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Polyphony
Polyphony (/pəˈlɪfəni/ pə-LIF-ə-nee) is a type of
musical texture consisting of two or more
simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed
to a musical texture with just one voice (monophony)
or a texture with one dominant melodic voice
accompanied by chords (homophony).

Within the context of the Western musical tradition,

the term polyphony is usually used to refer to music of
the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. Baroque forms
such as fugue, which might be called polyphonic, are Sample of polyphony
usually described instead as contrapuntal. Also, as
0:05
opposed to the species terminology of counterpoint,
polyphony was generally either "pitch-against-pitch" / A bar from J.S. Bach's "Fugue No.17
"point-against-point" or "sustained-pitch" in one part in A flat," BWV 862, from Das
[1]
with melismas of varying lengths in another. In all Wohltemperierte Clavier (Part I), a
famous example of contrapuntal
cases the conception was probably what Margaret polyphony.
Bent (1999) calls "dyadic counterpoint",[2] with each
part being written generally against one other part, Problems playing this file? See media help.
with all parts modified if needed in the end. This
point-against-point conception is opposed to "successive composition", where voices were written in
an order with each new voice fitting into the whole so far constructed, which was previously assumed.

The term polyphony is also sometimes used more broadly, to describe any musical texture that is not
monophonic. Such a perspective considers homophony as a sub-type of polyphony.[3]

Origins
Traditional (non-professional) polyphony has a wide, if uneven, distribution among the peoples of the
world.[4] Most polyphonic regions of the world are in sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and Oceania. It is
believed that the origins of polyphony in traditional music vastly predate the emergence of polyphony
in European professional music. Currently there are two contradictory approaches to the problem of
the origins of vocal polyphony: the Cultural Model, and the Evolutionary Model.[5] According to the
Cultural Model, the origins of polyphony are connected to the development of human musical culture;
polyphony came as the natural development of the primordial monophonic singing; therefore
polyphonic traditions are bound to gradually replace monophonic traditions.[6] According to the
Evolutionary Model, the origins of polyphonic singing are much deeper, and are connected to the
earlier stages of human evolution; polyphony was an important part of a defence system of the
hominids, and traditions of polyphony are gradually disappearing all over the world.[7]: 198–210

Although the exact origins of polyphony in the Western church traditions are unknown, the treatises
Musica enchiriadis and Scolica enchiriadis, both dating from c. 900, are usually considered the oldest
extant written examples of polyphony. These treatises provided examples of two-voice note-against-
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note embellishments of chants using parallel octaves, fifths, and fourths. Rather than being fixed
works, they indicated ways of improvising polyphony during performance. The Winchester Troper,
from c. 1000, is generally considered to be the oldest extant example of notated polyphony for chant
performance, although the notation does not indicate precise pitch levels or durations.[8] However, a
two-part antiphon to Saint Boniface recently discovered in the British Library, is thought to have
originated in a monastery in north-west Germany and has been dated to the early tenth century.[9]

European polyphony

Historical context

European polyphony rose out of melismatic organum, the earliest harmonization of the chant.
Twelfth-century composers such as Léonin and Pérotin developed the organum that was introduced
centuries earlier, and also added a third and fourth voice to the now homophonic chant. In the
thirteenth century, the chant-based tenor was becoming altered, fragmented, and hidden beneath
secular tunes, obscuring the sacred texts as composers continued to play with this new invention
called polyphony. The lyrics of love poems might be sung above sacred texts in the form of a trope, or
the sacred text might be placed within a familiar secular melody. The oldest surviving piece of six-part
music is the English rota Sumer is icumen in (c. 1240).[10]

Western Europe and Roman Catholicism

European polyphony rose prior to, and during the period of the Western Schism. Avignon, the seat of
popes and then antipopes, was a vigorous center of secular music-making, much of which influenced
sacred polyphony.[11]

The notion of secular and sacred music merging in the papal court also offended some medieval ears.
It gave church music more of a jocular performance quality supplanting the solemnity of worship they
were accustomed to. The use of and attitude toward polyphony varied widely in the Avignon court
from the beginning to the end of its religious importance in the fourteenth century.

Harmony was considered frivolous, impious, lascivious, and an obstruction to the audibility of the
words. Instruments, as well as certain modes, were actually forbidden in the church because of their
association with secular music and pagan rites. After banishing polyphony from the Liturgy in 1322,
Pope John XXII warned against the unbecoming elements of this musical innovation in his 1324 bull
Docta Sanctorum Patrum.[12] In contrast Pope Clement VI indulged in it.

The oldest extant polyphonic setting of the mass attributable to one composer is Guillaume de
Machaut's Messe de Nostre Dame, dated to 1364, during the pontificate of Pope Urban V. The Second
Vatican Council said Gregorian chant should be the focus of liturgical services, without excluding
other forms of sacred music, including polyphony.[13]

Notable works and artists

Tomás Luis de Victoria
William Byrd, Mass for Five Voices
Thomas Tallis, Spem in alium
Orlandus Lassus, Missa super Bella'Amfitrit'altera
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Guillaume de Machaut, Messe de Nostre Dame

Geoffrey Chaucer[14]
Jacob Obrecht
Palestrina, Missa Papae Marcelli
Josquin des Prez, Missa Pange Lingua
Gregorio Allegri, Miserere

Protestant Britain and the United States

English Protestant west gallery music included polyphonic multi-melodic harmony, including fuguing
tunes, by the mid-18th century. This tradition passed with emigrants to North America, where it was
proliferated in tunebooks, including shape-note books like The Southern Harmony and The Sacred
Harp. While this style of singing has largely disappeared from British and North American sacred
music, it survived in the rural Southern United States, until it again began to grow a following
throughout the United States and even in places such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, and
Australia, among others.[15][16][17][18]

Balkan region

Polyphonic singing in the Balkans is traditional folk singing

of this part of southern Europe. It is also called ancient, archaic or
old-style singing.[19][20]

Byzantine chant
Ojkanje singing, in Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and
Herzegovina
Ganga singing, in Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia and
Herzegovina Albanian polyphonic folk group
Epirote singing, in northern Greece and southern Albania (see wearing qeleshe and fustanella in
below) Skrapar.
Iso-polyphony, in southern Albania (see below)
Gusle singing, in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Croatia and Albania
Izvika singing, in Serbia
Dvuglas singing in Southern Bulgaria: woman choirs in Shopluk (Bistritsa Babi) and in Rhodopes
(Nedelino), as well as men choirs in Bansko, Pirin Macedonia[21]

Incipient polyphony (previously primitive polyphony) includes antiphony and call and response,
drones, and parallel intervals.

Balkan drone music is described as polyphonic due to Balkan musicians using a literal translation of
the Greek polyphōnos ('many voices'). In terms of Western classical music, it is not strictly
polyphonic, due to the drone parts having no melodic role, and can better be described as
multipart.[22]

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The polyphonic singing tradition of Epirus is a form of traditional folk polyphony practiced among
Aromanians, Albanians, Greeks, and ethnic Macedonians in southern Albania and northwestern
Greece.[23][24] This type of folk vocal tradition is also found in North Macedonia and Bulgaria.

Albanian polyphonic singing can be divided into two major stylistic groups as performed by the Tosks
and Labs of southern Albania. The drone is performed in two ways: among the Tosks, it is always
continuous and sung on the syllable 'e', using staggered breathing; while among the Labs, the drone is
sometimes sung as a rhythmic tone, performed to the text of the song. It can be differentiated between
two-, three- and four-voice polyphony.

In Aromanian music, polyphony is common, and polyphonic music follows a set of common rules.[25]

The phenomenon of Albanian folk iso-polyphony (Albanian iso-polyphony) has been proclaimed by
UNESCO a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity". The term iso refers to the
drone, which accompanies the iso-polyphonic singing and is related to the ison of Byzantine church
music, where the drone group accompanies the song.[26][27]

Corsica

The French island of Corsica has a unique style of music called Paghjella that is known for its
polyphony. Traditionally, Paghjella contains a staggered entrance and continues with the three singers
carrying independent melodies. This music tends to contain much melisma and is sung in a nasal
temperament. Additionally, many paghjella songs contain a picardy third. After paghjella's revival in
the 1970s, it mutated. In the 1980s it had moved away from some of its more traditional features as it
became much more heavily produced and tailored towards western tastes. There were now four
singers, significantly less melisma, it was much more structured, and it exemplified more homophony.
To the people of Corsica, the polyphony of paghjella represented freedom; it had been a source of
cultural pride in Corsica and many felt that this movement away from the polyphonic style meant a
movement away from paghjella's cultural ties. This resulted in a transition in the 1990s. Paghjella
again had a strong polyphonic style and a less structured meter.[28][29]

Sardinia

Cantu a tenore is a traditional style of polyphonic singing in Sardinia.

Caucasus region

Georgia

Polyphony in the Republic of Georgia is arguably the oldest polyphony in the Christian world.
Georgian polyphony is traditionally sung in three parts with strong dissonances, parallel fifths, and a
unique tuning system based on perfect fifths.[30] Georgian polyphonic singing has been proclaimed by
UNESCO an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Popular singing has a highly valued place in
Georgian culture. There are three types of polyphony in Georgia: complex polyphony, which is
common in Svaneti; polyphonic dialogue over a bass background, prevalent in the Kakheti region in
Eastern Georgia; and contrasted polyphony with three partially improvised sung parts, characteristic
of western Georgia. The Chakrulo song, which is sung at ceremonies and festivals and belongs to the
first category, is distinguished by its use of metaphor and its yodel, the krimanchuli and a "cockerel’s
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crow", performed by a male falsetto singer. Some of these songs are linked to the cult of the grapevine
and many date back to the eighth century. The songs traditionally pervaded all areas of everyday life,
ranging from work in the fields (the Naduri, which incorporates the sounds of physical effort into the
music) to songs to curing of illnesses and to Christmas Carols (Alilo). Byzantine liturgical hymns also
incorporated the Georgian polyphonic tradition to such an extent that they became a significant
expression of it.[31]

Chechens and Ingushes

Chechen and Ingush traditional music can be defined by their tradition of vocal polyphony. Chechen
and Ingush polyphony is based on a drone and is mostly three-part, unlike most other north
Caucasian traditions' two-part polyphony. The middle part carries the main melody accompanied by a
double drone, holding the interval of a fifth around the melody. Intervals and chords are often
dissonances (sevenths, seconds, fourths), and traditional Chechen and Ingush songs use sharper
dissonances than other North Caucasian traditions. The specific cadence of a final, dissonant three-
part chord, consisting of fourth and the second on top (c-f-g), is almost unique. (Only in western
Georgia do a few songs finish on the same dissonant c-f-g chord.)[7]: 60–61

Oceania
Parts of Oceania maintain rich polyphonic traditions.

Melanesia

The peoples of New Guinea Highlands including the Moni, Dani, and Yali use vocal polyphony, as do
the people of Manus Island. Many of these styles are drone-based or feature close, secondal
harmonies dissonant to western ears. Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands are host to instrumental
polyphony, in the form of bamboo panpipe ensembles.[32][33]

Polynesia

Europeans were surprised to find drone-based and dissonant polyphonic singing in Polynesia.
Polynesian traditions were then influenced by Western choral church music, which brought
counterpoint into Polynesian musical practice.[34][35]

Africa
Numerous Sub-Saharan African music traditions host polyphonic singing, typically moving in parallel
motion.[36]

East Africa

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While the Maasai people traditionally sing with drone polyphony, other East African groups use more
elaborate techniques. The Dorze people, for example, sing with as many as six parts, and the Wagogo
use counterpoint.[36]

Central Africa

The music of African Pygmies (e.g. that of the Aka people) is typically ostinato and contrapuntal,
featuring yodeling. Other Central African peoples tend to sing with parallel lines rather than
counterpoint.[37] In Burundi, rural women greet each other with akazehe, a two-part interlocking
vocal rhythm.[38]

Southern Africa

The singing of the San people, like that of the pygmies, features melodic repetition, yodeling, and
counterpoint. The singing of neighboring Bantu peoples, like the Zulu, is more typically parallel.[37]

West Africa

The peoples of tropical West Africa traditionally use parallel harmonies rather than counterpoint.[39]

See also
Micropolyphony
Polyphonic Era
Venetian polychoral style

References
1. Hendrik van der Werf (1997). "Early Western polyphony", Companion to Medieval & Renaissance
Music. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-816540-4.
2. Margaret Bent (1999). "The Grammar of Early Music: Preconditions for Analysis", Tonal Structures
of Early Music. New York: Garland Publishing. ISBN 0-8153-2388-3.
3. DeVoto, Mark (2015). "Polyphony" (http://www.britannica.com/art/polyphony-music).
Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
4. Jordania, Joseph (2011). Why do People Sing? Music in Human Evolution. Logos. pp. 13–37.
ISBN 978-9941-401-86-2.
5. Jordania, Joseph (2011). Why do People Sing? Music in Human Evolution. Logos. pp. 6o–70.
ISBN 978-9941-401-86-2.
6. Bruno Nettl. Polyphony in North American Indian music. Musical Quarterly, 1961, 47:354–62
7. Joseph Jordania (2006). Who Asked the First Question? The Origins of Human Choral Singing,
Intelligence, Language and Speech (https://web.archive.org/web/20120307121744/http://www.pol
yphony.ge/uploads/whoaskthefirst.pdf) (PDF). Tbilisi: Logos. ISBN 99940-31-81-3. Archived from
the original (http://www.polyphony.ge/uploads/whoaskthefirst.pdf) (PDF) on 7 March 2012.
8. Riemann, Hugo. History of music theory, books I and II: polyphonic theory to the sixteenth century,
Book 1. Da Capo Press. June 1974.

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9. "Earliest known piece of polyphonic music discovered" (https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/earl

iest-known-piece-of-polyphonic-music-discovered). www.cam.ac.uk. University of Cambridge. 17
December 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
10. Albright, Daniel (2004). Modernism and Music: An Anthology of Sources. University of Chicago
Press. ISBN 0-226-01267-0.
11. Riemann, Hugo. History of music theory, books I and II: polyphonic theory to the sixteenth century,
Book 2. Da Capo Press. June 1974.
12. Pope John XXII (1879). "Translated from the original Latin of the bull Docta sanctorum patrum as
given in Corpus iuris canonici, ed. a. 1582" (http://www.cengage.com/music/book_content/049557
273X_wrightSimms/assets/ITOW/7273X_10b_ITOW_John_XXII.pdf) (PDF). pp. 1256–57.
13. Vatican II, Constitution on the Liturgy, 112–18
14. See Jonathan Fruoco's work on Chaucer's polyphony: Chaucer's Polyphony (https://www.degruyt
er.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781501514364/html) and Polyphony and the Modern (https://www.
routledge.com/Polyphony-and-the-Modern/Fruoco/p/book/9780367655150).
15. Temperley, Nicholas; Manns, Charles G. (1983). Fuging Tunes in the Eighteenth Century. Detroit,
MI: Information Coordinators. ISBN 0-89990-017-8.
16. Cobb, Buell E. (1989). The Sacred Harp: A Tradition and Its Music. Athens: University of Georgia
Press. ISBN 978-0-8203-2371-8.
17. Lueck, Ellen (2017). Sacred Harp Singing in Europe: Its Pathways, Spaces, and Meanings (http
s://doi.org/10.14418/wes01.3.69) (PhD). Wesleyan University. doi:10.14418/wes01.3.69 (https://do
i.org/10.14418%2Fwes01.3.69).
18. Karlsberg, Jesse P. (2021). "The Folk Scholarship Roots and Geopolitical Boundaries of Sacred
Harp's Global Twenty-first Century". In Shenton, Andrew; Smolko, Joanna (eds.). Christian Sacred
Music in the Americas. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 221–240. ISBN 978-1-5381-4873-
0.
19. "Startseite - Forschungszentrum für Europäische Mehrstimmigkeit" (https://web.archive.org/web/2
0180109121855/http://www.mdw.ac.at/ive/emm/index.php?id=238). www.mdw.ac.at. Archived
from the original (http://www.mdw.ac.at/ive/emm/index.php?id=238) on 9 January 2018. Retrieved
14 November 2011.
20. Kartomi, Margaret J.; Blum, Stephen (9 January 1994). Music-cultures in contact: convergences
and collisions (https://books.google.com/books?id=V9zpAAAAIAAJ). Currency Press.
ISBN 9780868193656 – via Google Books.
21. Александър Заралиев, Двугласът в българския фолклор, Младежка историческа общност,
08.03.2013. (https://www.istorici.com/публикации/2013/03/08/двугласът-в-българския-фолкло
р/)
22. Koço, Eno (27 February 2015). A Journey of the Vocal Iso(n) (https://books.google.com/books?id=
d5_zBgAAQBAJ). Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. xx. ISBN 978-1-4438-7578-3. A free,
unpublished version of this passage is available on Google Books (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=zoPI3exolloC&pg=PR22).
23. Bart Plantenga. Yodel-ay-ee-oooo (https://books.google.com/books?hl=el&id=3BzBBq48O6AC&q
=polyphonic). Routledge, 2004. ISBN 978-0-415-93990-4, p. 87 Albania: "Singers in Pogoni
region perform a style of polyphony that is also practised by locals in Vlach and Slav communities
[in Albania]."

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