Imitation (music)

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Bartók's "Chromatic Invention", Mikrokosmos (1926–1939), vol. III, no. 91, mm. 1–4[1] Playⓘ
.
"Row, Row, Row Your Boat" (1852) round Playⓘ. A new part can join the singing by starting at the beginning whenever another part reaches any asterisk. If one ignores the sixteenth notes that pass between the main chords, every single note is in the tonic triad—in this case, a C, E, or G.
Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 (1722). ( Listen
)
The first note of the subject, D, (in red) is a prominent dominant note, demanding that the first note of the answer (in blue) sounds as the tonic, G, rather than A.
Imitation at the opening of Carlo Gesualdo's "Or, che in gioia credea" (1596)[2] Playⓘ

In music, imitation is the repetition of a

inversion, or otherwise, but retain its original character. The intervals and rhythms of an imitation may be exact or modified; imitation occurs at varying distances relative to the first occurrence, and phrases
may begin with voices in imitation before they freely go their own ways.

Imitation helps provide unity to a

composition and is used in forms such as the fugue and canon
.

The near universality of imitation in polyphonic styles in Western music (and its frequency in homorhythmic, homophonic, and other textures) is evidence enough of its paradoxical value in asserting the individuality of voices.[3]

Definitions

When a phrase recurs exactly as before (except perhaps transposed), it is called strict imitation. A round is thus an example of strict imitation. Repetition is defined as the repetition of a phrase or melody often with variations in key, rhythm, and voice.

Different authors define imitation somewhat differently:

Real imitation[:] An imitation with no modifications except for the usual diatonic adjustment of half and whole steps. The exact transposition of a melody at different pitch levels.

— Benward & Saker (2003)[4]

Imitation: the repetition of a motive or a fragment in a different voice.

— Spencer & Temko (1988)[5]

Imitation[:] The repetition of a melody or melodic group in close succession, but in a different voice; the repetition of a melody at a different pitch level in a polyphonic texture.

— Benward & Saker[4]

Imitation[:] The restatement in close succession of melodic figures in different voices in polyphonic textures.

— Benward & Saker (2009)[6]

homodirectional imitation...contradirectional...contrarhythmic imitation...contraintervallic imitation...free imitation...strict imitation...rhythmic imitation...contour imitation

— Wallace Berry[7]

The point of imitation, "marks the beginning of a series of imitative entries in a contrapuntal composition."[5] In counterpoint, imitation occurs in a second voice, usually at a different pitch. A short phrase treated imitatively is called an attacco.

Use in various musical styles

In

Arab and Indian vocal music
where the instrumentalist may accompany the vocalist in a vocal improvisation with imitation.

In pop music a much clichéd form of imitation consists of a background choir repeating – usually the last notes – of the lead singer's last line. See: fill (music).

Examples in Classical Music

Imitation featured in both instrumental and vocal music of the Renaissance. In the following passage from a Ricercar by Andrea Gabrieli, the instruments at first imitate at a distance of two beats. Towards the end of the episode, bars 11–12, the imitation becomes closer, at a distance of only one beat:

Andrea Gabrieli Ricercare del 12o tono
Andrea Gabrieli Ricercare del 12o tono

The

Well-tempered Clavier opens with a subject that is imitated at the interval of a fifth higher and at a distance of four beats:

Bach Fugue XXII in B flat minor BWV 867, opening

Later, the theme is imitated through all five parts at the distance of just one beat:

Bach Fugue XXII in B flat minor BWV 867, closing bars
Bach Fugue XXII in B flat minor BWV 867, closing bars

This type of closely followed imitation is characteristic of fugues as they build towards a conclusion. It is known as stretto.

In the

chromatic weave, where the imitation is at the distance of only one beat:

Mozart Minuet from Trio K498, bars 76–86
Mozart Minuet from Trio K498, bars 76–86

A more straightforward example of close imitation occurs later in the same movement at bars 94–100. This is the linking passage that heralds the return of the opening of the Minuet. The clarinet plays a sustained

pedal note while the three lines played by the viola and the pianist's two hands express a single harmony, the dominant seventh (F7), to prepare for the return of the minuet in the key of B flat major, the tonic key:

Mozart Minuet from Trio K498, bars 94–100
Mozart Minuet from Trio K498, bars 94–100

The whole movement can be heard on:

See also

Sources

  1. ISBN 978-0-07-310188-0
    .
  2. ISBN 0-486-25384-8
    .
  3. ^ Berry (1987), p.216.
  4. ^ a b Benward & Saker (2003), p.361.
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-0-88133-806-5
    .
  6. ^ Benward & Saker (2009), p.357.
  7. ^ Berry (1987), p.233, n.33.
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