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]
^"Homophony". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
^"Homophony". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on June 17, 2020.
^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.
^McKay, George Frederick (2005). Creative Orchestration. George Frederick McKay Music Publishing, Bainbridge Island, Washington. (Originally published by Allyn & Bacon, Boston 1963, 2nd ed. 1965).
^Griffiths, Paul (2004). "homorhythm". The Penguin Companion to Classical Music. Penguin Group. p. 375. ISBN 9780140515596. OCLC 61504797.
^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.
^Hyer, Brian. "Homophony", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed September 24, 2006) (Subscription required).
^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.
In music, homophony (/həˈmɒf(ə)niː, hoʊ-/;, Greek: ὁμόφωνος, homóphōnos, from ὁμός, homós, "same" and φωνή, phōnē, "sound, tone") is a texture in which...
A homophone (/ˈhɒməfoʊn, ˈhoʊmə-/) is a word that is pronounced the same (to a varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. The two words may...
Mondegreen – mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase as a result of near-homophony Nonsense verse – the poetic use of nonsensical words or phrases Onomatopoeia –...
is often referred to as the difference between unison, polyphony and homophony, but it can also relate (for example) to a busy cafe; a sound which might...
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For...
(monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony). Within the context of the Western musical tradition, the term polyphony...
Dutch as their first language tended to maintain the Dutch system of homophony between plural and linking suffixes when speaking West Frisian, by using...
reflected the culture's deep-seated focus on longevity and wordplay. From the homophony in some dialects between 酒 ("rice wine") and 久 (meaning "long" in the...
Lutheran hymn Anglican church music Exclusive psalmody Anglican chant Homophony vs. Polyphony Liturgies Reformed worship Calvin's liturgy Formula missae...
correcting out-of-tune notes in the harmonic series. The melody-dominated homophony of the classical and romantic periods relegated the trumpet to a secondary...
mean "woodworkers" or "miners". (There is a semantic overlap due to the homophony or merging of lemmas with different meanings from at least two languages:...
texture than the Baroque music which preceded it. The main style was homophony, where a prominent melody and a subordinate chordal accompaniment part...
accompaniment) and concerto grosso Monody – an outgrowth of song[citation needed] Homophony – music with one melodic voice and rhythmically similar (and subordinate)...
Epidendrum fimbriatum is a terrestrial (sometimes epiphytic) orchid native to high altitudes (2.2—3.4 km) in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela...
into n in Finnish, e.g. genitive sydämen vs. nominative sydän.) This homophony has exceptions in Finnish, where a separate accusative -(e)t is found...
used in simple hymn or chorale settings. Homorhythm is a condition of homophony. All voices sing the same rhythm. This texture results in a homophonic...
where a word has a single meaning. Polysemy is distinct from homonymy—or homophony—which is an accidental similarity between two or more words (such as bear...
immortality. The character 黄 huáng, for the color "yellow", also means, by homophony and shared etymology with 皇 huáng, "august", "creator" and "radiant",...
instrumentalists playing independent melodic lines at the same time), homophony (a melody accompanied by chords), or monody (a single melodic line with...
the "reunion wine" drunk during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Because of the homophony between 酒 ("alcohol") and 久 ("long", in the sense of time passing), osmanthus...
Syncopation. hervortretend (Ger.) Prominent, pronounced hold, see fermata homophony A musical texture with one voice (or melody line) accompanied by subordinate...
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