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Homophony

This article is about the musical term. For other uses, see Homophony (disambiguation).

Homophony in Tallis' "If Ye Love Me", composed in 1549. The soprano sings the melody (the primary line) while the lower voices fill out the harmony (as supporting lines). The rhythmic unison in all the parts makes this passage an example of homorhythm.

In music, homophony (/həˈmɒf(ə)niː, hoʊ-/;[1][2], Greek: ὁμόφωνος, homóphōnos, from ὁμός, homós, "same" and φωνή, phōnē, "sound, tone") is a texture in which a primary part is supported by one or more additional strands that provide the harmony.[3] One melody predominates while the other parts play either single notes or an elaborate accompaniment. This differentiation of roles contrasts with equal-voice polyphony (in which similar lines move with rhythmic and melodic independence to form an even texture) and monophony (in which all parts move in unison or octaves).[4] Historically, homophony and its differentiated roles for parts emerged in tandem with tonality, which gave distinct harmonic functions to the soprano, bass and inner voices.

A homophonic texture may be homorhythmic, which means that all parts have the same rhythm.[5][6] Chorale texture is another variant of homophony. The most common type of homophony is melody-dominated homophony, in which one voice, often the highest, plays a distinct melody, and the accompanying voices work together to articulate an underlying harmony.[7]

Initially, in Ancient Greece, homophony indicated music in which a single melody is performed by two or more voices in unison or octaves, i.e. monophony with multiple voices. Homophony as a term first appeared in English with Charles Burney in 1776, emphasizing the concord of harmonized melody.[8]

  1. ^ "Homophony". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  2. ^ "Homophony". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on June 17, 2020.
  3. ^ Tubb, Monte [in Dutch] (Fall 1987). "Textural Constructions in Music". Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy. 1 (1): 201. Article 14. Archived from the original on March 7, 2024 – via Carolyn Wilson Digital Collections.
  4. ^ McKay, George Frederick (2005). Creative Orchestration. George Frederick McKay Music Publishing, Bainbridge Island, Washington. (Originally published by Allyn & Bacon, Boston 1963, 2nd ed. 1965).
  5. ^ Griffiths, Paul (2004). "homorhythm". The Penguin Companion to Classical Music. Penguin Group. p. 375. ISBN 9780140515596. OCLC 61504797.
  6. ^ Randel, Don Michael (1999). "Homorhythmic". Written at Ithaca, New York. The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 305. ISBN 0-674-00084-6. OCLC 41951291.
  7. ^ Hyer, Brian. "Homophony", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed September 24, 2006) (Subscription required).
  8. ^ Todd Michel McComb, ed. "What is monophony, polyphony, homophony, monody etc.?" Early Music FAQ (accessed May 19, 2009). The Online Etymology Dictionary ([1] gives 1768 as the date of earliest usage of the word, but without reference.

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