Imitation (music)

Imitation first at the octave then at the M6 in 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.
Example of a tonal answer in J.S. Bach's Fugue no. 16 in G minor, BWV 861, from the 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 melody in a polyphonic texture shortly after its first appearance in a different voice. The melody may vary through transposition, 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]

  1. ^ Benward, Bruce; Saker, Marilyn (May 2008). Music in theory and practice. p. 300. ISBN 978-0-07-310188-0.
  2. ^ Berry, Wallace (1976/1987). Structural Functions in Music, p.258. Dover. ISBN 0-486-25384-8.
  3. ^ Berry (1987), p.216.