The art of combining two or more independent melodic lines that harmonize with each other while maintaining their individual character and movement.
From Medieval Latin contrapunctus, literally 'against the point,' where 'point' referred to a note. The term described adding notes 'against' an existing melody, creating polyphonic texture.
Counterpoint is like having a musical conversation where everyone talks at once but somehow creates perfect sense—Bach's fugues are the ultimate example, with multiple voices weaving in and out, each telling its own story while contributing to a magnificent whole! It's so mathematically precise that some computer scientists study Bach's counterpoint to understand complex algorithms.
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