16th-Century Contrapuntal Style

The polyphonic music of the 16th century — exemplified above all by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina — represents one of the most refined and consistent styles in Western music history. Its central aesthetic is a seamless flow of consonance punctuated by carefully controlled dissonance. Melodic lines are predominantly stepwise, with leaps reserved for strong moments and always compensated by motion in the opposite direction. The overall texture is smooth and vocal, reflecting the fact that this music was conceived for unaccompanied choir.

Dissonance treatment in Palestrina style follows species counterpoint principles closely. Passing tones and neighbor tones appear on weak beats and are always approached and left by step. Suspensions — particularly 7-6, 4-3, and 9-8 — are abundant, especially at cadences, where they create the expressive tension that makes the resolution of a cadence emotionally satisfying. The "nota cambiata" (changing-note figure) and various escape tones are idiomatic exceptions that were used consistently enough to become recognized formulas.

Cadences in 16th-century style typically involve a suspension leading to a ♯7̂ (raised leading tone) in the tenor or soprano, creating a clausula vera — a two-voice formula in which the leading tone resolves up to the octave while another voice descends a step. In four-voice writing, all voices cadence together, and the outer voices (soprano and bass) frequently move in contrary motion to a unison or octave. Learning to write in this style develops sensitivity to voice leading, dissonance resolution, and the cumulative effect of many small contrapuntal decisions.