The Craft of Modal Counterpoint: A Practical Approach - Hardcover

Benjamin, Thomas

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415971713 ISBN 13: 9780415971713

Publisher: Routledge, 2005

Synopsis

"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.

About this title

Review

"Here, at last, is a book that dealt with the modal contrapuntal style in a musical and compositional way... the emphasis is always on the music itself and... on the craft of composing in this style. This is a very significant addition to the library of books on modal counterpoint."

― Dr. Robert Nelson, Professor of Music Theory and Composition, University of Houston

"The author is quite well-respected in the field, known as a composer but even more particularly as a teacher devoted to issues of effective pedagogy. This is a thoughtful and significant contribution to the study of Renaissance (or modal) counterpoint."

― Dr. Sharon G. Levy, Professor of Theory and Composition at Peabody Conservatory

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0415971713
• ISBN 13: 9780415971713
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 202