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In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. [1] The term originates from the Latin punctus contra punctum meaning "point against point", i.e. "note against note".
The Latin phrase gradus ad Parnassum means "a step towards Parnassus". [1] It is sometimes shortened to gradus. Parnassus is the prominence of a mountain range in central Greece, a few kilometres north of Delphi, of which the two summits, in Classical times, were called Tithorea and Lycoreia.
Descant is a type of medieval polyphony characterized by relatively strict note-for-note counterpoint.It is found in the organum with a plainchant tenor (i.e. low voice; vox principis), and in the conductus without the requirement of a plainchant tenor.
Unless specified, the terms are Italian or English. The list can never be complete: some terms are common, and others are used only occasionally, and new ones are coined from time to time. Some composers prefer terms from their own language rather than the standard terms listed here.
1. The period of English history that spanned the reign of Elizabeth I, Queen of England and Ireland (1558–1603). Elizabeth was the last monarch of the Tudor period, and the Elizabethan era is often depicted as a golden age in English history, an age of economic growth, naval supremacy, and national pride. 2.
In music, counterpoint is a texture involving the simultaneous sounding of separate melodies or lines "against" each other. Counterpoint may also refer to: Music
[clarification needed] The cancrizans, and often the mensuration canon, take exception to the rule that the follower must start later than the leader; that is, in a typical canon, a follower cannot come before the leader (for then the labels 'leader' and 'follower' should be reversed) or at the same time as the leader (for then two lines ...
In music, an invention is a short composition (usually for a keyboard instrument) in two-part counterpoint. (Compositions in the same style as an invention but using three-part counterpoint are known as sinfonias. Some modern publishers call them "three-part inventions" to avoid confusion with symphonies.)