![]() ![]() The fugue in many ways can be thought of as the pinnacle of polyphony. Not only did it require immense musical skill to compose, but it also demanded a keen ear and good technique from performers whilst providing the listener with an endlessly fascinating and intricate piece. I’m drawing your focus to this now having just highlighted its little brother, the canon.įugue was a particularly popular form of music that dominated the Baroque landscape. One of the most definitive types of polyphonic music is heard in the aforementioned fugue. These musical games have a serious centre that has been cleverly constructed to make a single melody create harmony when used as a round. Have you ever sung or heard sung, a round? Think of songs like ‘London’s Burning’ or ‘Frere Jacques’.īoth of these are sung in rounds, meaning one voice begins with the second voice following on a few bars later with the same melody.Įventually, these little gems develop into a fully polyphonic texture in four or more parts. What often appeals to polyphonic music is the sheer textural complexity it’s hypnotic. There are major differences between these two periods of music and how polyphony was creatively employed, but polyphonic it definitely was. Much of the music to come from the Renaissance and Baroque periods of music falls neatly into the polyphonic category. How do they compare and is there an outright winner? Homophonic vs Polyphonic Under consideration here are the strengths and weaknesses of homophonic and polyphonic music. An example I often give when teaching this is that of a hymn that includes a descant part. This term often refers to a piece that has a tune, accompaniment plus a further independent melody. One final textural description is heterophonic. If you listen to a fugue by JS Bach, for instance, the chances are you are listening to a polyphonic composition. This is a complex texture that describes many melodies sounding simultaneous. This texture is more complex than one that is monophonic.Īn example of this would be a solo clarinet accompanied by a piano. Then there is homophonic which broadly speaking is a melody plus an accompaniment. An example of this might be an unaccompanied song for a single voice. If a piece of music has a monophonic texture then it has a single line of melody only. These refer to musical textures in the following way. This in itself can be the cause of much debate but for this article, we will content ourselves with the more commonly used phonics. ![]() When a term uses one of the phonics in its description, we are usually attempting to describe texture. There are many colourful and sometimes convoluted ways to describe musical features or characteristics. ![]()
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