Some questions for your consideration: 1] What are the clefs and possible key signature[s] of this three-part contrapuntal piece? 2] What is the harmonic basis for each measure? [example: F minor, root position; C# diminished, first inversion]. 3] Where does the greatest distance between any pair of voices occur? 4] The smallest? 5] Where do accented neighboring tones occur? 6] Where do consonant passing tones occur?
4 comments:
At first glance, it would appear to be Baritone on the bottom and two Trebles in E-flat, but I have a feeling there is more to it than that.
Herr Kapellmeister - indeed it is in baritone and 2 treble clefs, but curiously, the original is in C major, with bass below two soprano clefs. It is apparent, in certain circumstances, that there can be more than one possible answer with regard to the clefs as well as the key signature.
Your solution - baritone and 2 trebles - is simply a transposition up a minor 3rd from bass and 2 sopranos. It is as perfectly readable a solution as the bass/2 sopranos combination. What I mean by 'perfectly readable' is that the clefs in a score are best stacked up in order of register, with the lowest on the bottom, for example, treble above soprano, tenor below soprano, mezzo soprano above bass, bass below tenor, etc. Obviously orchestral familes appear in the score in ascending order by register as well. Our little contrapuntal piece could also be in G major, for example. In G major, the lowest voice would be in tenor clef with the two upper voices in bass clef [sounding below the bottom [tenor] voice and rendering the counterpoint unworkable]. This presents a real challenge in reading - we are so used to piano, choral and string quartet scores, that to suddenly be reading the lowest voices [in the wrong octave no less] ABOVE the lowest notated voice is a feat that would take a lot of practice.
Your solution also reveals that you didn't assume the three clefs had to be three different clefs. I assume you worked from the bass first. If you have a moment, please post a comment as to how you went about it.
If the bottom line were bass clef, which was my initial assumption, the line could stand as correct very easily. The, looking at the middle line, I realized that could NOT be bass clef because of a clash at measure 3. It could not be treble either, as there would be parallel 5ths. I went to the top line and experimented with the idea that the first two notes would work better with a whole step than a half step, which meant another key signature, either E-flat or E. The motion of the top line worked well with the middle line. Then I copped-out and tried to find a way to justify the bottom line against the two uppers and Baritone clef worked. Of course, now it is easy to see that the bass and two soprano clef lines work even more simply. I confess also to being rusty with my clefs and assuming that there might have been a trick up someone's sleeve.
Yes, Kappellmeister - it's obviously all about how the counterpoint either works or doesn't work. You concluded that the bottom two voices couldn't be the same clef, but that the top two voices HAD to be the same clef in order for the piece to work.
It is sensible of you to have tried the lowest voice first - the foundation of the texture - to which all other voices relate structurally.
How did you know the piece couldn't be in a minor key? Also, it hardly appears that you are rusty in clef reading if you were able to figure it out.
To my knowledge, no tricks were up anyone's sleeve, but that is certainly food for thought. Any ideas?
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