Homophony in Tallis' "If Ye Love Me", composed in 1549. The soprano sings the melody (the primary line) while the lower voices fill out the harmony (as supporting lines). The rhythmic unison in all the parts makes this passage an example of homorhythm.
In music, homophony (/həˈmɒf(ə)niː,hoʊ-/;[1][2], Greek: ὁμόφωνος, homóphōnos, from ὁμός, homós, "same" and φωνή, phōnē, "sound, tone") is a texture in which a primary part is supported by one or more additional strands that provide the harmony.[3] One melody predominates while the other parts play either single notes or an elaborate accompaniment. This differentiation of roles contrasts with equal-voice polyphony (in which similar lines move with rhythmic and melodic independence to form an even texture) and monophony (in which all parts move in unison or octaves).[4] Historically, homophony and its differentiated roles for parts emerged in tandem with tonality, which gave distinct harmonic functions to the soprano, bass and inner voices.
A homophonic texture may be homorhythmic, which means that all parts have the same rhythm.[5][6]Chorale texture is another variant of homophony. The most common type of homophony is melody-dominated homophony, in which one voice, often the highest, plays a distinct melody, and the accompanying voices work together to articulate an underlying harmony.[7]
Initially, in Ancient Greece, homophony indicated music in which a single melody is performed by two or more voices in unison or octaves, i.e. monophony with multiple voices. Homophony as a term first appeared in English with Charles Burney in 1776, emphasizing the concord of harmonized melody.[8]
^McKay, George Frederick (2005). Creative Orchestration. George Frederick McKay Music Publishing, Bainbridge Island, Washington. (Originally published by Allyn & Bacon, Boston 1963, 2nd ed. 1965).
^Randel, Don Michael (1999). "Homorhythmic". Written at Ithaca, New York. The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 305. ISBN978-0-674-00084-1. OCLC41951291.
^Hyer, Brian. "Homophony", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed September 24, 2006) (Subscription required).