What's the difference between contrapuntal and polyphonic?

Contrapuntal


Definition:

  • (a.) Pertaining to, or according to the rules of, counterpoint.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) According to Deryabin, there was also a more profound obstacle – Russia's surprising indifference to the genius behind War and Peace, Tolstoy's contrapuntal saga set during the years of Napoleon's wars in Europe and his invasion of Russia.
  • (2) Hints of parody and an expressionist violence are only just held in check by the tough contrapuntal fabric.
  • (3) You can't say the Sunday didn't make waves – perhaps because, contrapuntally, all media had to explain in detail what was being alleged, rather than merely cross-reference an open website.

Polyphonic


Definition:

  • (a.) Having a multiplicity of sounds.
  • (a.) Characterized by polyphony; as, Assyrian polyphonic characters.
  • (a.) Consisting of several tone series, or melodic parts, progressing simultaneously according to the laws of counterpoint; contrapuntal; as, a polyphonic composition; -- opposed to homophonic, or monodic.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The power of polyphonic vocal in a reverberant space – it’s simple and transcendent.
  • (2) Greece is and must remain a democratic, well-ruled, tolerant and polyphonic society which claims an equal place in Europe.
  • (3) We can absorb written stuff in different ways, and in polyphonic ways.
  • (4) What we really desire is the polyphonic cacophony of real democracy, the one we could hear in the post-punk explosion.
  • (5) Although house music was driven by outdated electronic technology, principally Roland drum machines and rudimentary polyphonic synthesisers, Knuckles's intentions revealed him as someone more ambitious than the average bedroom producer.
  • (6) In the second half, as the story neared its climax, the structure was cleared, and the final scenes played out under arc lights on the vast amphitheatre of the Barbican stage , with each Johan and Marianne shadowing each other – sometimes chanting the text in unison, sometimes splintering polyphonically into pairs or groups.
  • (7) 2) Continuous adventitious lung sounds in asthmatic patients were divided into monophonic tones and polyphonic tones, according to sound spectrographic findings.
  • (8) Hecker turned these polyphonic templates into fresh scores, then gave them to the Icelandic Choir Ensemble at a recording session in Reykjavík, with instructions to “imagine you’re Chewbacca and you have a saxophone, and you just drunk 8,000 litres of codeine – now sing 10 times slower than that.” The aim was to drain their voices of any expression – “to become, like, dead, basically.” Some of the choir were hungover.
  • (9) But the ravages of deindustrialisation only encouraged Nyman to hook up with Christopher Monks, artistic director of the Armonico Consort – a polyphonic choral group – to bring Hillfields and Monteverdi together: this month, children from Frederick Bird will be involved in a project called Monteverdi's Flying Circus, singing the Ave Maris Stella from the Italian master's 1610 Vespers.
  • (10) This pool of virtuoso musicians has seeded a music scene that’s the envy of much larger cities, producing acts such as Norah Jones, the Polyphonic Spree, Neon Indian and Midlake .
  • (11) Everywhere you went in Paris during the revolt in Tunisia , portable televisions blared at top volume in shops, takeaways and cafes, broadcasting a polyglot, polyphonic babble from Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya and the French-speaking channels from the Maghreb.
  • (12) The origin of the polyphonic tones was unknown, but they were also relatively well transmitted to the neck over the trachea.

Words possibly related to "contrapuntal"