Gradus ad Parnassum, sive Manuductio ad Compositionem Musicae regularem

Vienna: Joannis Petri Van Ghelen. 1725. First. Lacking engraved frontispiece, [8] & 280 pages, folio (31.5 x 20cms), woodcut vignettes and capitals, engraving of a monochord on F2, extensive type-set music, including complete fugues. Period white paper binding heavily soiled, red speckled edges. Worm holes to inner upper edge of ffe and margin of first five leaves (only slightly affecting one letter of text), a few moderate stains, but generally a quite clean and crisp copy of the most important modern textbook of counterpoint. PMM 183; Hirsch, i 185; Gregory & Barlett, p.100; RISM Écrits, p.340.

One of the most influential and long-lived of all works of music theory, since its appearance in 1725, Fux's Gradus has been used by and has directly influenced the work of many of the greatest composers. J.S. Bach held it in high esteem, Leopold Mozart trained his famous son from its pages, Haydn worked out every lesson with meticulous care, and Beethoven condensed it into an abstract for ready reference. An impressive list of nineteenth-century composers subscribed to its second edition, and in more recent times Debussy invoked Fux in his 'Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum' from the Children's Corner Suite (1906) and Paul Hindemith said, "Perhaps the craft of composition would really have fallen into decline if Fux's Gradus had not set up a standard." Originally written in Latin, the work was translated into German, Italian, English and French in the eighteenth century, but the first edition is uncommon. (23193)

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