This is a music theory text that presents a systematic approach to polyphonic composition in the ecclesiastical style of Palestrina. It is designed for use in beginning and intermediate level courses in modal counterpoint and helps students develop a systematic and reliable method to compare individual composers and stylistic trends of the Renaissance. It contains a comprehensive collection of Palestrina's works as well as selections from Lassus. Tear-out exercises can be used in conjunction with the text.
First paperback edition of classic introductory text features history of contrapuntal theory, technical features, "species" exercises in 2-, 3- and 4-part counterpoint; canon, motet, Mass, more. Includes many musical examples.
This volume explores the expressive power of sixteenth-century vocal polyphony, giving special emphasis to the development of aural familiarity with the style. Every element of sixteenth-century counterpoint is defined, described, and liberally illustrated, included for analysis and singing are complete compositions and movements by Palestrina, Lasso, Victoria, Byrd, Morales, and Joaquin.
Covering modal music from Gregorian chant through the seventeenth-century, The Principles and Practice of Modal Counterpoint is a comprehensive textbook combining stylistic composition, theory and analysis, music history, and performance. By supplementing a modified species approach with a wealth of complete musical examples and historical information, this textbook thoroughly joins principle with practice, providing a truly immersive experience in the study of modal counterpoint and familiarizing students with modal repertoire.
A revision of the classic 1964 edition exploring counterpoint techniques beyond the stylistic base of the baroque tradition. This practical 194-page book contains a glossary of terms, a bibliography for further study, and a subject index. There is also an index of musical examples, and the included CDs contain recordings of musical examples from the text. Includes perforated exercise pages for students.
Drawing on decades of teaching experience and the collective wisdom of dozens of the most creative theorists in the country, Michael R. Rogers's diverse survey of music theory--one of the first to comprehensively survey and evaluate the teaching styles, techniques, and materials used in theory courses--is a unique reference and research tool for teachers, theorists, secondary and postsecondary students, and for private study. This revised edition of Teaching Approaches in Music Theory: An Overview of Pedagogical Philosophies features an extensive updated bibliography encompassing the years since the volume was first published in 1984. In a new preface to this edition, Rogers references advancements in the field over the past two decades, from the appearance of the first scholarly journal devoted entirely to aspects of music theory education to the emergence of electronic advances and devices that will provide a supporting, if not central, role in the teaching of music theory in the foreseeable future. With the updated information, the text continues to provide an excellent starting point for the study of music theory pedagogy. Rogers has organized the book very much like a sonata. Part one, "Background," delineates principal ideas and themes, acquaints readers with the author's views of contemporary musical theory, and includes an orientation to an eclectic range of philosophical thinking on the subject; part two, "Thinking and Listening," develops these ideas in the specific areas of mindtraining and analysis, including a chapter on ear training; and part three, "Achieving Teaching Success," recapitulates main points in alternate contexts and surroundings and discusses how they can be applied to teaching and the evaluation of design and curriculum. Teaching Approaches in Music Theory emphasizes thoughtful examination and critique of the underlying and often tacit assumptions behind textbooks, materials, and technologies. Consistently combining general methods with specific examples and both philosophical and practical reasoning, Rogers compares and contrasts pairs of concepts and teaching approaches, some mutually exclusive and some overlapping. The volume is enhanced by extensive suggested reading lists for each chapter.
The only species counterpoint text that draws directly on Renaissance treatises, Modal Counterpoint, Renaissance Style, Second Edition, provides a conceptual framework to guide students through composition and analysis as it teaches them general structural principles. It distinguishes between technical requirements ("hard" rules) and stylistic guidelines ("soft" rules), and includes coordinated exercises that allow students to develop their skills systematically. The second edition integrates improvisation activities and new repertoire examples into many chapters; revises the chapter on three-part writing (Chapter 14) so that it pays more attention to rules and strategies; reworks the chapters on cadences (Chapter 10) and on writing two parts in mixed values (Chapter 11) to make them more accessible to students; incorporates clarified instructions throughout; and includes a summary of rules.
The Oxford History of Western Music is a magisterial survey of the traditions of Western music by one of the most prominent and provocative musicologists of our time. This text illuminates, through a representative sampling of masterworks, those themes, styles, and currents that give shape and direction to each musical age. Taking a critical perspective, this text sets the details of music, the chronological sweep of figures, works, and musical ideas, within the larger context of world affairs and cultural history. Written by an authoritative, opinionated, and controversial figure in musicology, The Oxford History of Western Music provides a critical aesthetic position with respect to individual works, a context in which each composition may be evaluated and remembered. Taruskin combines an emphasis on structure and form with a discussion of relevant theoretical concepts in each age, to illustrate how the music itself works, and how contemporaries heard and understood it. It also describes how the c
Practical work in writing counterpoint! Gauldin emphasizes the acquisition of writing skills in the contrapuntal discipline and the simulation of sixteenth-century sacred polyphonic idioms in this volume. The author follows a didactic method of a non-species or direct approach. While no previous contrapuntal training is necessary to absorb this material, some acquaintance with Baroque polyphonic terminology proves helpful. Key features include: musical examples illustrating specific devices are taken from musical literature or composed by the author; demonstrates the possibility of employing a single given pitch series within the contexts of different compositional techniques; includes a collection of complete or excerpted movements drawn from musical literature at the conclusion of each major textual division; emphasizes Palestrina and the Counter-Reformation sacred style; discusses various compositional procedures of the late Renaissance, including paraphrase, cantus firmus, familiar style, parody, polychoral technique, and chromaticism.
