counterpoint

Medieval Latin contrapunctus combines contra (against) and punctus (point). The point — punctus — was the notation mark for a musical note; to set one note against another was to write contrapunctum. The technique of counterpoint — writing multiple independent melodic lines that work together harmonically — is the fundamental organizing principle of Western polyphonic music.

The rules of counterpoint were codified by Johann Joseph Fux in his Gradus ad Parnassum (1725), which established the pedagogical system still used today. Fux defined five species of counterpoint, each adding rhythmic complexity: note against note (first species), two notes against one (second), and so on through syncopation and florid counterpoint. Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven all studied Fux. He shaped the musical grammar of the 18th century.

Johann Sebastian Bach is the supreme master of counterpoint. His Well-Tempered Clavier (1722) and The Art of Fugue (left incomplete at his death in 1750) are monuments of contrapuntal technique. The fugue — the highest form of counterpoint — is a piece built entirely from a single melodic idea (the subject) combined with itself in various transformations, the notes set against themselves in an intricate pattern.

The word counterpoint has moved into general usage: a counterpoint to an argument is a contradictory point that, held together with the first, creates productive tension. The musical term describes any two things placed in productive opposition. The architecture critic and the structural engineer working together are in counterpoint. The metaphor has escaped the musical score.