In addition to alternating with other textures, two or more polyphonic lines may combine with other melodies or with a supporting accompaniment. Finally, after creating incredible tension, the texture changes to what we call homophony, as we hear the melody again triumphantly on top, but with the other members of the orchestra in a supporting role. This little tune first appears by itself immediately after the opening orchestral thunderclaps, and gathers momentum as it travels from top to bottom. In the next excerpt, from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, a busy musical phrase winds its way throughout the orchestra. These changes in texture not only illustrate the use of polyphony for musical contrast, but also effectively depict the sense of the text with its emphasis on flight and its invocation of the churning wheels of time: Beginning with the words "Fly swift around ye wheels of time," however, the various vocal components go their separate ways, creating polyphony, and then come together again for the closing line. In the first of the two selections that follow, an early 19th-century sacred piece from the United States, the opening two lines of the text are sung together - at the same time and to the same rhythm - by all the parts. The portions that do not use polyphony therefore urge the listener to concentrate on a single melody in the overall texture, rather than on the several layers of sound. Polyphony may dominate an entire musical work, a significant section of a piece, or it may appear for only a short time.įor example, in both of the following excerpts, a section in a more active polyphonic texture is either preceded or followed by one in which the various voices and instruments play in synch with one another. The musical lines in a polyphonic texture may be instrumental or vocal, or both. Polyphony may be likened to a dialogue, a discussion, or even an argument between two or more speakers, all talking concurrently.Īs a result, polyphony may be judged as the most complex of all the musical textures, since it challenges a listener to concentrate on several, equally important layers of sound.
But it is the combination of the different strands, all interacting together, that creates polyphony.įig 2: Four independent, simultaneous lines, forming a polyphonic texture. Each of these lines can be thought of as a melody in its own right - one that could be sung, played, or listened to independently of the others. Polyphony is a musical texture that features two or more equally prominent melodic lines played at the same time. A musical texture featuring two or more equally prominent melodic lines played at the same time.įig 1: Baroque orchestra, Nuremburg: Ger.
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