This week you are writing a second voice against a first voice. In much of music history this practice is characterized as Counterpoint. There is a specific set of rules that applies to "Counterpoint" and we will eventually arrive at them through practice, not prescription.
The rules can be understood as governing the horizontal movement and the vertical relationship of tones. Your assignment has constrained you to deal with only three vertical relationships (the minor second, the tritone and the Major Sixth). What you need to consider is two fold
1. Is the new melody beautiful? (Quantification of Beautiful = does it keep the listener interested by contrasting predictable and surprising movement and is there an organic flow/feeling to the melody).
2. Does the new melody serve to support the old melody and at the same time is it unique and interesting of it's own accord?
Your last assignment the challenge was to work out a single line that was beautiful. Questions you could ask yourself are;
1. In what domain (parameters of composition: pitch, timbre, rhythm) is your melody "playing it's game?"
2. Does your melody hold the listeners interest by giving them something to latch on to and surprise them?
3. Does your melody have a shape or contour? How can your new melody combine with old to support and contradict that shape?
Again, there is a long history of counterpoint and you will become increasingly aware of it. I would like you to read the wikipedia entry on Counterpoint. Your written response should indicate what you understand and what raises questions for you in the reading? (Of course you should try to look up answers to questions, but if you can not find an answer, note that. Also, note what questions came up and that you were able to find an answer to).
The other point of your assignment is to listen to some classic counterpoint. To do this you will use the inline resources of the library. You need to go to the Library homepage. On the top right of the page is the "Off Campus Login" click on this and once you have logged in go to the "Article Indexes Databases." From this list select "Naxos Music Library". Once you have arrived at the Naxos Library, look up "DUFAY, G.: Vocal Music (Quadrivium) (Cantica Symphonia)" and listen to track Number 7 - "Anima mea lique facta est"
The cover for this album looks like this
Listen to this a composition (note, this is not a song) a good ten times or so and then answer the following questions
1. How does Dufay achieve independence of the different lines?
2. Describe (Characterize) the form of this piece. [I am looking for you to describe how many sections there are, how do you know where one section begins and another ends? is there material that is repeated?
3. Transcribe (notate)the first 16 seconds. Everything until the first dyad.
