Polytempo
Encyclopedia
The term polytempo or polytempic is used to describe music
in which two or more tempi
occur simultaneously.
In the Western world, the practice of polytempic music has its roots in the music theory of Henry Cowell, and the early practices of Charles Ives. Later on, composer Elliott Carter, in the fifties, began polymetric experiments in his string quartets that inevitably amounted to polytempic behavior by nature of several competing lines at different surface speeds.
Some types of African drumming exhibit this phenomenon.
Today's composers are employing polytempi as a compositional strategy to create total and complete independence of line in polyphonic music. Composers such as Conlon Nancarrow, Evgeni Kostitsyn, Kyle Gann, Kenneth Jonsson, John Arrigo-Nelson, Henry Brant, Brian Ferneyhough, Elliott Carter, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Frank Zappa and Peter Thoegersen have used various methods in achieving polytempic success in their music.
Polytempic music also harkens to the rhythmic practices of some Renaissance and medieval composers (see hemiola
.
and polymeter
Tuplet (music) for Zappa's and Ferneyhough's preferred notation for this concept.
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
in which two or more tempi
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
occur simultaneously.
In the Western world, the practice of polytempic music has its roots in the music theory of Henry Cowell, and the early practices of Charles Ives. Later on, composer Elliott Carter, in the fifties, began polymetric experiments in his string quartets that inevitably amounted to polytempic behavior by nature of several competing lines at different surface speeds.
Some types of African drumming exhibit this phenomenon.
Today's composers are employing polytempi as a compositional strategy to create total and complete independence of line in polyphonic music. Composers such as Conlon Nancarrow, Evgeni Kostitsyn, Kyle Gann, Kenneth Jonsson, John Arrigo-Nelson, Henry Brant, Brian Ferneyhough, Elliott Carter, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Frank Zappa and Peter Thoegersen have used various methods in achieving polytempic success in their music.
Polytempic music also harkens to the rhythmic practices of some Renaissance and medieval composers (see hemiola
Hemiola
In modern musical parlance, a hemiola is a metrical pattern in which two bars in simple triple time are articulated as if they were three bars in simple duple time...
.
See Also
PolyrhythmPolyrhythm
Polyrhythm is the simultaneous sounding of two or more independent rhythms.Polyrhythm in general is a nonspecific term for the simultaneous occurrence of two or more conflicting rhythms, of which cross-rhythm is a specific and definable subset.—Novotney Polyrhythms can be distinguished from...
and polymeter
Tuplet (music) for Zappa's and Ferneyhough's preferred notation for this concept.