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In music
Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
, monophony is the simplest of textures
Texture (music)

Texture is one of the basic elements of music. People use texture to describe the amount of rhythms played at a specific time. In music, texture also means the overall quality of sound of a piece , most often indicated by the number of melody in the music and by the relationship between these voices ....
, consisting of melody
Melody

In music, 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 Western music, harmony is the use of different pitches simultaneously, and chord s, actual or implied, in music. The word is related to the word "harmonic" which implies related wavelengths of waves....
. 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 The octave is occasionally referred to as a diapason.The octave above an indicated note is sometimes abbreviated 8va, and the octave below 8vb....
 (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

UNISON ? the Public Service Union is the second largest trade union in the United Kingdom, with over 1.3 million members.It was formed in 1993 when three previous public sector trade unions, the National Association of Local Government Officers , the National Union of Public Employees and the Confederation of Health Service Employees merg...
, it is also said to be in monophony. Music in which all the notes sung are in unison is called monophonic.






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In music
Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
, monophony is the simplest of textures
Texture (music)

Texture is one of the basic elements of music. People use texture to describe the amount of rhythms played at a specific time. In music, texture also means the overall quality of sound of a piece , most often indicated by the number of melody in the music and by the relationship between these voices ....
, consisting of melody
Melody

In music, 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 Western music, harmony is the use of different pitches simultaneously, and chord s, actual or implied, in music. The word is related to the word "harmonic" which implies related wavelengths of waves....
. 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 The octave is occasionally referred to as a diapason.The octave above an indicated note is sometimes abbreviated 8va, and the octave below 8vb....
 (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

UNISON ? the Public Service Union is the second largest trade union in the United Kingdom, with over 1.3 million members.It was formed in 1993 when three previous public sector trade unions, the National Association of Local Government Officers , the National Union of Public Employees and the Confederation of Health Service Employees merg...
, 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 different components. Songs intersperse monophony, heterophony
Heterophony

Heterophony is a type of texture that refers to the practice of two or more musicians simultaneously performing slightly different versions of the same melody....
, polyphony
Polyphony

In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voice , as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord s ....
, homophony
Homophony

In music, homophony Homophony as a term first appeared in English with Charles Burney in 1776, emphasizing the concord of harmonized melody....
, or monody
Monody

In poetry, the term monody has become specialized to refer to a poem in which one person laments another's death. In music, monody has two meanings: 1) it is sometimes used as a synonym for monophony, a single solo line, in opposition to homophony and polyphony; and 2) in music history, it is a solo vocal style distinguished by hav...
 elements throughout the melody to create atmosphere and style. Monophony may also have a complex rhythm
Rhythm

Rhythm is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events....
ic element, as when percussion accompanies a melody in some types of Chinese
Music of China

The music of China dates back to the dawn of Chinese civilization with documents and artifacts providing evidence of a well-developed musical culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty ....
 or Indian
Music of India

The music of India includes multiple varieties of folk music, popular music, pop music, and Indian classical music. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic music and Hindustani music, has a history panning millennia and, developed over several eras, it remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as sources of religio...
 music.

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 voice , as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord s ....
 has two or more independent melodic voices. Monophony is one voice in music rather like a soliloquy.

Styles


Plainchant

Plainchant or plainsong
Plainsong

Plainsong is a body of traditional songs used in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. The liturgies of the Eastern Orthodox Church, though similar in many ways and probably older than the Roman tradition, are generally not classified as plainsong....
 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 traditional songs used in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. The liturgies of the Eastern Orthodox Church, though similar in many ways and probably older than the Roman tradition, are generally not classified as plainsong....
 was the first and foremost musical style of Italy
Music history of Italy

The modern state of Italy did not come into being until 1861, though the roots of music on the Italian peninsula can be traced back to the Ancient Roman music....
, Ireland, Spain, and France.


Monophony with instrumental doubling

DeLone et al. (1975, p.99) 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 chant
Mozarabic chant

Mozarabic chant is the liturgical plainsong repertory of the Mozarabic rite of the Roman Catholic Church, related to but distinct from Gregorian chant....
, Byzantine Chant, Beneventan chant
Beneventan chant

Beneventan chant is a liturgical plainsong repertory of the Roman Catholic Church, used primarily in the orbit of the Mezzogiorno ecclesiastical centers of Benevento and Montecassino, distinct from Gregorian chant and related to Ambrosian chant....
, Ambrosian chant
Ambrosian chant

Ambrosian chant is the liturgical plainsong repertory of the Ambrosian rite of the Roman Catholic Church, related to but distinct from Gregorian chant....
, Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant

Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, a form of monophony liturgy chant in Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services....
 and others were various forms of Medieval music
Medieval music

The term medieval music encompasses European music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends in approximately the middle of the 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 musical notation; 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 Switzerland music theory, poet and humanist. He was born in Mollis and died in Freiburg.After a thorough early training in music, he enrolled in the University of Cologne, where he studied theology, philosophy, and mathematics as well as music....
 (also Glareanus) and included plainsong
Plainsong

Plainsong is a body of traditional songs used in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. The liturgies of the Eastern Orthodox Church, though similar in many ways and probably older than the Roman tradition, are generally not classified as plainsong....
 or Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant

Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, a form of monophony liturgy chant in 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 music theory in the late part of the 13th century. His main contribution was to the music notation....
 was the founding father of the notational system
Musical notation

Music notation or musical notation is any system which represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written Modern musical symbols....
.
Gregorian Chant

Sacred monophony


Music of India

Indian classical music
Indian classical music

The origins of Indian classical music can be found from the oldest of scriptures, part of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas.The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music at length....
 is an ancient form of music therapy where monophonic melodies called ragas are played to activate "chakras" (Chi energy wheels) to attain realization on the Kundalini
Kundalini

Kundalini Sanskrit, literally "coiled". In Indian yoga, a "corporeal energy" - an unconscious, instinctive or libidinal force or Shakti, envisioned either as a goddess or else as a sleeping serpent coiled at the base of the spine, hence a number of English renderings of the term such as 'serpent power'....
 yogic path. Drone
Drone (music)

In music, a drone is a harmony or monophony effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout much or all of a piece, sustain or repetition , and most often establishing a tonality upon which the rest of the piece is built....
 instruments, are followed by the soloist, then accompanists and percussionists.
  • Hindustani music
  • Carnatic music
    Carnatic music

    Carnatic 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 Sanskrit
    Sanskrit

    Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
     and also in Tamil
    Tamil language

    Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has Official language in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore....
    , Telugu
    Telugu language

    Telugu or Telegu is one of the four classical languages of India. It is a South-Central Dravidian languages mostly spoken in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, where it is the official language....
    , Malayalam and Kannada.
For more information see also Music history of India
Music history of India

The origins of Indian classical music , the indian classical music of India, can be found from the oldest of scriptures, part of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas....
.


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 Machaut
Guillaume de Machaut

Guillaume de Machaut, sometimes spelled Machault, , was an important Middle Ages France poet and composer. He is one of the earliest composers for 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
Provençal

Proven?al may refer to*Proven?al, meaning "of Provence", a region of France*The Proven?al of the Occitan language, spoken in the south of France...
 Troubador tradition, such as his secular monophonic lais and virelais. Jehan de Lescurel
Jehan de Lescurel

Jehan de Lescurel was a Middle Ages 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 de Paris....
 (or Jehannot de l'Escurel), poet and composer northern French
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 Trouvère
Trouvère

Trouv?re , sometimes spelled trouveur, is the Northern French language form of the word troubadour . It refers to poet-composers who were roughly contemporary with and influenced by the troubadours but who composed their works in the northern Languages 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 ....
 were similar to the French style but in Middle High German.

Lutheran Church chorale

Monophony was the first type of texture in the Lutheran Church.

Geisslerlieder or Flagellant songs

Geisslerlieder
Geisslerlieder

In medieval music, the Geisslerlieder, or Flagellant songs, were the songs of the wandering bands of flagellants, who overspread medieval 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).

See also

  • Drone (music)
    Drone (music)

    In music, a drone is a harmony or monophony effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout much or all of a piece, sustain or repetition , and most often establishing a tonality upon which the rest of the piece is built....


Sources


Notations

  • Ardis Butterfield (1997). "Monophonic song: questions of category", Companion to Medieval & Renaissance Music. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-816540-4.
  • 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.
  • DeLone et al. (Eds.) (1975). Aspects of Twentieth-Century Music. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-049346-5.

Footnotes


External links