Andreas Werckmeister's Cribrum musicum (1700) and Harmonologia musica (1702)

Andreas Werckmeister's Cribrum musicum (1700) is one of the earliest examples of German music criticism. Written in the form of an epistle, it undertakes scathing criticism of an erroneous fugue by an unknown author. A primary focus is what Werckmeister saw as the improper use of the modes. It is appended with a part of Johann Kuhnau's Musicalischer Quack-Salber (1700) entitled The True Virtuoso and Blissful Musician , which Johann Georg Carl, a Halberstadt town musician who facilitated the treatise s publication, felt fortified Werckmeister's commentary.

Harmonologia musica (1702) begins with a letter of dedication detailing the divine significance of music. After a brief foreword to the reader, Werckmeister then introduces four categories of chords and various rules for the realization of basso continuo. In a second section, he then discusses progressions and various errors that can occur. It concludes with an appendix in which he reveals a technique of his own invention for composing or improvising double, triple and quadruple counterpoint using three chords.


This book features the original German treatises with parallel English translations. These first translations of Cribrum musicum and Harmonologia musica are annotated and also include a significant number of definitions from Johann Gottfried Walther s Musicalisches Lexicon (1732) to further clarify various terms.