Tonsatz

What it means

In the broader sense, Tonsatz designates the elaborated, written-down shape of a composition — the fabric of voices, sonorities, and rhythms as it stands in the notated text. In the narrower sense, Tonsatz is the name of a school subject that combines harmonic theory and counterpoint and conveys the craft basics of composing.

Musical use

As a subject, Tonsatz encompasses the writing of polyphonic settings in various historical styles: chorale settings in Bach's style, the counterpoint of vocal polyphony, song accompaniments in the Romantic style, occasionally also twentieth-century procedures. The aim is not primarily one's own composition but understanding how music is built. Whoever can write a setting in the style of a period understands that music from the inside, and this feeds directly back into analysis, interpretation, and the ear.

In the language of music description, “Tonsatz” also means the way a piece is written: whether it is laid out homophonically or polyphonically, how many voices it has, how densely or transparently it is set. In this sense one speaks of a four-part, a contrapuntal, or a chordal texture.

Tonsatz is to be distinguished from composition in the sense of invention: the latter comprises the creative idea, the former the craft of its elaboration. And it differs from music theory as a whole, since that also includes acoustics, formal theory, and the history of theory.

Performance practice

Occasionally write small settings yourself, for instance a four-part chorale or a two-part exercise — nothing sharpens the understanding of voice leading like one's own attempt. And when studying a piece, look at its texture: how many voices does it have, where does each one lead? This determines balance and shaping.