24 Pahl ⦁ Palestrina an organic unity in which the quality of the work is proved.51 Compositional instruction at the end of the eighteenth century focused heavily, if not almost entirely, on counterpoint.52 Fux’s Gradus became a standard text for learning counterpoint and influenced many composers. “Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Rossini, Cherubini, Berlioz, Meyerbeer, Chopin, Paganini, Mendelssohn, Liszt, and Brahms all learned counterpoint by working through the ‘Gradus ad Parnassum.’”53 Haydn taught himself composition using Gradus. He is now known as the Father of the Symphony and the Father of the String Quartet. Mozart and Beethoven were also trained by Gradus. Mozart is considered one of the greatest composers of the Classical era and Beethoven was the main transitionary figure moving the Classical era into the Romantic era. Both Haydn and Mozart used Gradus to teach their own composition students.54 Similar to the way Fux adjusted Palestrina’s counterpoint rules in writing Gradus, Haydn and Mozart kept some standards from Gradus but changed others. “They [Haydn and Mozart] interpreted the model of the mentor [Fux] in the spirit of a later era.”55 Eventually, there was a move away from the traditional teaching of Fux’s Gradus. However, in 1862 Fux’s ideas were revived with the publication of Heinrich Bellermann’s Der Contrapunkt, whose content was derived from Fux.56 In the twentieth century, Gradus itself was revived and translated into modern languages. Gradus ad Parnassum demonstrated Palestrina’s deep influence on Fux. Fux’s treatise became widely influential and was formative to many composers great and small long after its first publication. For centuries after Palestrina’s death, he continued to have an influence on music composition through Fux’s Gradus. Fux’s reference to Palestrina in his introduction to his treatise and the role that Palestrina plays in Fux’s work has kept Palestrina’s name known in the musical world. “More than any other composer of his age or of earlier times, Palestrina’s reputation remained alive when the vast bulk of his contemporaries’ 51 Kramer, 108. 52 Kramer, 108. 53 Bush, 540. 54 Fux, xi–xiii 55 Mann, 64. 56 Mann, 70.
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