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Encyclopedia > Theme (music)

In music, a theme is the initial or primary melody. The 1958 Encyclopédie Fasquelle defines a theme as follows: // Music is an art form consisting of sound and silence expressed through time. ... Look up melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

  • "Any element, motif, or small musical piece that has given rise to some variation becomes thereby a theme."

Contents

Explanation

After the principal theme is announced, a second melody, sometimes called a countertheme or secondary theme, may play. Look up melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...


In a three-part fugue, the principal theme is announced three times in three different voices -- soprano, alto, bass -- or some variation of that. For the use of the word in psychology see fugue state In music, a fugue is a type of piece written in counterpoint for several independent musical voices. ... Look up soprano in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In music, an alto or contralto is a singer with a vocal range somewhere between a tenor and a mezzo-soprano. ... Bass (IPA: [], rhyming with face), when used as an adjective, describes tones of low frequency or range. ... In music, variation is a formal technique where material is altered during repetition; reiteration with changes. ...


In a four-part fugue, the principal theme is announced four times. A motif is a short melodic figure used repeatedly which may be used to construct a theme. In music, a motif is a perceivable or salient reoccurring fragment or succession of notes that may used to construct the entirety or parts of complete melodies, themes. ...


A leitmotif is a motif or theme associated with a person, place, or idea. See also figure and cell. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... In music, a figure is a recurring fragment or succession of notes that may be used to construct the accompaniment. ... In music a cell is similar to a figure or motif. ...


Thematic changes and processes are often structurally important, and theorists such as Rudolph Reti have created analysis from a purely thematic perspective. Fred Lerdahl describes thematic relations "associational" and thus outside his cognitive based generative theory's scope of analysis. 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... Rudolph Réti (November 27, 1885 - February 7, 1957) was a musical analyst, composer and pianist. ... Fred Lerdahl, Fritz Reiner Professor of Musical Composition at Columbia University, is a composer and music theorist, best known for his work on pitch space and cognitive constraints on compositional systems or musical grammars. ...


Music without themes

Music without themes, or without recognizable, repeating, and developing themes is called athematic. Examples include the pre-twelve tone or early atonal works of Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and Alban Berg. Schoenberg (1975): "intoxicated by the enthusiasm of having freed music from the shackles of tonality, I had thought to find further liberty of expression. In fact...I believed that now music could renounce motivic features and remain coherent and comprehensible nevertheless." Schoenberg redirects here. ... Anton Webern (December 3, 1883 – September 15, 1945) was an Austrian composer and conductor. ... Portrait of Alban Berg by Arnold Schoenberg, c. ...


Music based on one theme is monothematic while music based on several themes is polythematic. For example, most fugues are monothematic and most pieces in sonata form are polythematic. (Randel 2002, p.429). In music, a fugue (IPA: ) is a type of contrapuntal composition or technique of composition for a fixed number of parts or voices (referred to as voices, regardless of whether the work is vocal or instrumental). ... Sonata form is a musical form that has been used widely since the early Classical period. ...


Musipedia has a large, searchable collection of themes. Musipedia is a search engine for identifying pieces of music. ...


See also

In Baroque music, ritornello was the word for a recurring passage for orchestra in the first or final movement of a solo concerto or aria (also in works for chorus). ... a rondo is played between episode which are played by non solo people Rondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also in reference to a character-type that... The theme music of a radio or television program is a piece that is written specifically for that show and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits. ...

References

  • Arnold Schoenberg (1975). "My Evolution", Style and Idea, p.88. Ed. Leonard Stein, trans. Leo Black. London.
  • Nattiez, Jean-Jacques (1990). Music and Discourse: Toward a Semiology of Music (Musicologie générale et sémiologue, 1987). Translated by Carolyn Abbate (1990). ISBN 0-691-02714-5.
  • (1958). Encyclopédie Fasquelle, cited in Nattiez 1990.
  • Randel, Don Michael (2002). The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians. ISBN 0-674-00978-9.

  Results from FactBites:
 
Everwood Music Guide - Theme, Score, and Piano Music (492 words)
Everwood's theme and score music are all original instrumental compositions by Blake Neely.
The theme music used during the first season was nominated for an emmy award for best original theme song, though plans were already in the works to adapt a new arrangement of the theme for the second season's opening credits.
The sheet music for the theme song will also in all likelyhood be released at some point.
Masterpiece Theatre | Series | The Theme Music (330 words)
This now instantly recognizable music was originally written for the court of Louis XV, King of France.
Recorded in Boston on June 3, 2000, the music was post-produced and mixed in Los Angeles.
The theme will accompany the series open and closing credits for each of the nine films included in the American Collection series, premiering on PBS on Wednesday, October 25, 2000.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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