Frédéric GONIN, Some observations on the origins of contrapuntal techniques in Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven

Abstract

Among the different sources that contributed to make the practice of counterpoint
durable in the works of the Viennese classical composers, the teaching based on
Fux’ Gradus ad Parnassum occupies an important position. Reminiscences of this
teaching are numerous and varied in Haydn, Mozart or Beethoven. They concern in
some cases the usage of specific technical processes (rhythms inspired by the
Fuxian species, or writing on a cantus firmus). They may serve as reference to
church music. More often and at a deeper level, they express that strictness of
writing that was to be the force of Viennese classicism and that inspired many later
composers, among which Boëly.