Polyphony meaning in music

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'polyphony. Send us feedback about these examples, polyphony meaning in music. Accessed 2 Mar. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

We explain the basics of polyphony and how it works, with examples from well-known composers. The word polyphony comes from the Greek for 'many sounds', which gives you an instant clue as to how the term is used in relation to music. Polyphony is essentially a term used to describe the simultaneous use of two or more melodies or voices within a composition. This could be anything from a simple canon or round to something much more complex. In one guise or another, polyphony has been a technique used within music compositions for centuries.

Polyphony meaning in music

Add to word list Add to word list. Types of music. Afrobeat Afrobeats ambient music anthemic atonal drum and bass dubstep early music easy listening EDM Latinize Latinized mariachi melodically monophonic symphonically techno Tejano Tex-Mex toccata See more results ». Related word polyphonic. Examples of polyphony. There are almost no technological grounds to withhold wax tablets from the hands of composers of polyphony anytime from the eleventh to the fifteenth century. From the Cambridge English Corpus. Organum probably refers to early vocal polyphony , although the term can also suggest the instrument of the same name. There the mellifluous voices of choirboys, the harmony of improvised polyphony , and the cadences of locally composed plainchant incited the populace to veneration. This meant in a certain way translating a virtual, implicit polyphony into a real, explicit one. Because of the multitude and layering or ' polyphony ' of compositional gestures, there was a multitude of mappings. Indeed, the most comprehensive witnesses to this form of adaptation are not chant books at all, but rather contemporary collections of liturgical polyphony. Using these observations as our paradigm, we developed an interactive computer system to expand the concept of polyphony to harmonic clusters. In general, polyphony and newly composed pieces were restricted to the elite.

Some of these songs are linked to the cult of the grapevine and many date back to the eighth century.

Fig 1: Baroque orchestra, Nuremburg: Ger. Polyphony is a musical texture that features two or more equally prominent melodic lines played at the same time. Each of these lines can be thought of as a melody in its own right -- one that could be sung, played, or listened to independently of the others. But it is the combination of the different strands, all interacting together, that creates polyphony. Fig 2: Four independent, simultaneous lines, forming a polyphonic texture. Fig 3: Medieval singers Lucca, St.

Add to word list Add to word list. Types of music. Afrobeat Afrobeats ambient music anthemic atonal drum and bass dubstep early music easy listening EDM Latinize Latinized mariachi melodically monophonic symphonically techno Tejano Tex-Mex toccata See more results ». Related word polyphonic. Examples of polyphony. There are almost no technological grounds to withhold wax tablets from the hands of composers of polyphony anytime from the eleventh to the fifteenth century.

Polyphony meaning in music

Add to word list Add to word list. Types of music. Afrobeat Afrobeats ambient music anthemic atonal drum and bass dubstep early music easy listening EDM Latinize Latinized mariachi melodically monophonic symphonically techno Tejano Tex-Mex toccata See more results ». Related word polyphonic. Examples of polyphony.

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Send us feedback about these examples. In addition to alternating with other textures, two or more polyphonic lines may combine with other melodies or with a supporting accompaniment. Organum probably refers to early vocal polyphony , although the term can also suggest the instrument of the same name. ISBN , p. Chechen and Ingush polyphony is based on a drone and is mostly three-part, unlike most other north Caucasian traditions' two-part polyphony. Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once? Wikimedia Commons has media related to Polyphony. Summary: In short, Polyphony is a musical texture that features two or more melodic lines played at the same time. These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Detroit, MI: Information Coordinators.

Polyphonic music has parts that weave in and out of each other. Polyphonic music is also sometimes called contrapuntal close contrapuntal Interweaving melodic parts, also known as polyphonic.

Nevertheless their voice is heard. Europeans were surprised to find drone-based and dissonant polyphonic singing in Polynesia. Kaufamann Take the quiz. Article Talk. Christian Sacred Music in the Americas. The lyrics of love poems might be sung above sacred texts in the form of a trope , or the sacred text might be placed within a familiar secular melody. June Archived from the original on 9 January Related word polyphonic. Download as PDF Printable version. The portions that do not use polyphony therefore urge the listener to concentrate on a single melody in the overall texture, rather than on the several layers of sound. The Dorze people , for example, sing with as many as six parts, and the Wagogo use counterpoint. In one guise or another, polyphony has been a technique used within music compositions for centuries.