Polyphony is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice (monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony).
In music, monophony is the simplest of musical textures, consisting of a melody, typically sung by a single singer or played by a single instrument player without accompanying harmony or chords. Many folk songs and traditional songs are monophonic. A melody is also considered to be monophonic if a group of singers sings the same melody together at the unison or with the same melody notes duplicated at the octave. If an entire melody is played by two or more instruments or sung by a choir with a fixed interval, such as a perfect fifth, it is also said to be monophony. The musical texture of a song or musical piece is determined by assessing whether varying components are used, such as an accompaniment part or polyphonic melody lines.
The music of Albania is associated with the country of Albania and Albanian communities. Music has a long tradition in the country and is known for its regional diversity, from the Ghegs in the North to the Tosks in the South. It is an integral part of the national identity, strongly influenced by the country's long and turbulent history, which forced Albanians to protect their culture from their overlords by living in rural and remote mountains.
The music of Bulgaria refers to all forms of music associated with the country of Bulgaria, including classical, folk, popular music, and other forms.
Georgia has rich and still vibrant traditional music, primarily known for arguably the earliest polyphonic tradition of the Christian world. Situated on the border of Europe and Asia, Georgia is also the home of a variety of urban singing styles with a mixture of native polyphony, Middle Eastern monophony and late European harmonic languages. Georgian performers are well represented in the world's leading opera troupes and concert stages.
Italian folk music has a deep and complex history. National unification came quite late to the Italian peninsula, so its many hundreds of separate cultures remained un-homogenized until quite recently. Moreover, Italian folk music reflects Italy's geographic position at the south of Europe and in the center of the Mediterranean Sea: Celtic, Slavic, Arabic, Greek, Spanish and Byzantine influences are readily apparent in the musical styles of the Italian regions. Italy's rough geography and the historic dominance of small city states has allowed quite diverse musical styles to coexist in close proximity.
I Muvrini is a Corsican folk music group, who sing traditional Corsican music in their native Corsican language.
Lithuanian folk songs are often noted for not only their mythological content but also their relating historical events.
A part song, part-song or partsong is a form of choral music that consists of a song to a secular or non-liturgical sacred text, written or arranged for several vocal parts. Part songs are commonly sung by an SATB choir, but sometimes for an all-male or all-female ensemble. Part songs are intended to be sung a cappella, that is without accompaniment, unless an instrumental accompaniment is particularly specified.
Ukrainian folk music includes a number of varieties of traditional, folkloric, folk-inspired popular music, and folk-inspired European classical music traditions.
Sean-nós singing is unaccompanied, traditional Irish vocal music usually performed in the Irish language. Sean-nós singing usually involves very long melodic phrases with highly ornamented and melismatic melodic lines, differing greatly from traditional folk singing elsewhere in Ireland, although there is significant regional variation within Ireland. Sean-nós songs cover a range of genres, from love song to lament to lullaby, traditionally with a strong focus on conveying the relevant emotion of the given song. The term sean-nós, which simply means '[in the] old way', is a vague term that can also refer to various other traditional activities, musical and non-musical.
A Filetta is an all-male singing group that performs traditional music from Corsica. It's made up of Corsican singers who try to popularize the traditional Corsican Polyphony singing style. To assert its Corsican identity, the group's name refers to a kind of fern that grows on the island.
Les Nouvelles Polyphonies Corses is a Corsican revival band, concerned with the indigenous music of Corsica. It is the project of Patrizia Poli and Patrizia Gattaceca, who were heavily involved in the 1970s Corsican Roots Revival movement. Their eponymous debut album, Les Nouvelles Polyphonies Corses (1991), was arranged and produced by Hector Zazou, featuring Manu Dibango on saxophone, Ivo Papasov on clarinet, Richard Horowitz, Jon Hassell on trumpet, Shaymal Maltra on tabla, djembe, and ghatam, John Cale and Ryuichi Sakamoto on piano, with Zazou creating complimentary electronic music . Their collaboration with non-Corsican artists was a decision based on exploring the evolving concept of polyphony. For Les Nouvelles Polyphonies, it was important to "sing polyphony as we feel it today". The improvisation found on the album provides a conceptual link with the tradition of Corsican indigenous folk music. They are noted for forming a bridge between the traditional style of Corsican folk music and more modern, popular music. They played a critical role in popularizing Corsican folk music, both on a local scale and a more global one.
Musical Sources is a series of recordings of traditional music that was made for the International Music Council by the International Institute for Comparative Music Studies and Documentation (Berlin/Venice) and released on the Philips label. Most of these recordings were later reissued on the Auvidis label. The series was directed by Alain Daniélou. It was part of the larger UNESCO Collection series.
Iso-Polyphony is a traditional part of Albanian folk music and, as such, is included in UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list. Albanian Iso-Polyphony is considered to have its roots in the many-voiced vajtim, the southern Albanian traditional lamentation of the dead. The instrumental expression of the Albanian Iso-Polyphony evolved into the Albanian kaba.
Traditional sub-Saharan African harmony is a music theory of harmony in sub-Saharan African 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".
Pierre Gambini is a French songwriter and composer.
A work song is a song that is sung while doing labour or any kind of work. Usually, the song helps with keeping rhythm or is used as a distraction. Work songs can include content focused around the surrounding environment, resistance, or protest. Many different groups throughout history have sung work songs. Enslaved African-American women had a unique history associated with work songs. Their work songs portrayed their specific standpoint and experiences during the slavery period in the United States.
Alte Voce is a Corsican group, who sing Corsican music in the Corsican language.
