Inmusic,monophony is the simplest ofmusical textures, consisting of amelody (or "tune"), typically sung by a single singer or played by a single instrument player (e.g., aflute player) withoutaccompanyingharmony orchords. Manyfolk songs andtraditional songs are monophonic. A melody is also considered to be monophonic if a group of singers (e.g., achoir) sings the same melody together at theunison (exactly the same pitch) or with the same melody notes duplicated at theoctave (such as when men and women sing together). If an entire melody is played by two or more instruments or sung by a choir with a fixed interval, such as aperfect fifth, it is also said to be monophony (or "monophonic"). Themusical texture of asong or musical piece is determined by assessing whether varying components are used, such as anaccompaniment part orpolyphonic melody lines (two or more independent lines).
In theEarly Middle Ages, the earliest Christian songs, calledplainchant (a well-known example isGregorian chant), were monophonic. Even into the twenty-first century, songwriters still often writesongs that intersperse sections using monophony,heterophony (two singers or instrumentalists doing varied versions of the same melody together),polyphony (two or more singers or instrumentalists playing independent melodic lines at the same time),homophony (a melody accompanied by chords), ormonody (a single melodic line with instrumental accompaniment) elements throughout the melody to create different atmospheres and styles. Monophony may not have underlying rhythmic textures, and must consist of only a single melodic line.
According to the modern medieval scholarArdis Butterfield, monophony "is the dominant mode of the European vernacular genres as well as of Latin song ... in polyphonic works, it remains a centralcompositional principle."[2]
The earliest recorded Christian monophony wasplainchant orplainsong (of which one well-known style was calledGregorian chant) a single unaccompanied vocal melody sung bymonks. Sung by multiple voices in unison (i.e. the same pitch and rhythm), this music is still considered monophonic.Plainsong was the first and foremost musical style ofItaly, Ireland, Spain, and France. In the early 9th century, theorganum tradition developed by adding voices in parallel to plainchant melodies. The earliest organum merely augmented the texture of the melody by adding a second voice in paralleloctaves orparallel fifths, which could still be considered monophonic; however, by the 11th century the organum had developed a style called "free organum" in which the voices were more independent, evolving into a polyphonic tradition.
Mozarabic chant,Byzantine Chant,Armenian chant,Beneventan chant,Ambrosian chant,Gregorian chant and others were various forms of plainsong which were all monophonic. Many of these monophonic chants were written down, and contain the earliestmusic notation to develop after the loss of theancient Greek system. For example,Dodecachordon[3] was published by the Swiss Renaissance composerHeinrich Glarean (also Glareanus) and includedplainsong orGregorian chant and monophony. The earliest manuscripts which contain plainsong were written inneumes, a primitive system which recorded only the outline of the melody, and it was not until the 11th century thatGuido d'Arezzo invented a more modern musical notation system that the exact notes of the melodies were preserved.
Mosttroubadour songs were monophonic. Troubadour songs were written from 1100–1350 and they were usually poems aboutchivalry orcourtly love with the words set to a melody. Aristocratic troubadours andtrouvères typically played in courtly performances for kings, queens, and countesses. Poets and composers in the 14th century produced many songs which can be seen as extensions of theProvençal troubador tradition, such as secular monophonic lais and virelais.Jehan de Lescurel (or Jehannot de l'Escurel), a poet and composer from northernFrench from theTrouvère style also wrote monophonic songs in the style of virelais, ballades, rondeaux and diz entés.Minnesänger were similar to the French style but in Middle High German.[4]
A tradition ofLauda, or sacred songs in the style of Troubador songs, was popularized in the 13th and 14th centuries byGeisslerlieder, or Flagellant songs. These monophonicLaude spirituale songs were used in the 13th and 17th century byflagellants, as recorded in the medieval chronicleChronicon Hugonis sacerdotis de Rutelinga (1349).[5]
Monophony was the first type of texture in theLutheran Church. A well-known example isMartin Luther's hymn "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" ("A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"), written as a monophonic tune sometime between 1527 and 1529. Many of Luther's hymns were later harmonized for multiple voices by other composers, and were also used in other polyphonic music such as thecantatas ofJohann Sebastian Bach.
DeLone[6] more loosely defines monophony as "passages, movements, or sections in which notes sound alone, despite instrumental doubling" even if "such passages may involve several instruments or voices."
Indian classical music is an ancient musical tradition where monophonic melodies called ragas are played overdrones, sometimes accompanied by percussion and other accompaniment.
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