Led by Francesco Durante Simulacrum
About this course
"Most American students never get to free counterpoint, and so they never get to the really interesting stuff." — Gjerdingen.
Free counterpoint is the counterpoint of discontiguous connections: a dissonance on beat one of bar three that was prepared on beat one of bar one. The notes between are ornamental. The structural counterpoint happens at the downbeats, across the diminutions.
This is what Durante's students could do by the time they left Naples. The whole curriculum that precedes this course exists to make it possible.
Led by Francesco Durante Simulacrum — maestro dei maestri, teacher of Pergolesi, Piccini, Jommelli, Paisiello, and Traetta.
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Led by Francesco Durante Simulacrum
The question
In strict counterpoint, every rule applies to the next note. In free counterpoint, the connections are between notes separated by many others — the structural voice-leading happens at the strong beats. What remains when the diminutions are removed?
Outcome
The student can identify the structural melody beneath the ornamental surface of a Galant piece.
Sub-units
Led by Francesco Durante Simulacrum
The question
The Galant approach: write the skeleton first (structural notes on the downbeats), then fill in the offbeats with diminutions. What does the skeleton tell you about what the surface can be?
Outcome
The student can produce a two-stage free counterpoint: skeleton then surface.
Sub-units
Led by Francesco Durante Simulacrum
The question
The inner voices of the great Neapolitan operas are countermelodies, not merely accompaniment. How do you write an alto voice that has its own melodic identity and contributes to the texture without competing with the soprano?
Outcome
The student can write three-part free counterpoint with a melodically interesting inner voice.
Sub-units
Led by Francesco Durante Simulacrum
The question
"The models should be so small that you can memorise them." Memorisation is the test of ownership. If you can vary a model, you know it. What does memorisation reveal about a model that reading it does not?
Outcome
The student has memorised a short model and produced two variations.
Sub-units
Led by Francesco Durante Simulacrum
The question
Durante's students could write a long piece — an opera act, a church cantata — that sustains interest from first bar to last, without waiting for inspiration. What did the training give them that talent alone could not?
Outcome
The student can write a complete short piece in three voices and describe why free counterpoint is the culmination of everything that precedes it.
Sub-units