Summary
A cambiata is a four-note contrapuntal melodic figure built around a single dissonance. Its melodic shape is fixed — a step down to a dissonant note, a downward leap of a third, then a step back up — and its classical form requires the 1st, 3rd, and 4th notes to be consonant while only the 2nd is dissonant. In third species (four notes against one note of the cantus firmus), that consonance requirement tightly restricts which intervals a cambiata may begin on relative to the bass.
Key Points
- The classical cambiata consists of four notes: consonant – dissonant – consonant – consonant.
- Melodic contour: step down → leap down a third → step up; the 4th note acts as a delayed resolution of the dissonance on the 2nd note.
- In third species (4:1), where the cambiata unfolds over a single cantus note, the starting interval is dictated by the bass:
- Written above the cantus: must begin on an octave.
- Written below the cantus: must begin on a third (or 10th, etc. — the same interval compounded).
- The restriction exists only because the 1st, 3rd, and 4th notes must all be consonant against the same bass pitch.
- In free counterpoint the bass may move before the figure finishes, so a cambiata can begin on any consonance.
Concepts
- Third species counterpoint — four notes written against each note of the cantus firmus.
- Cantus firmus (bass) — the given voice; in a strict exercise it holds one pitch for the whole measure.
- Consonance / dissonance — the intervals that determine which notes of the figure are permitted.
- Delayed resolution — the fourth note resolves the dissonance of the second note, one step later than a normal resolution would occur.
- Free counterpoint — counterpoint in which the bass is not held fixed, loosening the interval constraints.
Details
The shape of the figure
The classical cambiata is defined by its melody and by where its dissonance falls:
The dissonance on the second note is not resolved by step in the usual way; instead the line leaps away from it and then steps back, so that the fourth note supplies the resolution belatedly.
Why the starting interval is constrained in third species
In a third-species exercise the cantus firmus sustains one note for the whole measure, so all four cambiata notes sound against the same bass pitch. Since notes 1, 3, and 4 must be consonant, only certain starting intervals produce a workable figure.
Above the cantus (intervals measured upward from the bass):
- Start on the octave: 8 → 7 (dissonant) → 5 (consonant) → 6 (consonant). ✔
- Starting on a third, fifth, or sixth breaks the rule — one of the 3rd or 4th notes lands on a dissonance (e.g., from a third: 3 → 2 → 7 → …), so those starting points cannot support a classical cambiata.
Below the cantus (intervals measured up to the cantus):
- Start on a third / 10th: 3 → 4 (dissonant) → 6 (consonant) → 5 (consonant). ✔
- Starting on an octave below fails: 8 → 7 → 4 (dissonant) → …, spoiling the required consonance on the third note.
Hence the practical rule: above the cantus, begin on an octave; below it, begin on a third (or tenth).
When the restriction disappears
The octave/third constraint is an artifact of a stationary bass. In free counterpoint the bass may change pitch while the cambiata is still in progress, so the vertical intervals are no longer all measured against one note. As a result, a cambiata may begin on any consonance, and the figure becomes far more flexible.
See also: Third Species Counterpoint