Ornamentation, musical(811 words)
Ornaments (also “embellishments”) may be seen as a subordinate level of musical setting. Ornamentation involved enlivening the primary notes that bore the structure of the piece, often by subdividing them into sequences of shorter notes, or joining several such primary notes together by inserting additional notes between. Because this was a lower order of setting, the addition of ornaments to a composition was often left to the performer (Improvisation).
Traditional counterpoint theory provided, alongside the regular occurrence of contrapunctus simplex (punctus contra…
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Synofzik, Thomas,
“Ornamentation, musical”, in:
Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012.
Consulted online on 02 October 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_029743>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20200721
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