gradus ad parnassum excerpts

[pianistimo]

i'm throwing things out again today.  too many papers around the house.  so before i do, i'll copy it here:  1st chapter NOTE AGAINST NOTE

joseph:  you have graciously answered my first question.  now will you tell me also - if you do not mind - what is meant by this first species of counterpoint, note against note?

aloys:  i shall explain it to you.  it is the simplest composition of two or more voices which, having notes of equal length, consists only of consonances.  the duration of the notes is unimportant except that it should be the same for them all.  since the whole note, however, gives the clearest picture, i think we shall employ it in our exercises.  with God's help, then, let us begin composition for two voices.  we take as our basis for this a given melody or cantus firmus, which we invent ourselves or select from a book of chorales:  example  E G F E A G B A G F
to each of these notes, now, should be set a suitable consonance in a voice above; and one should keep in mind the motions and rules which are explained in the conclusion of the foregoing Book.  contrary and oblique motion should be employed as often as possible, since by their use we can more easily avoid mistakes.  greater care is needed in moving from one note to another in direct motion. 

*note:  no augmented, diminished, or chromatic intervals are to be used, nor intervals larger than the fifth (except for the octave and minor sixth, which latter, however should be employed only in an upward direction).  registers too high or too low, skips following each other in the same direction, and skips which are not compensated for subsequently should also be avoided.

**why am i typing all this, you ask?  well, it is like learning chess - of which i haven't yet.  you just keep going over the rules and hope that someday you'll understand everything as you would like.  starting from the beginning is good.

skipping over the questions about who rules parnassus - the next part explains consonances and direct, contrary, and oblique motion.  my daughter wants the computer now - so i'll post the rest of the chapter later.

[thalbergmad]

I understand you perfectly.

Only the other day, my next door neighbours pet earwig was infected with scabies and we had to cover it in the Edition Peters before he would come round.

This is what happens if you use telescopes to try to order groceries from the printers.

Anyway, must go as as my friend over the road wants to melt my garden gate to build an ocean liner.

tata

Thalxxx

[pianistimo]

ok.  the book's probably on project gutenberg.  why do i keep papers like this around?  why are they so hard to throw away?  why don't i have neighbors that want to build oceanliners?  thalbergmad, i'm terribly bored.  i have thrown out papers on this floor, but the basement is a disaster.  i've been putting off cleaning it, but am now going downstairs to face reality.  (it's all my hsubands junk).  we're throwing out the dead wood first.  (saved for bookshelves?)  then, when it's all clean - you can come and visit in june and i'll take you on that bike trail that goes for miles and miles.  hopefully, they'll be a flat screen tv by then downstairs, a big couch, and lots of junk food to make up for the energy expended cycling. 

[thalbergmad]

In life, men store things and women throw them away.

Why don't you leave it as it is.

I hate throwing things away.

[pianistimo]

sentimental value has a different meaning for me now - after magazines and books have piled sky high.  i can't even use closets for their intended purposes without novels falling out.

[quantum]

Hmm.  Aren't the purpose of closets to store things?  Wouldn't you classify a book, novel or magazine as a thing?  So can't we conclude that storing books, magazines and novels in a closet would be using the closet for it's intended purpose - to store things. 

Besides an empty closet is not an efficient use of space. 


This message has been brought to you by the Save our landfills - Keep your stuff campaign   

[pianistimo]

if we kept all of our stuff - we wouldn't be able to walk through the front door let alone find the piano.  but, i see the point about landfills, too.  it's just i don'twant to live in one.