Imitation first at the octave then at the M6 in Bartók's "Chromatic Invention", Mikrokosmos (1926–1939), vol. III, no. 91, mm. 1–4 Play(help·info)."Row, Row, Row Your Boat" (1852) round Play(help·info). A new part can join the singing by starting at the beginning whenever another part reaches any asterisk. If one ignores the sixteenth notes that pass between the main chords, every single note is in the tonic triad—in this case, a C, E, or G.Example of a tonal answer in J.S. Bach'sFugue no. 16 in G minor, BWV 861, from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 (1722). ( Listen ) The first note of the subject, D, (in red) is a prominent dominant note, demanding that the first note of the answer (in blue) sounds as the tonic, G, rather than A.Imitation at the opening of Carlo Gesualdo's "Or, che in gioia credea" (1596) Play(help·info)
In music, imitation is the repetition of a melody in a polyphonic texture shortly after its first appearance in a different voice. The melody may vary through transposition, inversion, or otherwise, but retain its original character. The intervals and rhythms of an imitation may be exact or modified; imitation occurs at varying distances relative to the first occurrence, and phrases may begin with voices in imitation before they freely go their own ways.
Imitation helps provide unity to a composition and is used in forms such as the fugue and canon.
The near universality of imitation in polyphonic styles in Western music (and its frequency in homorhythmic, homophonic, and other textures) is evidence enough of its paradoxical value in asserting the individuality of voices.[3]
Definitions
When a phrase recurs exactly as before (except perhaps transposed), it is called strict imitation. A round is thus an example of strict imitation. Repetition is defined as the repetition of a phrase or melody often with variations in key, rhythm, and voice.
Different authors define imitation somewhat differently:
Real imitation[:] An imitation with no modifications except for the usual diatonic adjustment of half and whole steps. The exact transposition of a melody at different pitch levels.
Imitation[:] The repetition of a melody or melodic group in close succession, but in a different voice; the repetition of a melody at a different pitch level in a polyphonic texture.
The point of imitation, "marks the beginning of a series of imitative entries in a contrapuntal composition."[5] In counterpoint, imitation occurs in a second voice, usually at a different pitch. A short phrase treated imitatively is called an attacco.
In pop music a much clichéd form of imitation consists of a background choir repeating – usually the last notes – of the lead singer's last line. See: fill (music).
Examples in Classical Music
Imitation featured in both instrumental and vocal music of the Renaissance. In the following passage from a Ricercar by Andrea Gabrieli, the instruments at first imitate at a distance of two beats. Towards the end of the episode, bars 11–12, the imitation becomes closer, at a distance of only one beat:
Andrea Gabrieli Ricercare del 12o tonoAndrea Gabrieli Ricercare del 12o tono
The fugues of J.S.Bach contain a variety of examples of imitation. The fugue in Bb minor BWV 867, from Book 1 of the Well-tempered Clavier opens with a subject that is imitated at the interval of a fifth higher and at a distance of four beats:
Bach Fugue XXII in B flat minor BWV 867, opening
Later, the theme is imitated through all five parts at the distance of just one beat:
Bach Fugue XXII in B flat minor BWV 867, closing barsBach Fugue XXII in B flat minor BWV 867, closing bars
This type of closely followed imitation is characteristic of fugues as they build towards a conclusion. It is known as stretto.
In the minuet of Mozart's Kegelstatt Trio K498, there are intricate passages that gain in interest and coherence through use of imitation. Starting at bar 76, the clarinet is followed at a distance of three beats by the viola, then by the piano's right hand and finally, the left. In bars 84–6, the piano creates an even closer chromatic weave, where the imitation is at the distance of only one beat:
Mozart Minuet from Trio K498, bars 76–86Mozart Minuet from Trio K498, bars 76–86
A more straightforward example of close imitation occurs later in the same movement at bars 94–100. This is the linking passage that heralds the return of the opening of the Minuet. The clarinet plays a sustained pedal note while the three lines played by the viola and the pianist's two hands express a single harmony, the dominant seventh (F7), to prepare for the return of the minuet in the key of B flat major, the tonic key:
Mozart Minuet from Trio K498, bars 94–100Mozart Minuet from Trio K498, bars 94–100
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradition, strongly developing during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period, especially in the Baroque period. The term originates from the Latin punctus contra punctum meaning "point against point", i.e. "note against note".
In music, a fugue is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and which recurs frequently in the course of the composition. It is not to be confused with a fuguing tune, which is a style of song popularized by and mostly limited to early American music and West Gallery music. A fugue usually has three main sections: an exposition, a development and a final entry that contains the return of the subject in the fugue's tonic key. Some fugues have a recapitulation.
In music, form refers to the structure of a musical composition or performance. In his book, Worlds of Music, Jeff Todd Titon suggests that a number of organizational elements may determine the formal structure of a piece of music, such as "the arrangement of musical units of rhythm, melody, and/or harmony that show repetition or variation, the arrangement of the instruments, or the way a symphonic piece is orchestrated", among other factors. It is, "the ways in which a composition is shaped to create a meaningful musical experience for the listener."
Form refers to the largest shape of the composition. Form in music is the result of the interaction of the four structural elements described above [sound, harmony, melody, rhythm]."
In music, a canon is a contrapuntal (counterpoint-based) compositional technique that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration. The initial melody is called the leader, while the imitative melody, which is played in a different voice, is called the follower. The follower must imitate the leader, either as an exact replication of its rhythms and intervals or some transformation thereof. Repeating canons in which all voices are musically identical are called rounds—"Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and "Frère Jacques" are popular examples.
In music, texture is how the tempo, melodic, and harmonic materials are combined in a musical composition, determining the overall quality of the sound in a piece. The texture is often described in regard to the density, or thickness, and range, or width, between lowest and highest pitches, in relative terms as well as more specifically distinguished according to the number of voices, or parts, and the relationship between these voices. For example, a thick texture contains many 'layers' of instruments. One of these layers could be a string section or another brass. The thickness also is changed by the amount and the richness of the instruments playing the piece. The thickness varies from light to thick. A piece's texture may be changed by the number and character of parts playing at once, the timbre of the instruments or voices playing these parts and the harmony, tempo, and rhythms used.. The types categorized by number and relationship of parts are analyzed and determined through the labeling of primary textural elements: primary melody (PM), secondary melody (SM), parallel supporting melody (PSM), static support (SS), harmonic support (HS), rhythmic support (RS), and harmonic and rhythmic support (HRS).
In Western music and music theory, diminution has four distinct meanings. Diminution may be a form of embellishment in which a long note is divided into a series of shorter, usually melodic, values. Diminution may also be the compositional device where a melody, theme or motif is presented in shorter note-values than were previously used. Diminution is also the term for the proportional shortening of the value of individual note-shapes in mensural notation, either by coloration or by a sign of proportion. A minor or perfect interval that is narrowed by a chromatic semitone is a diminished interval, and the process may be referred to as diminution.
In music, development is a process by which a musical idea is communicated in the course of a composition. It refers to the transformation and restatement of initial material. Development is often contrasted with musical variation, which is a slightly different means to the same end. Development is carried out upon portions of material treated in many different presentations and combinations at a time, while variation depends upon one type of presentation at a time.
In music, a subject is the material, usually a recognizable melody, upon which part or all of a composition is based. In forms other than the fugue, this may be known as the theme.
The Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24, is a work for solo piano written by Johannes Brahms in 1861. It consists of a set of twenty-five variations and a concluding fugue, all based on a theme from George Frideric Handel's Harpsichord Suite No. 1 in B♭ major, HWV 434. They are known as his Handel Variations.
In music, the Italian term stretto[ˈstretto] has two distinct meanings:
In a fugue, stretto is the imitation of the subject in close succession, so that the answer enters before the subject is completed.
In non-fugal compositions, a stretto is a passage, often at the end of an aria or movement, in faster tempo. Examples include the end of Franz Liszt's transcendental etude No.10, the end of the last movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony; measure 227 of Chopin's Ballade No. 3; measures 16, 17 and 18, of his Prelude No. 4 in E minor; and measure 25 of his Etude Op. 10, No. 12, "The Revolutionary."
In music, a sequence is the restatement of a motif or longer melodic passage at a higher or lower pitch in the same voice. It is one of the most common and simple methods of elaborating a melody in eighteenth and nineteenth century classical music. Characteristics of sequences:
In music theory, voicing refers to two closely related concepts:
How a musician or group distributes, or spaces, notes and chords on one or more instruments
The simultaneous vertical placement of notes in relation to each other; this relates to the concepts of spacing and doubling
In music theory, a chromatic fourth, or passus duriusculus, is a melody or melodic fragment spanning a perfect fourth with all or almost all chromatic intervals filled in. The quintessential example is in D minor with the tonic and dominant notes as boundaries:
Repetition is important in music, where sounds or sequences are often repeated. It may be called restatement, such as the restatement of a theme. While it plays a role in all music, with noise and musical tones lying along a spectrum from irregular to periodic sounds,(Moravcsik, 114)(Rajagopal, ) it is especially prominent in specific styles.
The six string quartets Op. 20 by Joseph Haydn are among the works that earned Haydn the sobriquet "the father of the string quartet". The quartets are considered a milestone in the history of composition; in them, Haydn develops compositional techniques that were to define the medium for the next 200 years.
Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot, BWV 39, in Leipzig and first performed on 23 June 1726, the first Sunday after Trinity that year. Three years earlier, on the first Sunday after Trinity in 1723, Bach had taken office as Thomaskantor and started his first cycle of cantatas for Sundays and Feast Days in the liturgical year. On the first Sunday after Trinity in 1724, he began his second cycle, consisting of chorale cantatas. The cantata Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot is regarded as part of Bach's third cantata cycle which was written sporadically between 1725 and 1727.
Divertimento for String Orchestra Sz.113 BB.118 is a three-movement work composed by Béla Bartók in 1939, scored for full orchestral strings. Paul Sacher, a Swiss conductor, patron, impresario, and the founder of the chamber orchestra Basler Kammerorchester, commissioned Bartók to compose the Divertimento, which is now known to be the pair's last collaborative work.
Traditional sub-Saharan African harmony is a music theory of harmony in Sub-Saharan Africa music based on the principles of homophonic parallelism, homophonic polyphony, counter melody and ostinato-variation. Polyphony is common in African music and heterophony is a common technique as well. Although these principles of traditional African music are of Pan-African validity, the degree to which they are used in one area over another varies. Specific techniques that used to generate harmony in Africa are the "span process", "pedal notes", "Rhythmic harmony", "harmony by imitation", and "scalar clusters".
The Missa Brevis is a mass written by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina first published in 1570 in Palestrina's Third Book of Masses and reprinted several times since. Its title may be misleading, as a missa brevis commonly refers to a short mass, which this is not. It is among the most performed of Palestrina's polyphonic repertoire.
Missa L'Homme armé is a part of a mass by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. It was published in 1570 and consists of four movements.
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