20 Pahl ⦁ Palestrina introduction Fux writes, “By Aloysius, the master, I refer to Palestrina, the celebrated light of music…to whom I owe everything that I know of this art, and whose memory I shall never cease to cherish with a feeling of deepest reverence.”36 Using Palestrina’s example, Fux instructs his readers on the very foundation of composition—counterpoint. Fux begins his treatise with discussing the nature of scales and intervals, the middle is devoted to counterpoint and fugues, and he concludes with some “comments on various stylistic trends.”37 Throughout his treatise he establishes strict rules for every aspect of contrapuntal composition38 as he teaches the general characteristics of fourteenth-century compositional style. That style included cantus firmus composition, the use of accents and their relationship to consonance and dissonance, what is melodically derived from using modes, and “preparation and resolution.”39 Although Fux based Gradus on Palestrina’s style, the entirety of his work does not accurately represent everything about it, nor was this its original intention. It is interesting to note, that Fux does not use any of Palestrina’s music as examples in his book. Instead, he composes his own excerpts for examples. Fux also prohibited some practices that Palestrina did use while adding other practices influenced by Fux’s own time that were not originally employed.40 Chen observed, “For Fux, the works of Palestrina furnished the material from which he could distill a set of abstract precepts of composition.”41 Although Gradus does not completely adhere to Palestrina’s style, his influence on Fux is very evident throughout. A comparison between Fux’s section within Gradus on counterpoint and Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli reveals the amount that Fux’s ideas drew from Palestrina’s compositional style. Fux first presents note against note or first species counterpoint in his treatise. He defines this technique as each voice moving together with equal length notes using consonant intervals.42 According to Fux, the consonant intervals are the unison, third, fifth, sixth, and octave.43 The fourth can also be consonant depending on its context. As previously discussed, Palestrina used note 36 Fux, 18. 37 Fux, xv. 38 Kramer, 108. 39 Fux, x–xi. 40 Bush, 540. 41 Chen, 7. 42 Fux, 27. 43 Fux, 20.
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