BAIN MUSC 726C
The Canons & Fugues of J.S. Bach
Topics (At a Glance)
Below you will find a listing of the
main topics covered in this course along with links to articles in
Britannica Academic {BA}, the Harvard
Dictionary of Music {HD},
and Grove Music Online {Grove}.
In addition to the assigned course
readings (available in Blackboard), I have designed this brief
summer course around the following three contemporary tonal
counterpoint textbooks (available on reserve in the Music
Library):
1. Benjamin, The Craft of Tonal
Counterpoint (Benjamin 2003)
-*
2. Gauldin, A Practical Approach to Eighteenth-Century
Counterpoint (Gauldin 2013)
3. Kennan, Counterpoint, 4th ed. (Kennan 1999)
* - Primary reference text
Britannica Academic is
available to all South Carolinians via Discus. The USC Music
Library provides students with free electronic access to the Harvard
Dictionary of Music and Grove Music Online. The
USC Music Library provides e-access to Benjamin 2003 via EBSCOhost
{EH}
and ProQuest Ebook
Central. As such, we will use Benjamin 2003 as our primary
reference. Direct links to relevant chapters in Benjamin 2003 are
provided via the EH links below.
- Introduction
- Counterpoint {BA}
- Species Counterpoint {HD;
Grove}
(Gauldin 2004)
- Thoroughbass {BA;
HD;
Grove}
- Harmony {BA;
HD;
Grove}
- Benjamin, Appendix 1: Harmony {EH}
(Benjamin 2003: Appendix 1)
- Motivic Manipulation
- Repetition
- Sequence {HD;
Grove}
- Restatement in a different key
- Melodic mirror
- Rhythmic alteration
- Fragmentation
- Chorale {BA;
HD;
Grove}
- For study:
- Dahn, The Four-Part Chorales of J.S. Bach {Dahn 2021}
- Canon {BA;
HD;
Grove}
- Reading:
- Imitation; Canon {EBSCOhost}
(Benjamin 2003: Ch. 6)
- See also: Gauldin 2013, Ch. 10 & 16;
Kennan 1999, Ch. 8; Historical clefs {WP}
- Terms:
- Contrapuntal Devices
- Imitation {HD;
Grove}
- Inversion {HD;
Grove}
- Augmentation and diminution {HD;
Grove
1; Grove
2}
- Invertible counterpoint {HD;
Grove}
- Double (Invertible) Counterpoint {EH}
(Benjamin 2003: Ch. 5)
- See also: Gauldin 2013:
Ch. 9 & 15 and Kennan 1999: Ch. 9
- For study:
- Canons: BWV 1072-1078; BWV 1086; BWV 1079; BWV 988; BWV
1087
- Fugue {BA;
HD;
Grove}
- Reading:
- Fugue I {EH}
(Benjamin 2003: Ch. 10)
- Fugue II {EH}
(Benjamin 2003: Ch. 11}
- See also: Gauldin 2013:
Ch. 17 & 20 and Kennan 1999: Ch. 15-17
- Terms:
- The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I (1722)
- EXPOSITION
- Subject (S)
- Head motive, tail motive, and link
- Order of entries, e.g., SAS; 213
- Countersubject (CS), or free counterpoint
- Modified entry, incomplete entry, and false entry
- Final entry
- See also: Contrapuntal Devices (above)
- Stretto, overlapped theme entries
- Coda/codetta, or concluding section
- Advanced Topics:
- Counter-exposition
- Multiple subjects
- Double fugue
- Triple fugue
- Multiple countersubjects
- Triple counterpoint
- For study:
- The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I (1722)
- The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II (c.
1742)
- The Musical Offering, BWV 1079 (1747)
- The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080 (1751)
Technical note
The Chrome browser is
recommended for accessing USC electronic resources. Please note
that in addition to a USC network ID and password, VPN
is required to access some resources from off-campus.
Links
Smith,
The Fugues of the
Well-Tempered Clavier (1996), at the
Digital Bach
archive {
YouTube
Channel}
References
Benjamin, Thomas. 2003.
The
Craft of Tonal Counterpoint, 2nd ed. New York: Routledge {
GB;
Full text:
Ebook
Central;
EBSCOhost}
Gauldin, Robert. 2004. "An
Introduction to Species Counterpoint," in Harmonic Practice
in Tonal Music, 2nd ed. New York: Norton, pp. A14-25. {GBd}
Gauldin, Robert. A Practical Approach to
18th Century Counterpoint. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press,
2013/1995). {GB1; Table of
Contents; GB2}
Kennan, Kent. 1999. Counterpoint,
4th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. {GBd;
3rd ed.: Archive.org}
Updated: January 30, 2025
Reginald
Bain | University of South
Carolina | School of
Music
https://reginaldbain/vc/musc726c/