Voice (music)

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The expression voice ( Latin vox , Italian voce , ancient Greek φωνή phōnḗ ) in musical composition describes a coherent sequence of tones, regardless of whether it is performed by a singing voice , a melody instrument or as part of a polyphonic movement , for example on a harmony instrument . If they move according to the laws of voice guidance , several such voices can sound harmoniously together. Therefore a distinction is made between monophonic and polyphonic music making (see polyphony ) or main voice and accompanying voices .

If more than two voices sound together, this usually requires a written specification ( notation ). A sequence of notes is abstracted from the individual timbre and the individual performance context: One does not mean a concrete, sounding voice, but rather a playing instruction that can be performed more or less precisely and interpreted in different ways. A written document in which a single part of a polyphonic composition is recorded is called a “voice book”, “part” or “individual part”: While the conductor of an orchestra reads from the score , in which all parts are listed, the musicians need it only their own “voice” - which, for example, in the solo part of a piano concerto can be polyphonic, even if it is performed by a single musician.

history

The German word voice in a musical context is the translation of the Latin vox and originally referred to the individual tone . In the early polyphony, a notated sequence of notes is a “voice”. Spiritual and secular melodies were made into voices through rhythmic changes or added closing formulas, in order to process them as polyphonic cantus firmus . The basic voice was called Cantus, the opposite voice Organum . The basis of polyphony, a four-part setting of the voices in the choir, which is still taught today , was formed in the 15th and 16th centuries. Century out.

See also

literature