In music, a canon is a contrapuntal composition that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration (e.g. quarter rest, one measure, etc.). The initial melody is called the leader, while the imitative melody is called the follower which is played in a different voice. The follower must be created from the leader by being either an exact replication of the rhythms and intervals of the leader, or a transformation such as those listed in "Types of canon" (below). Canons where all parts sing identical music and which repeat are called rounds, such as "Row, Row, Row Your Boat". For other uses, see Music (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Counterpoint (disambiguation). ... Look up melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Rhythm (disambiguation). ... In music theory, the term interval describes the difference in pitch between two notes. ... A round is a musical composition in which two or more voices sing exactly the same melody over and over again, but with each voice beginning at different times. ... Row, Row, Row Your Boat is an English nursery rhyme, and a popular childrens song/proverb, often sung as a round. ...

Accompanied canon is a canon accompanied by one or more additional independent parts which do not take part in imitating the melody.

History

The Old French canon, which meant 'learned', was taken from the Greek kanon for a rule or law, which eventually came to mean 'an accepted rule' in English, and the term was first used for the rule that describes how the voices relate to each other. Not until the sixteenth century was canon used to describe the musical form. The earliest known canons are the rounds (or rondellus) in England from the thirteenth century; the best known is Sumer Is Icumen In. In the fourteenth century many canons were written in Italy under the name caccia, and occasionally French chansons of that period used canon technique. During the period of the Franco-Flemish School (1430-1550), canon as a contrapuntal art form received its greatest development, while the Roman School gave it its most complete application. In the later periods the canon played a less important role (as entertainment), with a few notable exceptions like Bach's The Musical Offering. Arnold Schoenberg revived the interest in canon with his twelve-tone technique. French (le français, la langue française) is one of the most important Romance languages, outnumbered in speakers only by Spanish and Portuguese. ... The Greek language (Greek Ελληνικά, IPA // – Hellenic) is an Indo-European language with a documented history of some 3,000 years. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The term musical form refers to two related concepts: the type of composition (for example, a musical work can have the form of a symphony, a concerto, or other generic type -- see Multi-movement forms below) the structure of a particular piece (for example, a piece can be written in... Look up round in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Cuckoo Song redirects here. ... Chanson is a French word for song, and in English-language contexts is often applied to any song with French words, particularly a cabaret song. ... In music, the Dutch School refers, somewhat imprecisely, to the style of polyphonic vocal music composition in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. ... The Roman school is the education system of the Ancient Rome. ... “Bach” redirects here. ... The Musical Offering (German title Musikalisches Opfer or Das Musikalische Opfer), BWV 1079, is a collection of canons and fugues and other pieces of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, based on a musical theme by Frederick II of Prussia (Frederick the Great) and dedicated to him. ... Arnold Schoenberg, Los Angeles, 1948 Arnold Schoenberg (pronounced [ˈaːrnÉ”lt ˈʃøːnbÉ›rk]) (13 September 1874 – 13 July 1951) was an Austrian and later American composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School. ... Twelve-tone technique (also dodecaphony) is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg. ...

Types of canon

The most rigid and ingenious forms of canon are not strictly concerned with pattern but also with content. Canons are classified by various traits: the number of voices, the interval at which each successive voice is transposed in relation to the preceding voice, whether voices are inverse, retrograde, or retrograde-inverse; the temporal distance between each voice, whether the intervals of the second voice are exactly those of the original or if they are adjusted to fit the diatonic scale, and the tempo of successive voices. However, canons may use more than one of the above methods. In music theory, the term interval describes the difference in pitch between two notes. ... Look up inverse in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Categories: Wikipedia cleanup | Stub ... This is a list of musical terms that are likely to be encountered in printed scores. ... In music theory, a diatonic scale (from the Greek diatonikos, to stretch out; also known as the heptatonia prima; set form 7-35) is a seven-note musical scale comprising five whole-tone and two half-tone steps, in which the half tones are maximally separated. ...

How voices in a canon are named

Although, for clarity, this article uses leader and follower(s) to denote the leading voice in a canon and those that imitate it, musicological literature also uses the traditional Latin terms Dux and Comes for "leader" and "follower", respectively. The terms "Proposta" for the leader, and "Riposta" for the follower, are also common terms. For other uses, see Latins and Latin (disambiguation). ...

Number of voices

A canon of two voices may be called a canon in two, similarly a canon of x voices would be called a canon in x. This terminology may be used in combination with a similar terminology for the interval between each voice, different from the terminology in the following paragraph.

Another standard designation is "Canon: Two in One", which means two voices in one canon. "Canon: Four in Two" means four voices with two simultaneous canons. While "Canon: Six in Three" means six voices with three simultaneous canons, and so on.

Simple

A simple canon (also known as a round) imitates the leader perfectly at the octave or unison. Well-known canons of this type include the famous children's song Row, Row, Row Your Boat and Frère Jacques. A round is a musical composition in which two or more voices sing exactly the same melody over and over again, but with each voice beginning at different times. ... Row, Row, Row Your Boat is an English nursery rhyme, and a popular childrens song/proverb, often sung as a round. ... Frère Jacques is a well-known childrens song. ...

Interval

An interval canon imitates the leader at any interval other than the octave or unison (e.g. canon at the second, fifth, seventh, etc.). If the follower imitates the precise interval quality of the leader, then it is called an exact canon; if the follower imitates the interval number (but not the quality), it is called a diatonic canon. In music theory, the term interval describes the difference in pitch between two notes. ... In Music theory, the diatonic major scale (also known as the Guido scale), from the Greek diatonikos or to stretch out, is a fundamental building block of the European-influenced musical tradition. ...

Contrapuntal derivations

The follower may be a contrapuntal derivation of the leader. For other uses, see Counterpoint (disambiguation). ...

Inverse

An inverted canon (also called canon in contrary motion) moves the follower in contrary motion to the leader. Where the leader would go down a fifth, the follower goes up, and vice versa. A sub-order of canon in contrary motion, "mirror," maintains the precise quality of each interval. In music theory, contrary motion is the general movement of two melodic lines or pitches in opposite directions. ...

Retrograde

In a crab canon, also known as cancrizans, the follower accompanies the leader backward (in retrograde). A canon that is retrograde and inverse is called a Table Canon. A Table Canon would be placed on a table with a musician on either side, both reading the same line of music in opposite directions. A crab canon is an arrangement of two things that are complementary and backward. ... A Table Canon is a retrograde and inverse canon (music) meant to be placed on a table in between two musicians who both read the same line of music in opposite directions. ... A Table Canon is a retrograde and inverse canon (music) meant to be placed on a table in between two musicians who both read the same line of music in opposite directions. ...

Mensuration and tempo canons

In a mensuration canon (also known as a prolation canon, or a proportional canon), the follower imitates the leader by some rhythmic proportion. The follower may double the rhythmic values of the leader (augmentation or sloth canon) or it may cut the rhythmic proportions in half (diminution canon). Phasing involves the application of modulating rhythmic proportions according to a sliding scale. The cancrizans, and often the mensuration canon, take exception to the rule that the follower must start later than the leader. A prolation canon is a type of musical canon. ... In music the compositional technique phasing, popularized by composer Steve Reich, is that while the same part is played on two musical instruments, one instrumentalist keeps playing in steady tempo, while the other gradually moves ahead of the first until it becomes out of and then back in phase (the...

Technically, mensuration canons are among the most difficult to write. Many such canons were composed during the Renaissance, particularly in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries; Johannes Ockeghem wrote an entire mass (the Missa Prolationum) in which each section is a mensuration canon, and all at different speeds and entry intervals. In the twentieth century, Conlon Nancarrow composed complex tempo or mensural canons, mostly for the player piano as they are extremely difficult to play; they have also influenced many younger composers. Larry Polansky has an album of mensuration canons, Four-Voice Canons. Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 to 1600. ... Ockeghem (with glasses) and his singers Johannes Ockeghem (also Jean de; surname Okeghem, Ogkegum, Okchem, Hocquegam, Ockegham; other variant spellings are also encountered) (c. ... Conlon Nancarrow (October 27, 1912 - August 10, 1997) was an American composer who took Mexican citizenship in 1955. ... The player piano is a type of piano that plays music without the need for a human pianist to depress the normal keys or pedals. ... Larry Polansky is a composer, guitarist, and a professor at Dartmouth. ...

Other types of canon

The most familiar of the canons might be the perpetual/infinite canon (in Latin: canon perpetuus) or round. As (each voice of) the canon arrives at its end it can begin again, in a Perpetuum mobile fashion; e.g. "Three Blind Mice". Such a canon is often called a round or rota. Sumer is icumen in is one example of a piece designated rota. Look up round in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Perpetuum mobile (Latin), moto perpetuo (Italian), mouvement perpétuel (French), literally meaning perpetual motion, means two distinct things: pieces of music, or parts of pieces, characterised by a continuous steady stream of notes, usually at a rapid tempo whole pieces, or large parts of pieces, which are to be played... Look up round in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A rota is a type of song sung round of the 13th and 14th centuries, probably only in England. ... Cuckoo Song redirects here. ...

Additional types include the spiral canon, accompanied canon, and double or triple canon.

Puzzle canon

A Puzzle canon can be any of the above types, but only one voice is notated, and it is up to the performer to find out which rule applies to the canon. Often some kind of riddle is given as a hint. Machaut's rondeau Ma fin est mon commencement et mon commencement est ma fin (My end is my beginning and my beginning is my end) is a crab canon with a third voice which is a musical palindrome. In the Agnus Dei movement of Dufay's mass L'homme armé is this rule noted: Cancer eat plenis et redeat medius ('Let the crab proceed full and return half'). This means that the cantus firmus must be sung first in full note values (and retrograde, since it is a crab), then in halved values and retrograde (that is, normal motion, since it is a crab). Guillaume de Machaut (around 1300 – 1377), was a French composer and poet of the late Medieval era. ... A Rondeau is a form of French poetry with 13 lines written on two rhymes, as well as a corresponding musical form developed to set this characteristic verse structure. ... For the movie, see Palindromes (film). ... A lamb holding a Christian banner is a typical symbol for Agnus Dei. ... Du Fay (left), with Gilles Binchois Guillaume Dufay (Du Fay, Du Fayt) (?August 5, 1397 – November 27, 1474) was a Franco-Flemish composer and music theorist of the late Middle Ages/early Renaissance. ... For other uses, see Mass (disambiguation). ... In music, a cantus firmus (fixed song) is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition, often set apart by being played in long notes. ...

Mirror canon

In a Mirror Canon (or canon by contrary motion), the subsequent voice imitates the initial voice in inversion. They are not very common, though examples of mirror canons can be traced to Bach, Mozart (e.g., the trio from Serenade for Wind Octet in C, K. 388), Webern, and other composers. A Mirror Canon is an inverse Canon (music) that requires a mirror to play. ...

Table Canon

A Table Canon is a retrograde and inverse Canon meant to be placed on a table in between two musicians who both read the same line of music in opposite directions. Seeing that both parts are included in each single line, a second line is not needed. Bach wrote a few table canons. Table canons are novelty musical works and have never had much popularity with the general public. A Table Canon is a retrograde and inverse canon (music) meant to be placed on a table in between two musicians who both read the same line of music in opposite directions. ... This article is about retrograde motion. ... Look up inverse in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In music, the BACH motif is the sequence of notes B flat, A, C, B natural. ...

Elaborate use of canon technique

• Josquin Desprez, Missa L'homme armé super voces musicales, Agnus Dei 2: One voice write with the words 'ex una voce tres' (three voice parts out of one), a mensuration canon in three voices in different tempos.
• Josquin Desprez, Missa L'homme armé sexti toni, Agnus Dei 2: two simultaneous canons in the four upper voices, and at the same time a crab canon in the two lower voices.

Josquin Des Prez Josquin Des Prez (diminutive of Joseph; latinized Josquinus Pratensis) (c. ...

Contemporary canons

The most popular canons heard today are from the Baroque period, such as Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D (Pachelbel's Canon), in which a canon between the three upper voices are accompanied by a repeating bass melody or ground, or every third variation in Bach's Goldberg Variations. The third movement of Gustav Mahler's First Symphony starts with an accompanied simple canon based on Frère Jacques, albeit in D Minor. Jean Sibelius's Sixth Symphony contains many hidden canons: for instance, a 3-in-1 in the strings in which each part is thickened to a third; a 4-in-2; a canon by diminution; and a canon with augmentations at two different speeds. What may be George Rochberg's best known work, his String Quartet No. 6, includes a set of variations on the Pachelbel Canon in D. Henryk Górecki's Third Symphony begins with an extensive eight voice canon in the strings. Steve Reich uses a process he calls phasing which is a canon with variable distance between the voices. For other uses, see Baroque (disambiguation). ... Johann Pachelbel (pronounced , German IPA: , , or [1]) (August 28, 1653 – March 6, 1706) was a German Baroque composer, organist and teacher who brought the south German organ tradition to its peak. ... Pachelbels Canon also known as Canon in D major, or more formally, Canon and Gigue in D major for three Violins and Basso Continuo (Kanon und Gigue in D-Dur für drei Violinen und Basso Continuo) is the most famous piece of music by Johann Pachelbel. ... The word ground has several meanings: The surface of the Earth Soil, a mixture of sand and organic material present on the surface of the Earth Ground (electricity), in electrical engineering, something that is connected to the Earth or at the voltage defined as zero (in the US, called ground... Title page of the Goldberg Variations (first edition) For other uses, see Goldberg Variations (disambiguation). ... Mahler redirects here. ... The Symphony No. ... Frère Jacques is a well-known childrens song. ... Sibelius redirects here. ... Jean Sibeliuss Symphony No. ... Diminution, from Italian diminuimento, is a musical term used to mean different things in the context of melodies and intervals or chords. ... George Rochberg, (July 5, 1918, Paterson, New Jersey – May 29, 2005, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. ... Henryk Górecki. ... Cover of the 1992 release of , conducted by David Zinman Symphony No. ... Stephen Michael Reich (born October 3, 1936) is an American composer. ... In music the compositional technique phasing, popularized by composer Steve Reich, is that while the same part is played on two musical instruments, one instrumentalist keeps playing in steady tempo, while the other gradually moves ahead of the first until it becomes out of and then back in phase (the...

Media

Image File history File links J_S_Bach_--_Canon_per_augmentationem_contrario_motu_(dulcimer-piano-harp)_(ornam). ... Image File history File links J_S_Bach_--_Canon_per_augmentationem_contrario_motu_(dulcimer-piano-harp)_(ornam). ...

Reading

• Canonic Studies: A New Technique in Composition. Bernhard Ziehn; edited and introduced by Ronald Stevenson. Publisher: New York : Crescendo Pub., 1977. ISBN 0-87597-106-7.
• Lamla, Michael: Kanonkünste im barocken Italien, insbesondere in Rom, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-89825-556-5.

See also

• Fugue
• Table Canon
• Mirror Canon

In music, a fugue (IPA: ) is a type of contrapuntal composition or technique of composition for a fixed number of parts, normally referred to as voices, irrespective of whether the work is vocal or instrumental. ... A Table Canon is a retrograde and inverse canon (music) meant to be placed on a table in between two musicians who both read the same line of music in opposite directions. ... A Mirror Canon is an inverse Canon (music) that requires a mirror to play. ...

External links

• Anatomy of a Canon
• The Musical Offering --A Musical Pedagogical Workshop by J.S. Bach, or, The Musical Geometry of Bach's Puzzle Canons
• Electro-Acoustic Music Dartmouth.edu: Larry Polansky's Four Voice Canons
• Watch three animated vignettes inspired by the canon