Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun music The
substitution of one text for another without substantial change to the music. - noun music The use of a
secular melody with areligious text.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From Latin.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word contrafactum.
Examples
-
The lyrics of these early songs were these same works of Hebrew poetry “married” to melodies borrowed from well-known songs (a practice known as contrafactum).
-
Two much greater composers also turned to this last song: Lassus drew on it in his four-part lied Die Gnad kombt oben her, and Schein published in his Cantional of 1627 a contrafactum, Auf meinen lieben Gott, which later found its way into Protestant hymnbooks, leading in turn to countless arrangements over many years.
Archive 2009-06-01 Lu 2009
vendingmachine commented on the word contrafactum
The use of a secular melody with a religious text.
November 15, 2022