Crossword clues for polyphony
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Polyphony \Po*lyph"o*ny\, n. [Gr. ?.]
Multiplicity of sounds, as in the reverberations of an echo.
Plurality of sounds and articulations expressed by the same vocal sign.
(Mus.) Composition in mutually related, equally important parts which share the melody among them; contrapuntal composition; -- opposed to homophony, in which the melody is given to one part only, the others filling out the harmony. See Counterpoint.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. (context music English) Musical texture consisting of several independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony).
WordNet
n. music arranged in parts for several voices or instruments [syn: polyphonic music, concerted music] [ant: monophony, monophony]
Wikipedia
In music, polyphony is one type of musical texture, where a texture is, generally speaking, the way that melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic aspects of a musical composition are combined to shape the overall sound and quality of the work. In particular, polyphony consists of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, which is called homophony.
Within the context of the Western musical tradition, the term polyphony is usually used to refer to music of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. Baroque forms such as fugue, which might be called polyphonic, are usually described instead as contrapuntal. Also, as opposed to the species terminology of counterpoint , polyphony was generally either "pitch-against-pitch" / "point-against-point" or "sustained-pitch" in one part with melismas of varying lengths in another. In all cases the conception was probably what Margaret Bent (1999) calls "dyadic counterpoint", with each part being written generally against one other part, with all parts modified if needed in the end. This point-against-point conception is opposed to "successive composition", where voices were written in an order with each new voice fitting into the whole so far constructed, which was previously assumed.
The term polyphony is also sometimes used more broadly, to describe any musical texture that is not monophonic. Such a perspective considers homophony as a sub-type of polyphony.
In literature, polyphony is a feature of narrative, which includes a diversity of points of view and voices. The concept was introduced by Mikhail Bakhtin, using a metaphor based on the musical term polyphony.
For Bakhtin the primary example of polyphony was Dostoevsky's prose. Bakhtin argued that Dostoyevsky, unlike previous novelists, does not appear to aim for a 'single vision' and goes beyond simply describing situations from various angles. Instead, according to Bakhtin, Dostoevsky aimed for fully dramatic novels of ideas in which conflicting views and characters are left to develop unevenly.
In 2015, Svetlana Alexievich was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature «for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time»
Polyphony is a public artwork by Austrian artist Egon Weiner located on the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee campus, which is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States.
Polyphony is a musical texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices.
Polyphony may also refer to:
- Polyphony (choir)
- Polyphony (literature)
- Polyphony (Russian Orthodox liturgy)
In Russian Orthodox liturgy of 16th-18th centuries, polyphony (, mnogoglasiye, literally "many-voicing"), sometimes polyvocality, was a tradition to perform several parts of the church service in the same place at the same time, in particular, to sing several different chants simultaneously, to save time. Despite being banned in favor of (monophony (, edinoglasiye, literally "single-voicing"), singing the chants one by one consecutively, it persisted for quite some time.
Polyphony is a small English choir formed by Stephen Layton for one particular concert put on in King's College, Cambridge in 1986. They have released many critically acclaimed recordings, the most recent of which is Esenvalds - Passion & Resurrection. They record and perform a wide range of music mainly on Hyperion Records. Every year they perform Handel's Messiah and Bach's St John Passion in St John's Smith Square to sell-out audiences. Many of their recordings have been Gramophone editor's choice.
Including many talented musicians such as Tom Williams (English counter tenor), Polyphony have performed many times in the BBC Proms and performed works by John Tavener on his 60th Birthday in the Barbican as part of its Great Performers series. They have also premiered and released prominent recordings of the music of Arvo Pärt.
Usage examples of "polyphony".
He was the one who showed me how our polyphony changed over time to a new style of music he called homophony, and began teaching me how to understand its forms.
The monody and empyrical tonality of the ancients gave place to polyphony and harmonized melodies resting upon the relations of tones in key.
They at any rate perceived that the vital fact concerning the new monophonic style was that the melody alone demanded individual independence, while the other parts could not, as in polyphony, ask for equal suffrage, but must sink themselves in the solid and concrete structure of the supporting chord.
They use the words counterpoint, fugue, symphony, oratorio, polyphony, the mode of Beethoven, the orchestration of Mahler, but their essential point is that, like a musician, the novelist seized time and reconstructed it according to his own laws, which were very close to those of orchestral music.
She cocked her head, listening, but could not hear the dull polyphony of the bell buoys that tolled to mark the channel.
The back room shuddered with the wave of sound, but she was already shifting to the cascades of arpeggios and the double-stopped polyphony that had become her signature.
Players in Liedwahr played melody lines that stood alone, while she was working on supporting chordsthe difference between the polyphony of Brills players and the mostly homophonic approach of, say, a Beethoven symphonyOr a Britten song cycle.