What does polyphony mean?

Definitions for polyphony
pəˈlɪf ə nipo·lypho·ny

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word polyphony.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. polyphony, polyphonic music, concerted musicnoun

    music arranged in parts for several voices or instruments

Wiktionary

  1. polyphonynoun

    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).

ChatGPT

  1. polyphony

    Polyphony, in music, refers to the style of simultaneously combining a number of individual but harmonizing melodies. This term is in contrast to monophony, which refers to music with a single melodic line, and homophony, in which all parts move together to create a chordal texture. Polyphony can be found in a variety of musical genres and periods, from classical to contemporary.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Polyphonynoun

    multiplicity of sounds, as in the reverberations of an echo

  2. Polyphonynoun

    plurality of sounds and articulations expressed by the same vocal sign

  3. Polyphonynoun

    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

  4. Etymology: [Gr. .]

Wikidata

  1. Polyphony

    In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords. Within the context of the Western musical tradition, the term is usually used to refer to music of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. Baroque forms such as the 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 likely what Margaret Bent 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.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of polyphony in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of polyphony in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Popularity rank by frequency of use

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Translations for polyphony

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"polyphony." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/polyphony>.

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