polyphony
noun
po·lyph·o·ny
pə-ˈli-fə-nē 
: a style of musical composition employing two or more simultaneous but relatively independent melodic lines : counterpoint
Examples of polyphony in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Even when its juxtapositions appear strained, various individual paintings gain new light—and hue—in this exhibition’s vibrant polyphony.
—
Ara H. Merjian, ARTnews.com, 3 Sep. 2019
This is music at once pristine and forbidding, redolent of the austere polyphony of the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2024
In Saunders’s indelible portrait, set in a graveyard populated by garrulous spirits, these images collide and coalesce, transforming Lincoln’s private grief — his 11-year-old boy, Willie, died in the White House in 1862 — into a nation’s, a polyphony of voices and stories.
—New York Times, 8 July 2024
Under cover of jokes and the expert polyphony of the overlapping dialogue, David Adjmi leads us to a story about the disaster of maleness, and thus of mating, behind the pop-rock revolution of the period.
—Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Times, 4 Dec. 2023
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Ara H. Merjian, ARTnews.com, 3 Sep. 2019
This is music at once pristine and forbidding, redolent of the austere polyphony of the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2024
In Saunders’s indelible portrait, set in a graveyard populated by garrulous spirits, these images collide and coalesce, transforming Lincoln’s private grief — his 11-year-old boy, Willie, died in the White House in 1862 — into a nation’s, a polyphony of voices and stories.
—New York Times, 8 July 2024
Under cover of jokes and the expert polyphony of the overlapping dialogue, David Adjmi leads us to a story about the disaster of maleness, and thus of mating, behind the pop-rock revolution of the period.
—Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Times, 4 Dec. 2023
See all Example Sentences for polyphony
Dictionary Entries Near polyphony
Cite this Entry
“Polyphony.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/polyphony. Accessed 5 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
polyphony
noun
po·lyph·o·ny
pə-ˈlif-ə-nē
: music consisting of two or more independent but harmonious melodies
polyphonic
adjective
ˌpäl-i-ˈfän-ik
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