Monophony
Encyclopedia
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, monophony is the simplest of textures
Texture (music)
In music, texture is the way the melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic materials are combined in a composition , thus determining the overall quality of sound of a piece...
, consisting of melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
without accompanying harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
. This may be realized as just one note at a time, or with the same note duplicated at the octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
(such as often when men and women sing together). If the entire melody is sung by two voices or a choir with an interval between the notes or in unison
Unison
In music, the word unison can be applied in more than one way. In general terms, it may refer to two notes sounding the same pitch, often but not always at the same time; or to the same musical voice being sounded by several voices or instruments together, either at the same pitch or at a distance...
, it is also said to be in monophony. Music in which all the notes sung are in unison is called monophonic. Musical texture is determined in song and music by varying components. Songs intersperse monophony, heterophony
Heterophony
In music, heterophony is a type of texture characterized by the simultaneous variation of a single melodic line. Such a texture can be regarded as a kind of complex monophony in which there is only one basic melody, but realized at the same time in multiple voices, each of which plays the melody...
, polyphony
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
, homophony
Homophony
In music, homophony is a texture in which two or more parts move together in harmony, the relationship between them creating chords. This is distinct from polyphony, in which parts move with rhythmic independence, and monophony, in which all parts move in parallel rhythm and pitch. A homophonic...
, or monody
Monody
In poetry, the term monody has become specialized to refer to a poem in which one person laments another's death....
elements throughout the melody to create atmosphere and style. Monophony may not have underlying rhythmic textures, and must consist of only a melodic line. The musics of some cultures where there is a melodic line with rhythmic accompaniment must be considered homophony.
According to Adris Butterfield (1997), monophony "is the dominant mode of the European vernacular genres as well as of Latin song ... in polyphonic works, it remains a central compositional principle." Polyphony
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
has two or more independent melodic voices. Monophony is one voice in music rather like a soliloquy.
Plainchant
Plainchant or plainsongPlainsong
Plainsong is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Catholic Church. Though the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Catholic Church did not split until long after the origin of plainchant, Byzantine chants are generally not classified as plainsong.Plainsong is monophonic, consisting of a...
with its single unaccompanied vocal melody is one of the principal examples of monophony. Sung by multiple voices in unison (i.e. the same pitch and rhythm), this music is still considered monophonic. Plainsong
Plainsong
Plainsong is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Catholic Church. Though the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Catholic Church did not split until long after the origin of plainchant, Byzantine chants are generally not classified as plainsong.Plainsong is monophonic, consisting of a...
was the first and foremost musical style of Italy
Music history of Italy
The modern state of Italy did not come into being until 1561, though the roots of music on the Italian Peninsula can be traced back to the music of Ancient Rome. However, the underpinnings of much modern Italian music come from the Middle Ages.- Before 1500 :...
, Ireland, Spain, and France.
Monophony with instrumental doubling
DeLone more loosely defines monophony as "passages, movements, or sections in which notes sound alone, despite instrumental doubling" even if "such passages may involve several instruments or voices."Chant styles
Mozarabic chantMozarabic chant
Mozarabic chant is the liturgical plainchant repertory of the Mozarabic rite of the Roman Catholic Church, related to the Gregorian chant...
, Byzantine Chant, Armenian chant
Armenian chant
Armenian chant is the melismatic monophonic chant used in the liturgy of the Armenian Apostolic Church.Armenian chant, like Byzantine chant, consists mainly of hymns. The chants are grouped in an oktoechos. The oldest hymns were in prose, but later versified hymns, such as those by Nerses...
, Beneventan chant
Beneventan chant
Beneventan chant is a liturgical plainchant repertory of the Roman Catholic Church, used primarily in the orbit of the southern Italian ecclesiastical centers of Benevento and Montecassino, distinct from Gregorian chant and related to Ambrosian chant...
, Ambrosian chant
Ambrosian chant
Ambrosian chant is the liturgical plainchant repertory of the Ambrosian rite of the Roman Catholic Church, related to but distinct from Gregorian chant. It is primarily associated with the Archdiocese of Milan, and named after St. Ambrose much as Gregorian chant is named after Gregory the Great...
, Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
and others were various forms of Medieval music
Medieval music
Medieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century...
which were all monophonic. Many of these monophonic chants were written as the first sheet music
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
and preserved in hand written manuscripts and bound. Dodecachordon was published by the Swiss Renaissance composer Heinrich Glarean
Heinrich Glarean
Heinrich Glarean was a Swiss music theorist, poet and humanist. He was born in Mollis and died in Freiburg....
(also Glareanus) and included plainsong
Plainsong
Plainsong is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Catholic Church. Though the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Catholic Church did not split until long after the origin of plainchant, Byzantine chants are generally not classified as plainsong.Plainsong is monophonic, consisting of a...
or Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
and monophony. . Guido d'Arezzo wrote the 'Micrologus', which identified musical symbols. Later, Petrus de Cruce
Petrus de Cruce
Petrus de Cruce was active as a cleric, composer and theorist in the late part of the 13th century. His main contribution was to the notational system.-Life:...
was the founding father of the notational system
Musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system that represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols.-History:...
.
Music of India
Indian classical musicIndian classical music
The origins of Indian classical music can be found in the Vedas, which are the oldest scriptures in the Hindu tradition. Indian classical music has also been significantly influenced by, or syncretised with, Indian folk music and Persian music. The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music...
is an ancient form of music therapy where monophonic melodies called ragas are played to activate "chakras" (Pranic energy wheels) to attain realization on the Kundalini
Kundalini
Kundalini literally means coiled. In yoga, a "corporeal energy" - an unconscious, instinctive or libidinal force or Shakti, lies coiled at the base of the spine. It is envisioned either as a goddess or else as a sleeping serpent, hence a number of English renderings of the term such as 'serpent...
yogic path. Drone
Drone (music)
In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. The word drone is also used to refer to any part of a musical instrument that is just used to produce such an effect.-A musical effect:A drone...
instruments, are followed by the soloist, then accompanists and percussionists.
- Hindustani music
- Carnatic musicCarnatic musicCarnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
is a divine art form devoted to Devi worship, Rama, Krishna,and many of the other Hindu deities. It is sung in TeluguTelugu languageTelugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
, TamilTamil languageTamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
, SanskritSanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, Kannada and Malayalam.
- For more information see also Music history of India.
Troubador song monophony
Most Troubador songs were monophonic. Aristocratic troubadours and trouvères played religious devotion in courtly performances for kings, queens, and countesses. Guillaume de MachautGuillaume de Machaut
Guillaume de Machaut was a Medieval French poet and composer. He is one of the earliest composers on whom significant biographical information is available....
, poet and composer in the 14th century produced many songs which can be seen as extensions of the Provençal
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
Troubador tradition, such as his secular monophonic lais and virelais. Jehan de Lescurel
Jehan de Lescurel
Jehan de Lescurel was a medieval poet and composer.Nothing is known of his life other than that he was the son of a merchant in Paris, and he probably received his musical training at the Notre Dame cathedral...
(or Jehannot de l'Escurel), poet and composer northern French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Trouvère
Trouvère
Trouvère , sometimes spelled trouveur , is the Northern French form of the word trobador . It refers to poet-composers who were roughly contemporary with and influenced by the troubadours but who composed their works in the northern dialects of France...
) also wrote monophonic songs in the style of virelais, ballades, rondeaux and diz entés. Minnesänger
Minnesang
Minnesang was the tradition of lyric and song writing in Germany which flourished in the 12th century and continued into the 14th century. People who wrote and performed Minnesang are known as Minnesingers . The name derives from the word minne, Middle High German for love which was their main...
were similar to the French style but in Middle High German.
Geisslerlieder or Flagellant songs
GeisslerliederGeisslerlieder
In medieval music, the Geisslerlieder, or Flagellant songs, were the songs of the wandering bands of flagellants, who overspread Europe during two periods of mass hysteria: the first during the middle of the 13th century, and the second during the Black Death in 1349...
, or Flagellant songs were monophonic Laude spirituale songs used in the 13th and 17th century by flagellants, and recorded in the medieval chronicle Chronicon Hugonis sacerdotis de Rutelinga (1349).
Further reading
- Copland, Aaron. "What to Listen for in Music". Published by Signet Classic, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY, 10014. Library of Congress catalogue 98-53893.