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Contrapuntal   Listen
Contrapuntal

adjective
1.
Relating to or characteristic of or according to the rules of counterpoint.
2.
Having two or more independent but harmonically related melodic parts sounding together.  Synonym: polyphonic.





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"Contrapuntal" Quotes from Famous Books



... Lawes there is scarcely a trace: that belonged to an era of experiments. The strongest and most original of his immediate predecessors, Pelham Humphries, influenced him chiefly by showing him the possibility of throwing off the shackles of the dead and done with. The contrapuntal formulas and prosaic melodic contours, to be used so magnificently by Handel, were never allowed to harden and fossilise in Purcell's music. Even where a phrase threatens us with the dry and commonplace, he gives it a miraculous twist, or adds a touch of harmony that transforms it from a ...
— Purcell • John F. Runciman
... memorable concerts of which we have previously spoken, Bach forgot both time and engagements. When he returned to Arnstadt, the spirit of Buxtehude was upon him. Henceforth the quiet people of Arnstadt knew no rest. Variations, subtle, beautiful, a refined and fuller contrapuntal treatment, mingled with the chorale. The conservatism of Arnstadt received a severe shock—a dreadful experience, doubtless, to the quiet German town. Such genius could come to no good end, and so the consistory ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, v. 13 • Various


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