Walter Maisel

Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Aarden, Bret

Keywords

Schoenberg, Algoriythm, Counterpoint

Area of Concentration

Music

Abstract

Arnold Schoenberg's Preliminary Exercises in Counterpoint, a method for learning to compose counterpoint in a modern tonal style, was published in 1963. In it, Schoenberg criticizes the use of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina's music as a model for counterpoint. Despite this, his method uses the cantus firmus and rhythmic species techniques associated with Johannes Fux's Gradus ad Parnassum, a central text in contrapuntal pedagogy that is closely associated with Palestrina's music. Schoenberg also completes some exercises demonstrating the rules he has given. A computer program that is intended to encapsulate all of Schoenberg's rules for two voice, first species counterpoint has been used to analyze some of these examples and compose its own. This program's analysis and compositions help to highlight certain issues with Schoenberg's rules and show that he often did not follow them completely. Why, given that he treats his own rules so fluidly, Schoenberg might teach counterpoint using these strict pedagogical devices becomes clearer. Schoenberg's preference for proceeding "systematically" meant that each option must be tried in turn. The cantus firmus and rhythmic species techniques enabled him to do that more easily, and allowed the student to learn this fluid approach first with simple problems first.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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