.

Renaissance Counterpoint for Continuo Players

(Preparedby L. Harris 8/23/99)

I.

Introduction

In the period of the birth of bassocontinuo,it is certainly true that musiciansand

composersbega..'1
to think more 'vertically' and less 'horizontally,' meaningthat harmonic
thinking in termsof block chordsbeganto challengethe long-reigningcontrapuntalproceduresof
Renaissancecomposition. This probablyhappenedfor a numberof different reasons,not leastof
which is that it simplified accompaniment,therebymaking self-accompaniedsinging more
practicalas well as freeing more attentionto focus on expressingthe text.
However,the highly evolvedand complex systemof Renaissancecounterpointcould not
havejust disappearedovernight. In fact, despitethe radical challengesthat it sustainedaround
1600,Renaissancecounterpointstill informed how music was madethroughoutthe whole
Baroque(think of music today nearly a century after the 'collapseof tonality'). This is just to
recognizethat in many ways we are coming to the bassocontinuo repertoirefrom the opposite
direction from its composers:the dominantapproachto making music in our day involves
melodiesover chords,whereastheirs was one where individual but inter-dependentpartsmeshed
to form a texture.
It might do us somegood to get somebasicsasto how Renaissancemusic theory worked.
Thoughthe whole corpusof rules is hugeand took yearsto learnand master,we can be selective
and brushon a few topics that are easiestto graspand will offer the most help in understanding
the 'horizontal' componentof bassocontinuorepertoire.
For starters,for a momentprohibit yourself from thinking in vertical harmonies(i.e., "d
minor" doesn't exist yet, no major/minortonality system). Instead,think of eachnote as being
sometype of interval away from the lowest sounding'voice' at any given time.
ll.

Intervals
Thereare threetypes:

A) Perfectconsonances
1) Unisons
2) Octaves
3) Fifths
B) Imperfect consonances
1) Thirds (both major and minor)
2) Sixths (both major and minor)
C) Dissonances
1) Seconds
2) Fourths [!]
3) Sevenths
4) All augmentedand diminishedintervals.
For our purposes,the main thing to know hereis that upperpartsmust be perfector
imperfectconsonances
with the bass. In general,perfectconsonances
tend to begin and end
phrasesand aretreatedwith caresinceparallel motion is hardto avoid (thereare specialways to
approachand leavethem - bestis by $tep-wisecontrarymotion). Imperfectconsonances
are
preferredwithin phrases;they havefewer restrictions.
Dissonancesmust be passingnoteson weak beatsunlessthey undergoa special
procedure:they must be preparedon a weak beat,occur on the following strongbeat,andthen
resolveby one voice moving down a stepon the next weak beat. That meansthat the most
common(upper-voice)dissonancesare 4-3 and 7-6. The dissonance9-8 (or 2-unison)is usually
avoidedsinceit resolvesto the 'empty' octave/unison,however,this one can be resolvedby the

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lower voice going down a step(9-10 or 2-3). Augmented/diminishedintervalswere rarely used,

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Cadences
A.
A 'perfectcadence'hasfour components
(voices):

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There are four diff1~~entia1

doesin the abovecadence:
1. Discant clause:

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3. Tenorclause:

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B.

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2. Alto clause:

4. Bassclause:

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of which is named for what each voice

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An 'imperfect cadence'is one in which the lowest soundingvoice doesnot

perform a Bassclause.
I. The most commonof theseis the 'tenor cadence,'which, predictably,hasa

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2. The versionwherethe half-stepis in the tenor clauseis called a 'mi' cadence

after the solmizationsyllable which is landedupon:

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3. When the descantclauseis in the bass,it's a so-called'descantcadence':

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