Approaching Renaissance Music Using Taneyev’s Theories of Movable Counterpoint

Abstract

This study situates theories of movable counterpoint by the Russian composer and theorist Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev (1856–1915) against current scholarship on Renaissance music. Analytical approaches that draw upon Taneyev’s theories can lead to rich insights into the inner workings of Renaissance counterpoint, including processes that have hitherto escaped attention. Through reference to specific repertoire examples discussed in recent scholarship, the present study demonstrates how Taneyev’s methodology and terminology can provide a basis for systematic identification of key procedures prevalent in Renaissance music. The article also considers how knowledge of Taneyev’s work can inform an approach that points to new possibilities for analyzing contrapuntal processes operating across fifteenth- and sixteenth-century music.