A Journey Through Counterpoint III

So... I would like to share three things about counterpoint that absolutely fascinate me.  The first one is: 

 1) The Beauty of the Dance

It is hard to write a beautiful song. It is even harder to write two songs that, when sung simultaneously, sound more beautiful as a whole. In other words, the sum of the two melodies is greater than the individual lines. 1+1 does not equal 2 but rather 4 or 5. It is exponential. What is amazing about counterpoint is that while the two melodies work together to contribute to the counterpoint as a whole, the counterpoint is reinforcing and affirming the individual melodies.  Each melody must in some way sacrifice itself to work toward the common good of the whole, and yet what it gains is more than it could ever create on its own as a single melody. There is an ebb and flow as the direction moves in multiple ways and creates a beautiful dance that not only enhances the song as a whole, but each individual melody participating.

Third application:  What if, in losing ourselves, we actually found ourselves?  I'm not suggesting anything new here, for Jesus said the same thing nearly two thousand years ago (only He was much more eloquent than I am!)... "Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will find it.  What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?" - Matthew 16:24-26