The dispute over the relationship of harmony and melody was a matter of great importance to eighteenth-century theorists If, on the one hand, harmony had priority over melody, then analysis of music must be primarily vertical and melodic aspects of secondary importance If, on the other hand, melody had priority over harmony, discussion must focus on horizontal or contrapuntal functions, of which harmony was the product Figured-bass theorists in a sense occupied a middle ground, as they considered the context of a chord in its classification The many vitriolic, polemical writings directed at the opposing camps were, presumably, satisfying and cathartic to the writers, but they settled nothing Towards the end of the century, however, Heinrich C Koch (17491816) developed a new theory of the origins of harmony and melody which clarified their relationship and made such controversy unnecessary Musician and theorist at the court of Rudolstadt, Koch wrote his threevolume Versuch einer Anleitung zur Composition from 1782 to 1793 1 His aim was pedagogical rather than polemical; consequently his presentation was clear and free from controversial tangents He offers a comprehensive theory which explains the interaction of harmony and melody at successively complex levels of composition He is greatly indebted to Friedrich W Marpurg for his ideas on harmony, and through him to Jean-Philippe Rameau His ideological framework is quite different, however, and he takes issue with them on several important points Koch explains the origins of notes and discusses ways in which they may be joined; in both their vertical and horizontal relationships, notes should reflect a hierarchy established by the manner in which they arose In Volume 1 of the Versuch, Koch describes three different ways of connecting notes, and it is on the basis of these distinctions that he organizes his treatise 'Harmony' or 'simple harmony' (einfache Harmonie) is the term applied to notes which are vertically connected; 'melody' to notes which are connected in a series; and 'counterpoint' or 'accompanying harmony' (begleitende Harmonie) to