Micropolyphony is a kind of

polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ...

musical texture In music, texture is how the tempo and the melodic and harmonic materials are combined in a musical composition, determining the overall quality of the sound in a piece. The texture is often described in regard to the density, or thickness, and ...

developed by

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde music, avant-garde composers in the latter half of the ...

, which consists of many lines of dense canons moving at different

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

s or rhythms, thus resulting in tone clusters. According to David Cope, "micropolyphony resembles cluster chords, but differs in its use of moving rather than static lines"; it is "a simultaneity of different lines,

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 r ...

s, and

timbre In music, timbre (), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound of a musical note, sound or tone. Timbre distinguishes sounds according to their source, such as choir voices and musical instrument ...

s". Differences between micropolyphonic texture and conventional polyphonic texture can be explained by Ligeti's own description: The earliest example of micropolyphony in Ligeti's work occurs in the second movement (mm 25–37) of his orchestral composition ''Apparitions''. He used the technique in a number of his other works, including ''

Atmosphères ''Atmosphères'' is a piece for orchestra, composed by György Ligeti in 1961. It is noted for eschewing conventional melody and metre (music), metre in favor of dense sound texture (music), textures. After ''Apparitions'', it was the second piec ...

'' for orchestra; the first movement of his ''

Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

'' for soprano, mezzo-soprano, mixed choir, and orchestra; the unaccompanied choral work ''Lux aeterna''; and ''Lontano'' for orchestra. Micropolyphony is easier with larger ensembles or polyphonic instruments such as the piano, though the ''

Poème symphonique Poetry is a form of literature. Poetry, Poem(s), or Poetic(s) may also refer to: Literature * Poems (Auden), ''Poems'' (Auden), three separate collections of the early poetry of W. H. Auden * Poems (Christie collection), ''Poems'' (Agatha Chris ...

'' for a hundred metronomes creates "micropolyphony of unparallelled complexity". Many of Ligeti's piano pieces are examples of micropolyphony applied to complex "minimalist"

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer best known as a pioneer of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, and canons. Reich descr ...

and

Pygmy music Pygmy music refers to the sub-Saharan African music traditions of the Central African foragers (or "Pygmies"), predominantly in Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Congo, the Central African Republic and Cameroon. Pygmy groups include the Ba ...

derived rhythmic schemes.

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References

Further reading