Unison

The musical phrase in unison ( Italian " line " ) refers to the process to make all the participants in a sound body together sing or play the same melody in different octaves. The final effect is strong in power at the same time great sound development. The European art music strives here to the greatest possible precision, and therefore the most complete possible merger into a single overall sound; other musical cultures such as the Oriental music or certain forms of jazz prefer the individualization of the individual votes by small individual variations of each other ( heterophony ). The fact that Johann Sebastian Bach ornaments earned only in the prescribed votes ( and thus precisely not the same everywhere ) suggests that he also did not seek full precision at these locations.

Furthermore, " unison " a statement game for orchestra musicians, a previous divisi, ie a division of the group into two or more subgroups cancels.

Some synthesizers there is also the possibility to operate the device in unison mode. Here, you can no longer play polyphonically the device. But when triggering a tone ( for example, by pressing a single button ) one and the same tone through all existing tone generator is played simultaneously, the sound penetrating and can become more present.

Even outside of music expresses the term compliance: "They say in unison, dass .. ".

History

The spiritual works of polyphony were constantly interrupted in their liturgical use by unanimous Gregorian passages and contrasted. Renaissance composers use this technology and its impact by set to music about every other verse of a biblical text, while the remainder was traditionally chanted. The first known written-out effect as unison is found in the 17th century in an instrumental sonata by David Pohle.

In the late Baroque unison refrains were a typical feature of Italian music style. Such ritornelli occur frequently in instrumental concertos by Antonio Vivaldi and other Italian composers; Johann Sebastian Bach, the opening ritornello of the Harpsichord Concerto in D minor (BWV 1052) is a prominent example. A famous unison example of Viennese Classicism is the beginning of Mozart's " Kleine Nachtmusik " ​​.

Another manner of use is the highlighting of individual sites, particularly for text design such as in the St. Matthew Passion ( BWV 244) in chorus Thou God who destroy the temple on the words "I am God's Son" ( see note example).

Through the association with Gregorian chant in unison the achieved time and again hymn -like effects, such as the " Prisoners' Chorus " by Giuseppe Verdi.

The European new music for decades was a polyphonic style arrested, in which the unison was felt to be inappropriate. A work which brought a radical new approach here was Cheap Imitation (1969 ) by John Cage. Composers used from the eighties as György Ligeti, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis also unisons repeatedly with precise listed small deviations.

In the Modern Jazz Unisonospiel of the topic is the standard practice, the so sonically stark contrast to the improvised passages.

• Musical practice