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I am studying Fux's Gradus Ad Parnassum, and I've gotten to the end of the first species. Before I move on to the second, I'd like to try and write a bunch of cantus firmi that I can then harmonize, for practice. The book left me with many questions about how this might be done, so I looked at a few other books and websites. Now I'm sifting through that information (not all of which is in agreement) and trying to put together a set of guidelines. I still have questions, however, and I'm hoping you can help me with some of them. The first deals with outlined intervals. I have read that augmented, diminished, and seventh intervals are not to be outlined, but the Lydian cantus firmus by Fux outlines an ascending minor seventh between notes 5 and 8: Does this mean the outlined m7 is allowed, but not the M7? Another interval allegedly forbidden in outline is the d5, but there's one in Salzer & Schachter's C Aeolian cantus (figure 1-21c) between notes 5 and 8: Is this a mistake? Or is it just that the CF was purposely not written according to "strict" rules? I've carefully analyzed the cantus firmi of Fux, Jeppesen, Salzer & Schachter, Schoenberg, and Schenker, and these are the only questionable outlined intervals I could find. At this point I am leaning toward formulating my rule for outlined intervals as follows: no augmented intervals, no diminished intervals, (even the d5) and no major seventh intervals, but minor seventh intervals are allowed. Does that seem reasonable? Thanks in advance!
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Hi everyone, I'm studying counterpoint, and I'm using Alfred Mann's translation of the Gradus ad Parnassum. I have a question about cantus firmi. In my music history classes from college, and in some of the books I've read, a cantus firmus is derived from chant. My question is: HOW is a cantus firmus derived? The melodies I have in books of chant are very, very different from the cantus firmi in the Gradus ad Parnassum. Did Fux use a particular method to modify or rework existing chant melodies in order to use them as cantus firmi? If anyone can help me or point me in the right direction, let me know. Thanks in advance, Clayton
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Hey Peeps, I've brought a copy of "The Study of Counterpoint" and I'm slightly stuck on like, the third/fourth page... I fully understand everything so far up to what is Page 31 of my copy, here Joseph has been given the task of writing the counterpoint underneath a Cantus Firmus and I've got completely lost as to how he's doing it. It doesn't help that I can't actually read some of the numbers aswell because the print blotches. This is the example given: What I'm lost how you decide what the interval is... Let's take the fourth bar for example because 1 and 2 are Joseph's mess ups (bless him) and I can't actually read the Interval he's written in number 3 because it's either a 3, 5, 6, or 8. So, in the lower stave of bar 4, there's an F and then there's a D in the higher stave. So basing the interval from the Counterpoint Stave then we have a Major Sixth. But then, if you base the interval from the Cantus Firmus we have a Minor Third. This is where I get confused. What way should I be relating it to? It kinda depends on whether the interval is classed as Perfect or Imperfect. I understand that you're meant to go on the mode of the Cantus Firmus, does that mean I should just be treating the Cantus Firmus as the one that I start counting the interval from? Then I just get confused because he's written "10" instead of simplifying to a Third and stuff like that. Basically I just want to confirm I'm looking at this in the right way? Any help would be awesome! Cheers! Daryl :)
