# Strict counterpoint in music for large ensembles?



## Jord (Aug 13, 2012)

I'm currently writing a piece for an early Classic Orchestra with late Classical/Romantic harmony and when writing I find it hard to ignore rules of counterpoint, when writing for a large ensemble do you adhere to the rules of counterpoint strictly – also remember I am speaking about Classical/Romantic Harmony – or would you ignore it?


----------



## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

What rules are you referring to, Jord? In general, voice-leading should be pretty much the same in that style regardless of the size of the ensemble. Doubling of important parts in several octaves is going to happen more with larger ensembles, but that really isn't a voice-leading issue.


----------



## Jord (Aug 13, 2012)

The problem is that with writing for a lot more instruments I'm also writing more melodies and different parts, and that because there are more parts it makes the harmony hard to get right, for example, the cellos and bass's with the bass part, Violins with a melody, Viola adding in notes to fill out the harmony, then Flutes and Oboes maybe playing a counter melody, then bassoons and clarinets filling out the texture and harmony


----------



## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

If you are using counter melodies and parts filling out the harmony at the same time, you need to watch that non-harmonic tones in the counter melodies aren't conflicting with harmony notes (like, for example, a suspension in the melody against its resolution already present in the harmony). In general though, I would just wonder whether you are cluttering the texture. Is it really necessary to fill out the harmony if you already have a main melody, counter melody, and bass part? Don't these parts adequately define the harmony? And if you do need other parts, could you make them less obtrusive? I would say don't put in anything that isn't necessary. Not every passage needs to be "harmonized."


----------



## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

Why don't you just go ahead and do what YOU want (i.e. follow strict rules or not)? Then decide if you made the right call. It's your piece, not Bruckner's. And if you don't like it, then try it the other way. No one says you got to get it right the first time.

As for your description of post #3, it seems to be what Edward rightly called "cluttered". I'd be careful with information overload. I usually save such dense activity for an important climax.


----------

