Full Description
"The Craft of Modal Counterpoint" is the companion book to Benjamin's "The Craft of Tonal Counterpoint," recently republished in a second edition by Routledge. Modal counterpoint is the style of composition that was employed until the "tonal" revolution pioneered by Bach; it is the basis for most Early Music.
Benjamin, a composer and pedagogue, offers a complete analysis of this important musical style. He begins by covering general aspects of the style, then covers in detail two, three, and four-part counterpoint. The Motet, an important form of vocal composition in this period, is studied separately. The book concludes with a brief anthology of key scores, 15 in all, for the student to study further. Also includes 132 musical examples.
Contents
1. General Stylistic Aspects
Texture
Text Setting
Notation and Performance Practice
Rhythm and Meter
Note Values
Rests
Dots and Ties
Harmony
General Observations
Accidentals (Musica ficta)
Cadences
Chords
Melody
General Observations
Intervals and Treatment of Leaps
Other Aspects of Melody
Typical Quarter-Note Idioms
2. Two-Voice Counterpoint
General Observations
Rhythm
Texture
Phrase and Form
Motivic (Thematic) Organization
Technical Details
Motion Relationships
Intervallic Relationships
Cadential Idioms
Comments on Two-Voice Composition
Imitation in Two-Voice Texture
General Observations
Invertible Counterpoint at the Octave
Invertible Counterpoint at the Twelfth
3. Three-Voice Counterpoint
General Observations
Texture and Rhythm
Harmony
Dissonance Treatment
Cadential Idioms
Imitation
Comments on Imitation
Comments on Three-Voice Composition
4. Counterpoint in Four Voices
5. The Motet
General Observations
Imitation
Comments on Motet Writing
Suggestions for Further Study
Appendix: An Anthology of Complete Works
Bibliography
Discography
Index
