Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In music, pertaining to monody or homophony; homophonic. Also monophonic.
  • In biology, along a single path: used by Giglio Tos in the phrase monodic development to express his peculiar conception of biological ontogeny. See polyodic.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Belonging to a monody.
  • adjective For one voice; monophonic.
  • adjective Homophonic; -- applied to music in which the melody is confined to one part, instead of being shared by all the parts as in the style called polyphonic.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective pertaining to monody

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective having a single vocal part

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

monody +‎ -ic

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Examples

  • As to why the clef disappeared, the answer is lengthy, certainly involves the first acceptance of women as public performers, the rise in popularity of the monodic style which de-emphasized middle voices, and makes for a fascinating scholarly debate.

    A Mezzo-soprano Manifesto Celeste Winant 2007

  • As to why the clef disappeared, the answer is lengthy, certainly involves the first acceptance of women as public performers, the rise in popularity of the monodic style which de-emphasized middle voices, and makes for a fascinating scholarly debate.

    Archive 2007-01-01 Celeste Winant 2007

  • Gregorian Chant is named after Pope Gregory who died in 604 and is a monodic form of singing with free rhythm.

    Gregorian Chant 2008

  • I'm open to suggestions from anyone else who has grown tired of monodic rants from robotic, or perhaps robot, commenters.

    Finding the limit on Congress's war powers. Ann Althouse 2007

  • Melic poems were divided into two distinct forms: choral lyrics, which were sung by a chorus of up to fifty voices, and monodic lyrics, composed for solo voice.

    Poetry Pages - 98.06.10 1998

  • Hellenistic and Roman times, “lyric poetry” meant poetry, whether monodic or choric, (originally) sung; it did not include elegy or iambics.

    Dictionary of the History of Ideas E. N. TIGERSTEDT 1968

  • He disapproved of the monodists with all their revolutionary harmonic tendencies, about which he expressed himself vigorously in his _Moderna Practica Musicale_ (Venice, 1613), while systematizing the legitimate use of the monodic art of thorough-bass.

    Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 "Baconthorpe" to "Bankruptcy" Various

  • Polyphonic music of every sort had now to go for a while; monodic music was coming in.

    Haydn Runciman, John F 1908

  • They seem richer in themes than the others, partly because the themes are bigger, partly because they are more perfectly adapted to monodic, harmonic treatment, and out of every bar something is made.

    Haydn Runciman, John F 1908

  • At the same time the evidence is conclusive that the madrigal was acquiring general popularity as a form of dramatic music, and the madrigal drama reached the zenith of its glory at the very moment when its fate was preparing in the experiments of Galilei and others in the new monodic style destined to become the basis of modern

    Some Forerunners of Italian Opera 1896

Comments

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  • cf. monody

    September 20, 2009