Advertisement - Continue reading below

Definition of "polyphony" [po•lyph•o•ny]

  • Music with two or more independent melodic parts sounded together. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "polyphony" in a sentence
  • "The term polyphony is sometimes used synonomously with counterpoint, and sometimes to distinguish medeival multi-voice music from that of the Renaissance and Baroque. monophonic, or consisting of only one voice, which was usually a liturgical chant."
  • "These lessons and the responsories have also been set in polyphony by innumerable musicians and composers; Palestrina, Victoria, and Charpentier are only three among the more outstanding composers who have written for this service."
  • "The Ordinary of the Mass will be sung in polyphony a capella with the proper of the Mass Introduxit vos in Gregorian."