Counterpoint

Counterpoint, the stratification of a musical texture into structurally independent voices, occurs in the domains of rhythm, tonality, and form. In all situations, we recognize the structures of individual voices, and a total structure that results from the combination. The methods of combining structures are similar in rhythm and form. Rhythmic counterpoint is an especially important technique for Brahms, as a number of examples illustrate. Schenker’s concepts of unfolding and horizontalization describe coordination of counterpointed structures in the tonal domain. Formal counterpoint is a more novel concept, but by analogy to rhythmic and tonal counterpoint, we can understand recapitulation-based forms like sonata form and rounded binary as a manifestation of formal counterpoint.