• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • About
  • Symposium
  • Hymnal
  • Jogues Missal
  • Site Map
  • Donate
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.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

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

Subscribe to the CCW Mailing List

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).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • Gorgeous Book

If there is a more beautiful book than Abbat Pothier’s 1888 Processionale Monasticum, I don’t know what it might be. This gorgeous tome was today added to the Saint John Lalande Online Library. I wish I owned a physical copy.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“It is difficult to imagine a more unjust situation than abortion, and it is very difficult to speak of obsession in a matter such as this, where we are dealing with a fundamental imperative of every good conscience—the defense of the right to life of an innocent and defenseless human being.”

— Pope St. John Paul II

Recent Posts

  • “Gregorian Chant Not In Danger Pope Tells French”
  • PDF Download • “O Salutaris” (Modern Setting)
  • Summer Ward Method Courses • CUA 2022
  • PDF Download • 2022 “Vespers Booklet” (99 Pages)
  • “Playing the Pipe Organ” • By Richard Nixon

Copyright © 2022 Corpus Christi Watershed · Gabriel Lalemant on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.