Melisma

The melisma (from Greek melos " song, way, song " ) denotes a sequence of notes or melody that is sung on one syllable.

When melismatic singing come as opposed to Syllabik in which each note is assigned a syllable, several notes in a vowel. An example is the setting of the Gloria, are in intones the o many different tones ( Glo - ooooooooooo - ria ). The musical genre of melismatic singing, in the early and high Middle Ages, for example, in the Gregorian chant and in Orthodox worship singing had great importance, is called melisma. At the same time, this term is also the name for the typesetting of a melismatic passage within, for example, a motet or madrigal.