Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An ode for one voice or actor, as in Greek drama.
- noun A poem in which the poet or speaker mourns another's death.
- noun A style of composition dominated by a single melodic line.
- noun A style of composition having a single melodic line; monophony.
- noun A composition in either of these styles.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In music:
- noun A style of composition in which one voice-part decidedly preponderates in interest over the others; homophony: opposed to polyphony, in which all the voice-parts are equally important.
- noun A piece written in monodic style; a melody, tune, or air, usually for the voice.
- noun A composition written in one part only; a solo. Also
monophony . - noun Monotonous sound; monotonousness of sound.
- noun A poem in which grief for the death of the subject of the poem is expressed.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A species of poem of a mournful character, in which a single mourner expresses lamentation; a song for one voice.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
ode , as inGreek drama , for asingle voice , often specifically a mournful song ordirge . - noun Any
poem mourning thedeath of someone; anelegy . - noun A monotonous or mournful noise.
- noun music A
composition having a singlemelodic line.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun music consisting of a single vocal part (usually with accompaniment)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word monody.
Examples
-
It is sometimes called monody, although the term "monody" can also refer to a particular type of solo song with instrumental accompaniment that was very popular in the 1600's.
Archive 2009-05-01 Lu 2009
-
Bach is essentially a "monody," a composition of one idea, which preponderates so decidedly as to enforce its character and individuality upon the work; nay, it is the work.
-
There have been many histories of Jerusalem, from Jeremiah's sixth century B.C. monody to "For Jerusalem," a premature happy ending written in the 1970s by a successful mayor, Teddy Kollek.
City of Peace—and War Norman Lebrecht 2011
-
What a world of solemn thought their monody compels!
Oxford Must Reject Islamic Call To Prayer – Update « Unambiguously Ambidextrous 2008
-
Bach had an unparalleled talent for assimilating disparate influences into an architecturally harmonious whole at a time when an unprecedented number of disparate influences — Renaissance polyphony, Lutheran chorale, Italian monody, French dance music, you name it — was ripe for assimilation.
Fame, it's not your brain, it's just the flame that burns your change Matthew Guerrieri 2007
-
Bach had an unparalleled talent for assimilating disparate influences into an architecturally harmonious whole at a time when an unprecedented number of disparate influences — Renaissance polyphony, Lutheran chorale, Italian monody, French dance music, you name it — was ripe for assimilation.
Archive 2007-07-01 Matthew Guerrieri 2007
-
I have some music reading dates set up w/JmB and JO - medieval conductus, 17th century monody (Luzzaschi, anyone?), and hot, fresh compositions by JmB.
Archive 2007-02-01 Celeste Winant 2007
-
I have some music reading dates set up w/JmB and JO - medieval conductus, 17th century monody (Luzzaschi, anyone?), and hot, fresh compositions by JmB.
Music on the horizons Celeste Winant 2007
-
Here the chant alternates between monody and three-part polyphony, following the method of twelfth-century Parisian discantus as it has come down to us in the only extant work of Master Albert of Paris precentor of the Cathedral of Saint-Étienne, preserved in the Codex Calixtinus: the Congaudeant catholici.
Archive 2009-03-01 Lu 2009
-
In liturgical terms, an analysis of the monody in the Codex Calixtinus reveals several surprising features.
Another early music site bls 2008
jennarenn commented on the word monody
Ha! I kept reading this word as Monday, and then looking at the weirnet definition, then looking back at the word, misreading it again, then back at the definition....
June 26, 2008
reesetee commented on the word monody
Was it a Monody when you did that, jenn?
June 26, 2008
bilby commented on the word monody
Don't blame yourself. You gave it the full monody.
June 26, 2008
hernesheir commented on the word monody
Poetry or music where the poet or instrument laments another person's death.
September 20, 2009