What is the difference between polyphonic and contrapuntal

Land of the never-ending music. This is from a WikiAnswer: Both the terms 'counterpoint' and 'polyphony' refer to music where there is more than one musical line being played simultaneously.

The term 'counterpoint' comes from the use of the word 'point' to describe a melody. A second melody played alongside a 'point' would therefore be running 'counter' to it, thus, the term 'counterpoint'. Polyphony means 'many' poly 'sounds' phony. Again, it refers to music where there are a number of melodies sounding simultaneously.

Therefore, the two terms can mean the same thing. In everyday use, musicians tend to use the term 'counterpoint' for styles of composition where there is a strict working of a certain number of voices in a 17th or 18th century style.

Of course, modern music can use counterpoint as well. Please note that the word 'voices' doesn't necessarily mean 'singers'. It refers to any melody. Polyphony is a more general term. Therefore, music written in strict counterpoint is polyphonic and polyphonic music will be a form of counterpoint contrapuntal but not all polyphonic music is 'strict' counterpoint. Good, easily accessible examples are J. Music is my best friend. Joined: Sep Originally Posted by ChopinAddict. Joined: Feb Bruce summed it up by showing that counterpoint is based on strict rules governing the relationship of voices during polyphony, while polyphony is a specific term meaning 'many voices'.

Counterpoint is just one systematized, rigorous demonstration of polyphony. Poly - Many Phony - Voices It does not necesarily imply any order to the voices. Counterpoint gives it order. So the two terms are completely different. Polyphony can be chaotic and have no rules. Counterpoint has strict rules. Compare it to the terms Monotheism and Judaism, for example - the two terms do not mean the same thing at all! I personally do think they are different For example The composition I am working on right now "Death and the Maiden" is polyphonic, but not contrapuntal I have a book on counterpoint, but I haven't read it yet, thus I don't know the rules in and out, but I know there are quite a few.

As far as I know, counterpoint was used in the Baroque, like by Bach, where both voices can be considered melodies. But basically all music for more than one voice is polyphonic I think. Contemporary classical music for example is polyphonic, but it it doesn't have much counterpoint I suppose?? Originally Posted by Damon. Originally Posted by BruceD. I'm not sure there is a "problem. Moderated by Brendan , Kreisler. Print Thread Show Likes. Piano Concerts, Recitals, Competitions The Polling Booth Legal Issues.

What's Hot!! Did Scarlatti write Kawai ES8 key sensor? KDP, can I save settings? Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Counterpoint is a type of polyphony with certain restrictions on form. For instance, contrapuntally organized music focuses on melodic interaction between multiple independent voices rather than harmonic interaction.

In other words, chords occur as a result of coincident notes in multiple melodic lines rather than as a primary textural element. Other forms of polyphony have different restrictions or, in the case of polyphony in general, no restrictions beyond having more than one voice. I believe "counterpoint" is a narrower term all counterpoint is polyphonic but not all polyphony is contrapuntal. Contrapuntal polyphony emerged in the late renaissance era and so medieval and early renaissance polyphony is not referred to as "counterpoint".

Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Sometimes the words seem to be used interchangeably. There are other possible distinctions.

In twentieth-century musical contexts, "counterpoint" is sometimes used to refer to an interrelating of simultaneous melodic lines, where the pitch relations are treated in a manner at least roughly analogous to traditional contrapuntal principles that is, hierarchies of pitch intervals, motivic relations such as imitation, etc. The term "counterpoint" has its origins in the notion of setting one "point" either a note or, in later terminology possibly a short figure against "contra" another.

It is, in other words, the art of setting one melody against another. Seen from an etymological sense, "counterpoint" comes from Latin, "polyphony" from Greek. Although they are not quite identical in meaning, they are used more or less synonymously up until fairly recent times.

As I said in my previous post, in some twentieth-century contexts, "polyphony" can refer to distinct multiple streams of musical "voices" where the specific "note-to-note" relation of traditional counterpoint is not applicable. Examples may be found in the music of Lutoslawski e. There is also the possibility of simultaneous occurrence of complete harmonic or contrapuntal but mutually distinct musical structures, as exemplified in many compositions of Charles Ives, e.

This is not necessarily limited to the twentieth century and beyond I think, for example, of Biber's superimposition of drinking songs in different keys in his Battaglia, where the polyphony is undoubted but any notion of counterpoint is utterly abandoned, for comic effect , but it only becomes a regularly occurring matter for terminological difference after about I would have said that the difference is quite simple; counterpoint is a well-defined technique of musical composition, with self-imposed rules and procedures, whereas polyphony is a fairly vague term used to describe the texture of a piece of music.

To enlarge a bit: the art of counterpoint was described and defined by countless composers and theorists in the period ; there was plenty of disagreement along the way the theory of tonal answers, for example , but it was clearly understood that what was being described and defined was a body of related techniques that could be used in composing music.

Counterpoint was defined in precise detail, from Contrapunctus Aequalis note-against-note counterpoint or Contrapunctus Simplex defined by Bononcini as counterpoint of any fixed-ratio type, such as or to Contrapunto Composto counterpoint that is written against a cantus firmus in anything other than a fixed ratio such as or , Contrapunto Obligato according to Zarlino, counterpoint in which a short motive or theme is repeated in ostinato fashion above a cantus firmus and Contrapunctus Cum Fuga.

This might mean things like enjambment running one line into the next, without any punctuation , lists, repetition, and caesura breaking up a line with a full-stop or comma. Lines or whole stanzas can be rearranged in order to create a specific effect on the reader. Setting those two lines aside gives emphasis to their content, so whatever message is being sent will be given more importance.

Another aspect of the structure of poems is the rhythm, which is the beat of the poem. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Arts What is the difference between contrapuntal and polyphonic? Ben Davis December 10, What is the difference between contrapuntal and polyphonic?