Definition
Four-part counterpoint is the "full" texture of vocal polyphony (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) and of tonal writing. While SATB writing (already covered) starts from the chords and connects the voices, four-part counterpoint starts from the lines: each voice is a melody with its own profile, rhythm and logic, and the harmony arises from their sum. It is the language of Palestrina (Missa Papae Marcelli), of Renaissance motets, of Bach's four-voice fugues and of Classical string writing.
The priorities, in order
- Outer voices first: soprano and bass are the "frame". Write them in contrary or oblique motion as often as possible.
- Complete chords on strong beats: with four voices you can have root, third and fifth plus a doubling (usually the root).
- Rhythmic independence: do not make all the voices move together. In Renaissance polyphony each voice enters at a different moment (points of imitation); in the fugue the free voices counterpoint the subject with complementary rhythms.
- Spacing: between soprano–alto and alto–tenor at most an octave; between tenor and bass even a twelfth or more.
- Rests: in true four-part counterpoint the voices rest. A voice that is silent for a few bars and then re-enters (often with the subject or a thematic head) makes the re-entry audible.
Motion rules
- No parallel fifths and octaves between any of the six pairs of voices (S–A, S–T, S–B, A–T, A–B, T–B).
- Hidden octaves/fifths between the outer voices only with the soprano moving by step.
- Avoid having all four voices leap in the same direction.
- Dissonances (passing tone, neighbor tone, suspension, anticipation, cambiata) behave as in the species: prepared, resolved by step, on the weak beat except for suspensions.
Renaissance style vs. tonal style
| Aspect | Renaissance (Palestrina) | Tonal (Bach) |
|---|---|---|
| Basis | modes, consonances, suspensions | T–S–D functions, cadences |
| Dissonance | strictly regulated | freer, dominant sevenths, diminished chords |
| Rhythm | fluid, without strong metric accents | regular meter, defined harmonic rhythm |
| Texture | continuous imitation, points of imitation | fugue, figured chorale, counterpoint over a bass |
Example (beginning of a point of imitation in C Ionian)
- Soprano enters in bar 1 with C–D–E–C (half notes), then continues freely.
- Alto enters in bar 2 a fourth below (G–A–B–G).
- Tenor in bar 3 an octave below the soprano (C–D–E–C).
- Bass in bar 4 like the alto, an octave lower (G–A–B–G).
Each new entry finds the other voices in free counterpoint; in bar 5 you arrive at a cadence on C with the tenor descending D–C and the soprano B–C (soprano and tenor clausulas, as in Renaissance cadences).
Real examples
- Palestrina, Missa Papae Marcelli (published in 1567): alternation of imitation and homorhythmic passages to make the text understandable.
- Josquin des Prez, Ave Maria… virgo serena: imitation in pairs of voices.
- Bach, Fugue in C major BWV 846 (The Well-Tempered Clavier I): a four-voice fugue built almost entirely on stretti.
- Barber, Adagio for Strings: four/five-part counterpoint in the strings, long overlapping lines.
Exercise for a producer
- Write a 4-bar ostinato in the bass (channel "Cello"), then a soprano in contrary motion.
- Add tenor and alto as lines, not as filler: give them a different rhythm and at least one held note that becomes a suspension (7–6 or 4–3).
- Silence one voice for 2 bars and bring it back with the head of the soprano melody: hear how the re-entry becomes an event.
- Check the voice pairs for parallels with an analysis tool (for example the "ghost notes" view of the piano roll).
Related topics
Four-part SATB writing, Three-part counterpoint, Voice-leading rules, Fugue, The Bach chorale, Sacred forms: mass and motet.