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Views from the Choir Loft

Jeff Ostrowski • “Three Rules For Good Music”

Jeff Ostrowski · September 7, 2020

F COURSE IT’S POSSIBLE I may change my mind tomorrow, but I would like to propose three “rules for good music” as follows: (1) Mysterious Balance; (2) Following Rules; (3) Melodic & Contrapuntal Contours. The first rule (“mysterious essence”) is the most difficult, because it deals with the magical essence of what makes music sound good: knowing just how frequently to repeat a theme, how much the ear desires certain textures, how quickly the harmonic rhythm should change, how much chromaticism to use, and so forth. Even the greatest musicologists struggle with this one! As Franz Liszt declared: “It is easy to say that you like a piece of music, but very difficult to explain why a piece of music is great.”

The second rule (“following the rules”) is simple and straightforward. Music must follow the rules of the genre: if it be 18th-century counterpoint, a whole bunch of rules must be followed; the same for 16th-century counterpoint; the same for modal chant harmonies; the same for the classical period (such as Haydn, Mozart, and early Schubert); and so forth.

The third rule is what I will speak of today. There are accepted rules for how to write a good melody. We talk about those rules each year during the Sacred Music Symposium. Furthermore, we have often talked about how “mathematical” is music by Renaissance masters such as Father Guerrero, Father Morales, Father Victoria, Marenzio, Palestrina, Lassus, and all the rest. But we have not spoken too much about Baroque music, so let’s do that today.

Example from the Baroque

A few days ago, I posted a recording by Daniel Chorzempa of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor (BWV 582), which many musicians consider to be the most powerful and magnificent organ composition of all time. That piece falls into two sections: The PASSACAGLIA itself, and the FUGUE. (A “passacaglia” is a type of composition similar to a “chaconne”—basically the bass line repeats as an ostinato.)

Look at the counter-subject Bach uses at the beginning of the piece:

Now look at the counter-subject Bach uses for the Fugue:

Do you see how it’s a “mirror image” of the way Bach introduced the piece? That is to say, “upside down” he begins the second half of the piece. Relationships such as these add depth and interest to great masterpieces.

Please let me know if you think I’m correct in the Facebook combox. Thanks!

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: C Minor Passacaglia, Johann Sebastian Bach Last Updated: September 7, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

    Hymn by Cardinal Newman
    During the season of Septuagesima, we will be using this hymn by Cardinal Newman, which employs both Latin and English. (Readers probably know that Cardinal Newman was one of the world's experts when it comes to Lingua Latina.) The final verse contains a beautiful soprano descant. Father Louis Bouyer—famous theologian, close friend of Pope Paul VI, and architect of post-conciliar reforms—wrote thus vis-à-vis the elimination of Septuagesima: “I prefer to say nothing, or very little, about the new calendar, the handiwork of a trio of maniacs who suppressed (with no good reason) Septuagesima and the Octave of Pentecost and who scattered three quarters of the Saints higgledy-piddledy, all based on notions of their own devising!”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3). I'm not a fan of chant in octaves, but we had such limited time to rehearse, it seemed the best choice. After all, everyone should have an opportunity to learn “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium,” which summarizes Candlemas.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

It is clear the Church is facing a grave crisis. Under the name of “the new Church” and “the post-conciliar Church,” a different Church from that of Jesus Christ is now trying to establish itself: an anthropocentric society threatened with imminent apostasy which is allowing itself to be swept along in a movement of general abdication under the pretext of renewal, ecumenicism, or adaptation.

— Cardinal Henri de Lubac (29 August 1967)

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