mass: Religious vocal work

    • Master at controlling dissonance 

  • Johann Joseph Fux

    • c. 1660-1741

    • Admired and studied Palestrina’s works/technique

    • Wrote the Gradus ad Parnassum 

      • 1725

      • Also known as The Steps to Parnassus

      • Explained the theory of intervals and theory of species counterpoint

Consonance vs Dissonance (Note that consonant intervals depend on the context in which they are played in):

  • Consonance

    • Sounds stable

      • Doesn't feel like it needs to resolve

    • Pleasing to ear

  • Dissonance

    • Generally Unstable

      • Wants to resolve 

    • Displeasing to ear

      • Clashing notes

  • In Counterpoint

    • Consonant:

      • Unisions, M3, m3, P5, M6, m6, Octaves

    • Dissonant

      • 2nds, 4ths, 7ths, anything augmented or diminished


Finally, here are the types of movement in counterpoint:

  • Contrary

    • Movement in the opposite direction

  • Similar

    • Movement in the same direction but opposite intervals

  • Parallel

    • Movement in the same direction with the same interval

  • Oblique

    • One voice moves while the other stays the same

Jan 25 (notes by Leonidas A.)

Today’s lesson was focused on the Renaissance era’s differences from the Medieval period, how music evolved, and the instruments used during that time. 

Timeline*:

1150-1400 “Medieval” 

1400-1600 “Renaissance” 

1600-1750 “Baroque” 

1750-1820 “Classical” 

1820-1900 “Romantic” 

1900-Current “20th-21st Century Music”

*Note that these dates are not exact and there are always outliers. See Debussy or Beethoven, both who composed music that was more advanced than the “expected” of that time. 

The Renaissance era began around the year 1400 and ended around the year 1600 when opera was invented.

Differences between the Medieval and Renaissance periods

  • “Invention of the Human” & Humanism

    • Humanism was a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasized the potential of human beings and their roles in society

Art

  • Medieval art - See examples  

    • Every object/person was depicted in platonic form

      • Platonic form is what an object/person would look/be like in a higher dimension where everything is perfect and unchangeable

    • Figures are generic and non lifelike

      • Artists did not try to depict the subject as they looked, but again, in platonic form

    • Light was drawn as one directional and flat

    • Artists were not known by name

Renaissance art

  • Accurate renderings of the subject were prioritized

    • Proportions, facial features, ect

  • The subject is a specific person

  • Light was directional and realistic

  • Most artists were known by name

    • Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Giovanni Bellini

Music

  • Post-Gutenberg printing press c.1440

    • Sheet music is able to be copied at much faster rates

      • Music is disseminated outside of church

  • The interval of the third becomes consonant, leading to innovations like triad-like chords. 

  • At the end of the 16th century, secular music overtakes church music in popularity

  • Vocal music is still the most performed type of music

The Renaissance contains many of the roots of the instruments that we use today in the modern orchestra, such as early winds, strings, and keyboards. 

Instruments used during the Renaissance

  • Keyboards

  • Lute

    • Precursor to guitar

    • 5 playable strings - tuned in 4ths

      • Typically many more drone strings

    • Moveable frets

    • Used for solo works and accompanying

  • Viols (Specifically the Viol de Gamba)

    • Bowed string instrument

    • Typically fretted

    • Precursor to modern orchestral string instruments

    • Tuned in 4ths

  • Organ

  • Brass

    • Mostly used in church and cathedrals

    • Early trumpets, cornetts, horns, sackbuts

      • Trumpet

        • Similar to modern trumpet, but no valves

      • Cornett

        • Made with wood, but buzzed into

        • Has holes

      • Sackbut

        • Early trombone

        • One of the only chromatic brass instruments

        • Small bell

  • Woodwinds

    • Recorder

      • Precursor to flutes

      • Made of wood or ivory

  • Voice

    • Still the most dominant “instrument” because of the ease to learn

    • Homophonic and tone paint became more prevalent than complex counterpoint

      • Homophonic -  Everyone sings the same words

      • Tone paint - Music that imitates the words being sung

        • Singing about a sunrise may sound glorious or happy, while singing about death, the music may be dark and descending

Dec 7 (notes by Leonidas A.)

Today’s lesson was focused on the Medieval Era's characteristics, important composers, and history of music notation.

Timeline*:

  • 1150-1400 “Medieval” 

  • 1400-1600 “Renaissance” 

  • 1600-1750 “Baroque” 

  • 1750-1820 “Classical” 

  • 1820-1900 “Romantic” 

  • 1900-Current “20th-21st Century Music”

*Note that these dates are not exact and there are always outliers. See Debussy or Beethoven, both who composed music that was more advanced than the “expected” of that time. 

While the Middle Ages encompassed the 6th to 15th century, we mainly focus on the 9th-15th centuries as it is the start of where music notation became widely recognized and commonly used. 

Some characteristics of Medieval Music:

  • Longest period of western classical music

    • 9th - 15th century

  • Most of the surviving works are sacred music

    • There was certainly secular music, but it was rarely kept in physical form as most of the educated populace were part of the church

  • Many developments happened during this period 

  • All music was modal (diatonic scales & harmony not commonly used in tonal music)

  • Many musicians were illiterate, so music was learned by rote (listening and repeating)

Important Composers

  • Hildegard von Bingen (c. 1098 - 1179)

    • One of best-known composers of sacred monophony

    • One of largest repertories amongst medieval composers

    • One of most influential female composers until romantic era

  • Leonin (fl. 1135 - 1201)

    • First known significant composer of the Organum

    • Worked in the Notre-Dame Cathedral

  • Perotin (fl. c.1200)

    • Also worked in the Notre-Dame Cathedral 

    • Also wrote Organums

  • Walther von der Vogelweide (c. 1170 - c. 1230)

  • Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300 - 1377)

    • Large contributor to Ars Nova style 

  • Baude Cordier (fl. Early 15th Century)

    • Used experimental and artistic patterns in notation systems

Notation during the Medieval Period

The Medieval period is recognized as the period in which western music notation first started becoming standardized and evolved from the ear-to-ear learning that was most common before then.

The earliest form of western notation that was recognized are “Neumes”. Neumes were essentially lines and dots written above words to indicate the general shape of the music. 

Guido of Arezzo (c. 991-992 - after 1033) was the first to improve upon this notation, inventing both the Guidonian Hand Notation system and the Four Line Staff. 

Guidonian Hand Notation:

  • Used joints of the hand to aid in memorization of music

  • Each joint was a different solfege

Four Staff Notation

  • Similar to the shape of the modern staff, but with 4 lines instead of five

  • Used a clef but no key or time signature

  • The notes were tied to the words that were chanted

    • Showed how the syllable should be sung

  • First known use of notes that correspond to pitches