The Preservation of "Stile Antico" in the 18th Century and the Reception of "Gradus ad Parnassum"

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36025/arj.v10i1.31434

Keywords:

Johann Joseph Fux, stile antico, counterpoint, 18th Century, Vienna

Abstract

Johann Joseph Fux was not only one of the most prestigious composers of the first half of the 18th century, but also the author of one of the most read and studied music treatises of the period: Gradus ad Parnassum. Nevertheless, the fact that Fux defended the emulation of the stile antico led a significant part of musicologists to underestimate his importance for the development of music in the 18th and 19th centuries. Considering the controversies around Gradus ad Parnassum, the small attention devoted to it and its historical value, this article proposes a reassessment of the reception of this treaty and the preservation of the stile antico. Through this reassessment, it will be possible to expand our understanding of the musical and treatise production of the 18th century, as well as the influence of Fux's work on later generations of musicians and composers.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Caio Amadatsu Griman, Universidade de São Paulo (USP)

Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Caio Amadatsu Griman is a master’s student in historical musicology at the University of São Paulo (2021) under the guidance of Professor Mônica Isabel Lucas. From August 2022 to January 2023, he was a visiting researcher at the Institute of Musicology at the University of Vienna. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Music (majoring in Composition) from the Institute of Arts at UNESP in 2020. He is currently supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for his master’s research. He has participated in congresses and symposiums and has published articles in nationally and internationally recognized journals.

Monica Isabel Lucas, Universidade de São Paulo (USP)

Mônica Isabel Lucas is Graduated in Music at the University of São Paulo (USP) and specialized in the interpretation of early music at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague (Holland), obtaining Diplomas in recorder and historical clarinets. She completed her doctorate in Musicology (early music) at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). She is currently associate professor at the Department of Music at School of Communications and Arts, University of São Paulo (ECA-USP). Her academic-musical work involves research and reflection on taste and style in the repertoire of the 18th century and includes, in addition to books and articles on Eighteenth-Century music, musical practice. Since its foundation, she has been the artistic director of the Early Music Orchestra of USP, focused on academic-musical partnerships with historically oriented musicians from Argentina, Uruguay and Chile.

References

BACH, Carl Philipp Emanuel. Brief C. P. E. Bachs an J. N. Forkel in Göttingen. Hamburg: 1775. Disponível em: https://jsbach.de/bachs-welt/dokumente/1775-13-januar-hamburg-brief-c-p-e-bachs-j-n-forkel-goettingen. Acesso em: 09/06/2022.

BELLERMANN, Heinrich. Der Contrapunkt. Berlin: Julius Springer, 1901.

BENT, Ian. Steps to Parnassus: contrapuntal theory in 1725 precursors and successors. In: Thomas Christensen (ed.). The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory. 2002, pp.p. 554- 602.

CLEMENT, Albert. ‚Gradus ad Lipsias’. Zum FuxVerständnis in Bachs Kreisen. In: ERHARDT, Tassilo (org.). Sakral im Habsburgerreich 1570-1770. Viena: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie, 2013, p. 53-68.

FEDERHOFER, Hellmut. 25 Jahre Johann Joseph Fux Forschung. In: Acta Musicologica, v. 52, n. 2, p.155-194, 1980.

FEDERHOFER, Hellmut. Johann Joseph Fux und die gleichschwebende Temperatur. In: Die Musikforschung, v.41, n.1, p. 9-15, 1988, 41.

FEDERHOFER, Hellmut; MANN, Alfred. Fux’s “Gradus ad Parnassum” as Viewed by Heinrich Schenker. In: Music Theory Spectrum, v. 4, p. 66-75, 1982.

FUX, Johann Joseph. Practical Rules for Learning Composition. Trad. HECK, J. C. London: J. Preston, 1768.

FUX, Johann Joseph. Salita al Parnasso, o sia Guida alla regolare composizione della musica con nuovo, e certo metodo non per anche in ordine sì esatto data alla luce. Trad. MANFREDI, Alessandro. Carpi: Nella Stamperia del pubblico per il Carmignani, 1761.

FUX, Johann Joseph. Traité de composition musicale, fait par le célébre Fux. Trad. DENIS, Pietro. Paris: M. Boyer, 1773.

FUX, Johann Joseph; MAN, Alfred (ed.). 1971. The Study of Counterpoint from Johann Joseph Fux’s Gradus ad Parnassum. 3. ed. New York, London: W. W. Norton.

FUX, Johann Joseph; WOLLENBERG, Susan. Gradus ad Parnassum’ (1725): Concluding Chapters. In: Music Analysis, v. 11, n. 2/3, Alexander Goehr 60th Birthday Issue, p. 209-213, 215-243, 1992.

HOCHRADNER, Thomas; WHITE, Harry. Fux, Johann Joseph. Grove Music Online, 2001.

JONES, David Wyn. Music in Vienna 1700, 1800, 1900. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2016.

KURTH, Ernst. Grundlagen des Linearen Kontrapunkts Einführung in Stil und Technik von Bach’s melodischer Polyphonie. Bern: Akademische Buchhandlung von Max Drechsel, 1917.

LESTER, Joel. The Fux-Mattheson Correspondence: An Annotated Translation. In: Current Musicology, v. 24, p. 37-62, 1977.

MANN, Alfred. Beethoven’s Contrapuntal Studies with Haydn. In: The Musical Quarterly, v.56, n. 4, Special Issue Celebrating the Bicentennial of the Birth of Beethoven, p. 711-726, 1970.

MANN, Alfred. Johann Joseph Fux’s Theoretical Writings: a Classical Legacy. In: WHITE, Harry (ed.). Johann Joseph Fux and the Music of the Austro-Italian Baroque. Routledge, 2017. Kindle edition.

MATTHESON, Johann. Criticae Musicae. Tomus II. Hamburgo: 1725.

MIZLER, Lorenz. WHITE, Harry. Johann Joseph Fux and the Imperative of Italy. In: Schriftenreihe Analecta musicologica. Veröffentlichungen der Musikgeschichtlichen Abteilung des Deutschen Historischen Instituts in Rom, v. 52, 2015.

MIZLER, Lorenz. Musikalische Bibliothek. Oder Gründliche Nachricht nebst unpartheyischen Urtheil von Musikalischen Schriften und Büchern. Vierter Theil. Leipzig: 1738.

MIZLER, Lorenz. The Musical Discourse of Servitude: Authority, Autonomy, and the Work-Concept in Fux, Bach and Handel. Oxford University Press, 2020. Kindle edition.

MIZLER, Lorenz. Vorrede zum Gradus ad Parnassum. In: FUX, Johann Fux. Gradus ad Parnassum. Leipzig: 1742.

RIEMANN, Hugo. Geschichte Der Musiktheorie Im IX.-XIX. Jahrhundert. Leipizg: Max Hesse’s Verlag, 1898.

WAGNER, Richard. Was ist deutsch? In: Bayreuther Blätter, p. 29-52, 1878.

Published

17-05-2023

How to Cite

GRIMAN, C. A.; LUCAS, M. I. The Preservation of "Stile Antico" in the 18th Century and the Reception of "Gradus ad Parnassum". Art Research Journal: Revista de Pesquisa em Artes, [S. l.], v. 10, n. 1, 2023. DOI: 10.36025/arj.v10i1.31434. Disponível em: https://periodicos.ufrn.br/artresearchjournal/article/view/31434. Acesso em: 23 jul. 2024.

Issue

Section

Dossier: Theories, Poetics and Practices of Early Music