The Classical Music Book

108

BACH IS LIKE AN

ASTRONOMER WHO ...

FINDS THE MOST

WONDERFUL STARS

THE ART OF FUGUE (1751),

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

I

n contrast to later music that

frequently depended on a

single melody line over a series

of harmonies, Baroque music was

often constructed by combining

a number of independent and

interlacing melody lines, or

voices. This technique, known as

counterpoint, allowed composers

to create works of overwhelming

complexity and drama, reflecting

the richness of other contemporary

art forms. However, it also required

consummate skill to compose long

spans of music with sufficient

variety and interest.

The rise of the Classical style,

and its emphasis on simplicity and

preference for more slowly changing

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Baroque counterpoint

BEFORE

c. 1606–1621 Sweelinck

composes the Fantasia

chromatica, one of the first

works to demonstrate

contrapuntal development

of a single subject.

1725 Fux publishes Gradus

ad Parnassum (“Steps to

Parnassus”), which includes

exercises in how to write

fugues. Mozart later studied

this work.

AFTER

1837 Mendelssohn publishes

Six Preludes and Fugues,

Op. 35, demonstrating the fugue

as a viable Romantic genre.

1910 Busoni publishes the

Fantasia contrappuntistica, a

homage to The Art of Fugue

which includes a postmodern

completion of its last fugue.

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