In music, a melody or musical line that contrasts with or complements a main melody (also called counterpoint).
From Italian contrappunto, from contra- (against) + punto (point, from Latin punctus). The term literally means 'against the point' and developed in Renaissance music theory to describe multiple independent melodies played together.
Bach's Art of the Fugue is the ultimate expression of counterpointe—he took the idea of multiple melodies weaving against each other and created mathematical masterpieces where every voice has equal importance, something revolutionary for its time.
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