heterophony
(hɛtəˈrɒfənɪ)
[Gr. ἑτεροϕωνία: see Plato Leges VII. 812D.]
Simultaneous performance by two or more singers or instrumentalists of different versions of the same melody. Also heteroˈphonic, heteˈrophonous adjs., different in sound.
| 1919 Musical Q. V. 599 Two forms of instrumental accompaniment were known to the Greeks, namely the homophonic and heterophonic. 1936 Amer. Speech XI. 299 Any phonic difference found between comparably situated sounds in heterophonous words in a given language constitutes a phonemic contrast. 1939 Scrutiny VII. 402 Ruth Crawford writes heterophonic music in which the various linear strands bear no relation to one another except that of proximity in time-space. 1945 Times 16 Mar. 6 The name for this simultaneous variation with its permitted dissonance is heterophony. 1962 Listener 21 June 1091/2 The pianos are brilliantly used as percussion instruments, sometimes in harp-like arpeggiated pentatonics, sometimes in wildly clashing heterophony. 1970 Daily Tel. 16 Nov. 9/4 Heterophony was..only just round the corner from the virelais, ‘Se Ma Dame’ and ‘Comment qu'a moy’, as treated here with instrumental doubling of the voice parts. 1971 Guardian 22 Feb. 8/4 The work was somewhat discursive, there being too few landmarks in the prevailing heterophonic texture to compel the listeners' attention throughout. |