Abstract. The principle of imitatio auctorum and the didactic model præceptum — exem-
plum — imitatio are based on the rhetorical tradition. They are refl ected in the musical
theoretical texts of the Renaissance and Baroque. Studying musical examples of figures
similar to rhetorical ones, the author in the article provides premises that determined the
choice of exemplary authors and analyses the refl ection of the imitatio auctorum principle
in the treatises of Joachim Burmeister and Christoph Bernhard.
Keywords: musical rhetoric, catalogs of musical fi gures, Renaissance, Baroque, history of
music theory, imitatio auctorum, præceptum – exemplum – imitatio, musical examples of
fi gures in treatises
