This book is a sequel to The Homophonic Forms of Musical Composition, which should be studied first. Counterpoint Applied compares in every detail to the system used in The Homophonic Forms.
The first section of the book deals with specific details of contrapuntal discipline - partly because of their inseparable bearing on polyphonic form, and partly as an overview for students not familiar with contrapuntal writing. The remainder of the book gives an exhaustive look at the practical application of polyphonic forms to composition using examples from the classical repertoire.
What You'll Learn in Counterpoint Applied
Section One: The Fundamental Principles of the Simple (Two-Voice) Polyphonic Style
Chapter 1: Condition 1
Chapter 2: Condition 2
Chapter 3: Condition 3
Chapter 4: Development of Thematic Resources and Various Modes of Imitation
Division Two: The Invention-Forms
Chapter 5: The Two Voice Invention
Chapter 6: The Contrapuntal Association of Three
Chapter 7: The Three-Voice Invention
Chapter 8: The Invention for More Than Three Voices
Chapter 9: Free Polyphonic Forms; the Invention as Prelude; the Fantasia, Toccata, Etc.
Division Three: Chorale-Figuration
Chapter 10: The Small Species of Chorale-Figuration
Chapter 11: The Large Species of Chorale-Figuration
Division Four: The Fugue
Chapter 12: The Four-Voice Fugue; the Exposition
Chapter 13: The Fugue With Less or More Than Four
Chapter 14: Miscellaneous Varieties of the Fugue-Form
Chapter 15: The Double Fugue
Chapter 16: The Triple-Fugue
Chapter 17: The Round, or Round-Canon
Chapter 18: The Progressive Canon
Chapter 19: The Two-Voice Canon, Accompanied; Instrumental
Chapter 20: The Canon for More Than Two Parts
Chapter 21: The Double-Canon, Etc.
Chapter 22: Canon as Chorale-Elaboration
Appendix: Klengel: 20 Canons and Fugues
498 pgs.
Please click on the Contents tab above for a detailed Table of Contents for this book.
With The Serious Composer™ series, four of Dr. Goetschius' major works have been re-published and re-edited for easier reading of the material. His recommended order of study is as follows:
- Elementary 18th-19th Century Counterpoint
- The Homophonic Forms of Musical Composition
- Counterpoint Applied
- The Larger Forms of Musical Composition
A good working knowledge of beginning harmony and counterpoint as covered in Applied Professional Harmony 101 and 102 is recommended to get the most out of the books in this series.
About Percy Goetshcius
Richard Rodgers (of Rodgers & Hammerstein) said that Percy Goetschius was to harmony what Gray was to anatomy. Rodgers should know, as Dr. Goetschius was Richard Rodgers' teacher at the school that later became Juilliard.
Dr. Goetschius' list of students was a true Who's Who of composers - and composers whose lives spanned into the early 21st Century. Included among them are: Richard Rodgers, Howard Hanson, Leo Ornstein, Wallingford Riegger, Samuel Gardner, Arthur Loesser, and more. Outside of Nadia Boulanger, it's doubtful that any other single music teacher has had such a profound impact on his students as Percy Goetschius did.
What we know of Dr. Goetschius was found online through the Passaic County Historical Society, Lambert Castle, in Paterson, NJ, USA.
Percy Goetschius is a native Patersonian who has won international fame in the teaching of the theory of composition. Born in this city in 1853, he was a piano pupil of Robert E. H. Gehring, a prominent teacher of that era. Mr. Goetschius was the organist of the Second Presbyterian Church 1868-1870 and of the First Presbyterian 1870-73, and pianist of Mr. Benson’s Paterson Choral Society. He went to Stuttgart, Wurtenberg, in 1873 to study in the conservatory, and soon advanced to the teaching ranks. The King conferred upon him the title of royal professor. He composed much, and reviewed performances for the press. In 1892 he took a like position in the New England Conservatory, Boston, and four years later opened a studio in that city. In 1905 he went to the staff of the New York Institute of Music and Art, headed by Dr. Frank Damrosch. Prof. Goetschius has published nine textbooks on theory, which are accepted as standards in the musical world.
TABLE OF CONTENTS - The Serious Composer™, Vol. 3: Counterpoint Applied
Applied Counterpoint - Introduction
Section One - The Fundamental Principles of the Simple (Two-Voice) Polyphonic Style
Chapter 1 - Condition 1
Conjunct Movement
Disjunct Movement
Permissible Skips
Objectionable Skips, and Exceptions
Active Notes
Exceptions
Where Harmonic Design is Most Apparent
Chapter 2 - Condition 2
Rules for Exclusively Essential Tones
Unessential Tones
Harmonic Influence
I. Diatonic (Within One Key)
II. Chromatic
Modulation
Original Form Without Modulation
Chapter 3 - Condition 3
The Rhythmic Relation of One Part to Another
Chapter 4 - Development of Thematic Resources and Various Modes of Imitation
Repetition
Sequence
Imitation
Strict Imitation
Free Imitation
Unessential Melodic Changes
Essential Melodic Changes
Unessential Rhythmic Changes
Essential Rhythmic Changes
The Contrapuntal Associate
The Stretto
Illustrations of the Genuine Stretto
Division Two - The Invention-Forms
Introductory
The Motive
The Imitations, or Thematic Components
The Counterpoint
The Episodic Components
Chapter 5 - The Two Voice Invention
The First Section
The Second Section
The Third (As Final) Section
Additional Sections
The Invention in Two-Part Song-Form
Part One of the True Two-Part Form
The Second Part
The Invention in Three-Part Song-Form
The Primary Grade
The True Three-Part Form
The "Gigue"
The Invention With Alternating Multiple Motives
The Lyric Invention, With a Long Theme
One's Attitude Toward the Prescribed Tasks
The Natural Species of Double-Counterpoint
Chapter 6 - The Contrapuntal Association of Three Melodic Parts (Voices)
Details of Three-Voice Polyphony
Leading Parts
Chapter 7 - The Three-Voice Invention
The First Section, or Exposition
The Remaining Sections
Other Structural Designs
The Song-Form With Trio
Distinction of "Style" in the Invention
Exceptional Species of the Invention
Chapter 8 - The Invention for More Than Three Voices
Details of Four Voice Polyphony
The Four-Voice Invention
The First Section, or Exposition
Other Structural Designs
The Five-Voice Invention
Chapter 9 - Free Polyphonic Forms; the Invention as Prelude; the Fantasia, Toccata, Etc.
The Prelude
The Toccata
The Fantasia
Mixed Forms, of a General Imitatory Character
Homophonic Forms With Polyphonic Episodes
Division Three - Chorale-Figuration
Introductory
Chapter 10 - The Small Species of Chorale-Figuration
Elaborate Harmonization
Thematic Accompaniment
Independent Pedal-Part
Embellished Cantus Firmus
Motive Derived From Chorale
Three-Voice Elaboration
Five-Voice Elaboration
Chapter 11 - The Large Species of Chorale-Figuration
First Variety: Invention With Chorale
Cantus Firmus in Bass
Cantus Firmus in Tenor
Cantus Firmus in Alto
Cantus Firmus in Alternate Voices
Second Variety: Chorale as Invention-Group
Third Variety: Chorale as Aria
Fourth Variety: Ritornelle with Chorale
Fifth Variety: Chorale-Fantasia
Sixth Variety: Chorale-Invention, or Prelude
Choral Variations
Division Four - The Fugue
Introductory
The Fugue-Subject
The Construction of the "Response"
To Imitate Each Tone of the Subject in the Perfect Fifth
Miscellaneous
Chapter 12 - The Four-Voice Fugue; the Exposition
The Fughetta
The Sectional Form
Additional Miscellaneous Directions
The Song-Forms
The Fugue With Special Design
Chapter 13 - The Fugue With Less or More Than Four Parts; the Three-Voice Fugue
The 2-Voice Fugue
The 5-Voice Fugue
Fugue With Six and More Parts
Chapter 14 - Miscellaneous Varieties of the Fugue-Form; The Concert-Fugue
The Fugue for Other Instruments
The Vocal Fugue
Fugue in Connection with Chorale
The Group (or Motet) Fugue
Irregular Fugue-Species
Kindred Forms
Chapter 15 - The Double Fugue
The Fugue With Thematic Counterpoint
The True Double Fugue
The First Species of Double-Fugue
The Second Species of Double Fugue
Artificial Double-Counterpoint
Other Varieties of Artificial Double-Counterpoint
The Third Species of Double-Fugue
Irregular (4th) Species of Double-Fugue
Chapter 16 - The Triple-Fugue
Quadruple and Quintuple Counterpoint
Division Five - The Canon
Chapter 17 - The Round, or Round-Canon
Chapter 18 - The Progressive Canon
The Two-Voice Canon, Unaccompanied
Other Species
Chapter 19 - The Two-Voice Canon, Accompanied; Instrumental
The Two-Voice Canon, Accompanied; Vocal
Chapter 20 - The Canon for More Than Two Parts
Chapter 21 - The Double-Canon, Etc.
Chapter 22 - Canon as Chorale-Elaboration
"Canonic" Compositions
Appendix - Klengel: 20 Canons and Fugues
498 pgs.