YEARBOOK OF THE ALAMIRE FOUNDATION

112 THOMAS HOLME HANSEN
mination will limit itself to some preliminary observations on a number of general
issues related to these works.
Jeppesen’s book was based on his doctoral dissertation, with which he obtained
his doctorate in 1922 at the University of Vienna, and a couple of years later at the
University of Copenhagen. 2 His dissertation at that time represented a pioneer and
unique example of scientifically based stylistic analysis, and it was quickly disseminated
to both German- and English-speaking fora. 3 Regarding the work, Jeppesen
himself wrote: “My book on the style of Palestrina … was exclusively a historical
study of style, although the conclusions necessarily have pedagogical importance
because of the close relation of the subject to contrapuntal theory”. 4 When, in addition,
he learnt that the work was being used as a manual in counterpoint at some
German universities, 5 he wrote his well-known textbook. Originally published in
Danish, the work was soon translated into German and English, and later into at least
five other languages, probably making it the most widely disseminated counterpoint
textbook of the twentieth century. 6
For the present survey a selection of about thirty-five textbooks on sixteenthcentury
counterpoint has been made, containing a representative part of Anglo-
American, German and Scandinavian works and including the titles most often
referred to internationally (see the Appendix: A Chronology of Twentieth-Century
Textbooks on Sixteenth-Century Counterpoint). 7 In order to provide the most relevant
frame of reference for Jeppesen’s work, the selection is made up only of books
dealing with the polyphonic vocal counterpoint of the sixteenth century – but indeed,
2 Cf. T.H. HANSEN, Danske doktordisputatser i musikvidenskab – en fortegnelse og et tillæg i anledning af
100-året for Angul Hammerichs disputats [Danish Doctoral Dissertations in Musicology – A Catalogue and
a Supplement on the Occasion of the Centenary of Angul Hammerich’s Dissertation], in Cæcilia, (1992/1993),
pp. 233–264, especially pp. 243–248; and T.H. HANSEN, art. Jeppesen, Knud (Christian), in L. FINSCHER
ed., Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 2nd rev. ed., Personenteil, 9, Kassel – Basel, 2003, cols. 1019–
1021.
3 K. JEPPESEN, Palestrinastil med særligt Henblik paa Dissonansbehandlingen, Copenhagen, 1923; Der
Palestrinastil und die Dissonanz, Leipzig, 1925; The Style of Palestrina and the Dissonance, Copenhagen –
London, 1927; 2nd rev. ed. Copenhagen – London, 1946; republ. with minor corrections New York, 1970.
In Vienna Jeppesen had carried out his studies under the guidance of Guido Adler, resulting no doubt in far
more publicity than would have been the case, if the work – as it was Jeppesen’s original intention – had been
defended at the University of Copenhagen.
4 K. JEPPESEN, Counterpoint. The Polyphonic Vocal Style of the Sixteenth Century, New York, 1939, p. ix.
5 Ibidem.
6 K. JEPPESEN, Kontrapunkt (Vokalpolyfoni), Copenhagen – Leipzig, s.a. [1930], 2nd rev. ed. 1946 (repr.
1962, 1968, 1993); Kontrapunkt. Lehrbuch der klassischen Vokalpolyphonie, Leipzig, 1935, rev. ed. Leipzig,
1956 (repr. 1985 11 ); Counterpoint. The Polyphonic Vocal Style of the Sixteenth Century, New York, 1939,
London, 1950 (repr. 1992). Regarding the translations into Japanese (1955), Rumanian (1967), Finnish (1972),
Hungarian (1975) and Greek (1990), cf. HANSEN, Knud Jeppesens ‘Kontrapunkt’, p. 37.
7 In the following general reference will be made to this appendix, using the author’s name and the year of
publication. The works of Wilhelm Hohn (1918) and Otto Fiebach (1921), pre-dating Jeppesen’s with a few
years, are included in the Chronology since they incorporate the word ‘Palestrina counterpoint/-style’in their
titles – apparently for the first time in twentieth-century textbooks.