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Baroque Counterpoint
This informative book teaches writing and understanding Baroque counterpoint. Unique in approach, Baroque Counterpoint uses extensive quotations and examples from contemporaneous treatises; the authors explain the principles underlying the compositional techniques of the period, introducing readers to the widest range of composers of any of the books on the market today. It emphasizes singing and improvisation as well as writing. The book is divided into two comprehensive parts, the strict style and the free style. Step-by-step exercises lead to writing fugue, the apotheosis of Western music. An excellent desk reference for musicians and composers.
- GenresMusic
374 pages, Spiral-bound
First published December 15, 2005
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 28, 2018
Overall, this book is definitely a good effort and a lot can be learned from it.
I must especially praise the references to historical sources, the well thought-out structure and the large number of aspects addressed.
It could have been made far better, though, and it is a shame that it did not rise to its potential.
For one, the book is often redundant, citing a historical source only to paraphrase it immediately where no explanation would have been necessary, defines techniques without giving any advice or guidance on them, lists subject-types without examples and most importantly fails to give guidance on important aspects of melodic writing, as the focus lies too narrowly on the harmonic aspects.
Further annoyances are the publisher's insolence of charging 140$ for a spiral-bound (!!) soft cover (!!) book with paper so thin, that the ink shows through on the other side of the page (!!!) or the use of strings of characters (such as ****, ''''' and ----) to graphically represent structures instead of putting a bit more effort in order of having a more pleasing representation.
I must especially praise the references to historical sources, the well thought-out structure and the large number of aspects addressed.
It could have been made far better, though, and it is a shame that it did not rise to its potential.
For one, the book is often redundant, citing a historical source only to paraphrase it immediately where no explanation would have been necessary, defines techniques without giving any advice or guidance on them, lists subject-types without examples and most importantly fails to give guidance on important aspects of melodic writing, as the focus lies too narrowly on the harmonic aspects.
Further annoyances are the publisher's insolence of charging 140$ for a spiral-bound (!!) soft cover (!!) book with paper so thin, that the ink shows through on the other side of the page (!!!) or the use of strings of characters (such as ****, ''''' and ----) to graphically represent structures instead of putting a bit more effort in order of having a more pleasing representation.
Displaying 1 of 1 review