Imitation (music)
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In music, imitation is the repetition of a
melody A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combina ...
in a polyphonic texture shortly after its first appearance in a different voice. 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 and
rhythm Rhythm (from Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed ...
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 con ...
s may begin with voices in imitation before they freely go their own ways. Imitation helps provide unity to a composition and is used in forms such as the fugue and canon.


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 con ...
recurs exactly as before (except perhaps transposed), it is called strict imitation. A round 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, 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, imitation occurs in a second voice, usually at a different pitch. A short phrase treated imitatively is called an attacco.


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" als ...
, 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 id ...
and Baroque eras. 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, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...
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).


Examples in Classical Music

Imitation featured in both instrumental and vocal music of the Renaissance. In the following passage from a Ricercar by Andrea Gabrieli, 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 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 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 of Mozart's Kegelstatt Trio 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 * Sequence (music) *
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) * Diminution * Retrograde (music)


Sources

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