Counterpoint is a musical term for two or more independent melodies performed at the same time. Counterpoint is also called polyphony.
Loading the player...Renaissance music: Franco-Flemish
There are two basic types of counterpoint, imitative and free. In imitative counterpoint, a fragment of a theme called a motive is performed in different parts successively, often overlapping. The song “Three Blind Mice” is an example of imitative counterpoint called a round. Other examples include the canon and the fugue (see Canon; Fugue).
Free counterpoint combines two different melodies. In one type of free counterpoint, melodies are performed over a repeated pattern in the bass part. Compositions of this type include the chaconne and the passacaglia. In another type of free counterpoint, one melody is performed against a countermelody. The German composer Johann Sebastian Bach treated hymns in his chorale preludes in this style.
Counterpoint developed in Europe about A.D. 850. One peak in the use of counterpoint occurred in the 1500’s in the works of William Byrd of England, Giovanni Palestrina of Italy, and the northern European composer Josquin Desprez. Another peak in the use of counterpoint occurred in the 1700’s in the compositions of Bach.
