Imitation (music)
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In music, imitation is the repetition of a
melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...
in a polyphonic texture shortly after its first appearance in a different
voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...
. The melody may vary through transposition,
inversion Inversion or inversions may refer to: Arts * , a French gay magazine (1924/1925) * ''Inversion'' (artwork), a 2005 temporary sculpture in Houston, Texas * Inversion (music), a term with various meanings in music theory and musical set theory * ...
, or otherwise, but retain its original character. The
intervals Interval may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Interval (mathematics), a range of numbers ** Partially ordered set#Intervals, its generalization from numbers to arbitrary partially ordered sets * A statistical level of measurement * Interval e ...
and
rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...
s of an imitation may be exact or modified; imitation occurs at varying distances relative to the first occurrence, and
phrase In syntax and grammar, a phrase is a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy". Phrases can consi ...
s may begin with voices in imitation before they freely go their own ways. Imitation helps provide unity to a
composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...
and is used in forms such as the
fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...
and
canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...
.


Definitions

When a
phrase In syntax and grammar, a phrase is a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy". Phrases can consi ...
recurs exactly as before (except perhaps transposed), it is called strict imitation. A
round Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere * Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the number ...
is thus an example of strict imitation.
Repetition Repetition may refer to: * Repetition (rhetorical device), repeating a word within a short space of words *Repetition (bodybuilding), a single cycle of lifting and lowering a weight in strength training *Working title for the 1985 slasher film '' ...
is defined as the repetition of a phrase or melody often with variations in
key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...
, rhythm, and voice. Different authors define imitation somewhat differently: The point of imitation, "marks the beginning of a series of imitative entries in a contrapuntal composition." In
counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
, imitation occurs in a second voice, usually at a different pitch. A short phrase treated imitatively is called an
attacco Attacco, in music, indicates a short phrase, treated as a point of imitation; and employed, either as the subject of a fugue, as a subordinate element introduced for the purpose of increasing the interest of its development, as a leading feature ...
.


Use in various musical styles

In
European classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
, imitative writing was featured heavily in the highly polyphonic compositions of the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
and
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
eras Eras is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Albert Boton and Albert Hollenstein and was released by the International Typeface Corporation (ITC) in 1976. Eras is licensed by the Linotype type foundry. A distinct and curious feature of E ...
. A more improvisatory form of imitation can be found in
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
and Indian vocal music where the instrumentalist may accompany the vocalist in a vocal improvisation with imitation. In pop music a much clichéd form of imitation consists of a background choir repeating – usually the last notes – of the lead singer's last line. See:
fill (music) In popular music, a fill is a short musical passage, riff, or rhythmic sound which helps to sustain the listener's attention during a break between the phrases of a melody. "The terms riff and fill are sometimes used interchangeably by musician ...
.


Examples in Classical Music

Imitation featured in both instrumental and vocal music of the Renaissance. In the following passage from a
Ricercar A ricercar ( , ) or ricercare ( , ) is a type of late Renaissance and mostly early Baroque instrumental composition. The term ''ricercar'' derives from the Italian verb which means 'to search out; to seek'; many ricercars serve a preludial funct ...
by
Andrea Gabrieli Andrea Gabrieli (1532/1533Bryant, Grove online – August 30, 1585) was an Italian composer and organist of the late Renaissance. The uncle of the somewhat more famous Giovanni Gabrieli, he was the first internationally renowned member of the Ven ...
, the instruments at first imitate at a distance of two beats. Towards the end of the episode, bars 11–12, the imitation becomes closer, at a distance of only one beat: The
fugues In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...
of J.S.Bach contain a variety of examples of imitation. The fugue in Bb minor BWV 867, from Book 1 of the
Well-tempered Clavier ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time, ''clavier'', meaning keyboard, referred to a variety of in ...
opens with a subject that is imitated at the interval of a fifth higher and at a distance of four beats: Later, the theme is imitated through all five parts at the distance of just one beat: This type of closely followed imitation is characteristic of fugues as they build towards a conclusion. It is known as stretto. In the
minuet A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form that accomp ...
of Mozart's
Kegelstatt Trio The ''Kegelstatt Trio'', K. 498, is a piano trio for clarinet, viola and piano in E-flat major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. History Mozart wrote the piano trio on 10 sheets (19 pages) in Vienna and dated the manuscript on 5 August 1786. Accordi ...
K498, there are intricate passages that gain in interest and coherence through use of imitation. Starting at bar 76, the clarinet is followed at a distance of three beats by the viola, then by the piano's right hand and finally, the left. In bars 84–6, the piano creates an even closer chromatic weave, where the imitation is at the distance of only one beat: A more straightforward example of close imitation occurs later in the same movement at bars 94–100. This is the linking passage that heralds the return of the opening of the Minuet. The clarinet plays a sustained pedal note while the three lines played by the viola and the pianist's two hands express a single harmony, the dominant seventh (F7), to prepare for the return of the minuet in the key of B flat major, the tonic key: The whole movement can be heard on:


See also

*
Melodic pattern In music and jazz improvisation, a melodic pattern (or motive) is a cell or germ serving as the basis for repetitive pattern. It is a figure that can be used with any scale. It is used primarily for solos because, when practiced enough, it ca ...
*
Sequence (music) In music, a sequence is the restatement of a motif or longer melodic (or harmonic) passage at a higher or lower pitch in the same voice.Benward and Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I'', p.111-12. Seventh Edition. . It is o ...
*
Call and response (music) In music, call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases usually written in different parts of the music, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or in response to the first. This can take form as commentary to a ...
* Stretto *
Augmentation (music) In Western music and music theory, augmentation (from Late Latin ''augmentare'', to increase) is the lengthening of a note or the widening of an interval. Augmentation is a compositional device where a melody, theme or motif is presented in long ...
*
Diminution In Western music and music theory, diminution (from Medieval Latin ''diminutio'', alteration of Latin ''deminutio'', decrease) has four distinct meanings. Diminution may be a form of embellishment in which a long note is divided into a series of ...
*
Retrograde (music) A melodic line that is the reverse of a previously or simultaneously stated line is said to be its retrograde or cancrizans ("walking backward", medieval Latin, from ''cancer'', crab). An exact retrograde includes both the pitches and rhythms in re ...


Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Imitation (Music) Polyphonic form Repetition (music)