Micropolyphony is a type of
20th century musical texture involving the use of sustained
dissonant chords that shift slowly over time. According to
David Cope (1997), "a
simultaneity of different lines, rhythms, and timbres." The technique was developed by
György Ligeti, who explained it as follows: "The complex
polyphony of the individual parts is embodied in a harmonic-musical flow, in which the
harmonies do not change suddenly, but merge into one another; one clearly discernible
interval combination is gradually blurred, and from this cloudiness it is possible to discern a new interval combination taking shape." Again Cope: "Micropolyphony resembles
cluster chords, but differs in its use of moving rather than static lines."
An example of the application of micropolyphony is Ligeti's composition
Requiem for Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Mixed Choir, and Orchestra, a piece which became more widely known through the soundtrack to
Stanley Kubrick's film . The technique is easier with larger ensembles or polyphonic instruments such as the piano (Cope, 1997). Many of Ligeti's piano pieces are examples of micropolyphony applied to complex "minimalist"
Steve Reich and
Pygmy music derived rhythmic schemes.
Source
- Cope, David (1997). Techniques of the Contemporary Composer, p.101. New York, New York: Schirmer Books. ISBN 0-02-864737-8.
twentieth century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1901 and ended on December 31, 2000, according to the Gregorian calendar. Some historians consider the era from about 1914 to 1991 to be the Short Twentieth Century.
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In music, texture is the overall quality of sound of a piece, most often indicated by the number of voices in the music and by the relationship between these voices (see types of texture below).
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In music, a consonance (Latin consonare, "sounding together") is a harmony, chord, or interval considered stable, as opposed to a dissonance, which is considered unstable.
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chord (from Greek χορδή: gut, string) is three or more different notes that sound simultaneously. Most often, in European-influenced music, chords are tertian sonorities that can be constructed as stacks of thirds relative to some underlying scale.
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David Cope (b. San Francisco, California, United States, May 17, 1941) is an American author, composer, scientist, and professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
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Simultaneity is the property of two events happening at the same time in at least one reference frame.
The noun Simult means a supernatural coincidence, two or more divinely inspired events that occur at or near the same period of time that are related to each other
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György Sándor Ligeti (IPA: [ˈɟørɟ ˈliɡɛti]) (May 28, 1923 – June 12, 2006) was a Hungarian composer born in Romania who later became an Austrian citizen.
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polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony).
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harmony is the use and study of pitch simultaneity, and therefore chords, actual or implied, in music. The study of harmony may often refer to the study of harmonic progressions, the movement from one pitch simultaneity to another, and the structural principles that govern such
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In music theory, the term interval describes the difference in pitch between two notes. Although frequently used in connection with intervals, the term "distance" does not adequately describe the physics and subjective effects of two interacting frequencies.
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tone cluster is a musical chord comprising consecutive tones in a scale. Prototypical tone clusters are based on the chromatic scale, and are separated by semitones. For instance, three adjacent piano keys (like C, C♯, and D) struck simultaneously produce a tone cluster.
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Stanley Kubrick
Kubrick in the 1970s.
Born July 26, 1928
New York City, New York, U.S.
Died March 7 1999 (aged 72)
Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England
Years active 1951 — 1999
Spouse(s)
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Stephen Michael Reich (born October 3, 1936) is an American composer. He is a pioneer of minimalism, although his music has increasingly deviated from a purely minimalist style.
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The Pygmies are a broad group of people who live in Central Africa, especially in Congo, Central African Republic and Cameroon. Music is an important part of Pygmy life, and casual performances take place during many of the day's events.
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In music, texture is the overall quality of sound of a piece, most often indicated by the number of voices in the music and by the relationship between these voices (see types of texture below).
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In music, monophony is the simplest of textures, consisting of melody without accompanying harmony. This may be realized as just one note at a time, or with the same note duplicated at the octave (such as often when men and women sing together).
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In music, homorhythm is a texture where there is a "sameness of rhythm in all parts" [1] or "very similar rhythm" as would be used in simple hymn or chorale settings [2]. Homorhythm is a condition of homophony [1].
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homophony (IPA [ho'mɒfəni], from Greek "homófonos", where ομοιο = the same, and φωνή = a sound, tone) is a texture in which two or more parts move together in harmony, the
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heterophony is a type of texture created through the simultaneous variation of a melodic line. This can refer to a kind of complex monophony in which there is only one basic melody, but realised at the same time in multiple voices, each of which play the melody differently, either
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polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony).
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In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm, and interdependent in harmony. It has most commonly been identified in Western music, developing strongly in the Renaissance, and also dominant in much of the common
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