Head-motif
Encyclopedia
Head-motif refers to an opening musical idea of a set of movements which serves to unite those movements. It may also be called a motto
, and is a frequent device in cyclic mass
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Motto (disambiguation)
A motto is a phrase meant to formally describe the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization.It can also refer to:* Epigraph , a sentence, phrase, or word, prefixed to an essay, chapter, or the like, suggestive of its subject matter* Aphorism, a short, suggestive expression...
, and is a frequent device in cyclic mass
Cyclic mass
In Renaissance music, the cyclic mass was a setting of the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Mass, in which each of the movements – Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei – shared a common musical theme, commonly a cantus firmus, thus making it a unified whole...
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