Polyphony is a type of musical texture that includes two or more separate melodies played at the same time. This is different from monophony, which has only one melody, or homophony, where one main melody is supported by chords.

In Western music, the term polyphony is often used to describe music from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance periods. During the Baroque era, music like fugues is usually called contrapuntal instead of polyphonic. In polyphonic music, melodies are often written in a way where each part matches another part note by note, or one part has long notes while another has shorter notes. This approach is called "dyadic counterpoint," where each melody is written to interact with one other melody. If needed, all parts may be adjusted to work together. This method is different from "successive composition," where each new melody is added to fit with the existing ones.

Sometimes, the word polyphony is used more generally to describe any music that is not monophonic. In this view, homophony is considered a type of polyphony.

Antecedents

Traditional (non-professional) polyphony is found in many places around the world, though not all areas have it. Most regions where polyphonic singing is practiced are in sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and Oceania. Today, there are two different ideas about where vocal polyphony began: the Cultural Model and the Evolutionary Model. The Cultural Model suggests that polyphony developed as part of human musical culture. It says that polyphony grew naturally from simple single-voice singing and that polyphonic traditions slowly replaced older monophonic traditions. The Evolutionary Model states that polyphony has roots much earlier in human history, tied to the development of early humans. It claims that polyphonic singing was once important for protecting early humans and that polyphonic traditions are now disappearing worldwide.

Origins of written polyphony

The exact beginnings of polyphony in Western church traditions are not known. However, two treatises called Musica enchiriadis and Scolica enchiriadis, both written around the year 900, are often considered the oldest surviving written examples of polyphony. These treatises included examples of two-voice note-against-note embellishments of chants, using parallel octaves, fifths, and fourths. Instead of being fixed compositions, they showed methods for improvising polyphony during performances. The Winchester Troper, from around the year 1000, is generally seen as the oldest surviving example of notated polyphony for chant performance. However, its notation does not specify exact pitch levels or note durations. A recently discovered two-part antiphon to Saint Boniface, found in the British Library, is believed to have originated in a monastery in north-west Germany and is dated to the early tenth century.

European polyphony

European polyphony developed from melismatic organum, the earliest way to harmonize the chant. In the 12th century, composers like Léonin and Pérotin improved the organum that had been used earlier. They also added a third and fourth voice to the chant, which had become homophonic. In the 13th century, the chant-based tenor began to change, become broken, and be covered by secular tunes. This made the sacred texts harder to hear as composers worked on polyphonic techniques. Love poem lyrics might be sung above sacred texts using a trope, or the sacred text might be placed within a familiar secular melody. The oldest surviving piece of six-part music is the English rota Sumer is icumen in (c. 1240).

European polyphony developed before and during the Western Schism. Avignon, where popes and antipopes lived, was a lively center for secular music. This music influenced sacred polyphony.

Some medieval people disliked the mixing of secular and sacred music in the papal court. They thought church music became too playful and less serious than worship they were used to. Attitudes toward polyphony changed in the Avignon court from the beginning to the end of its religious importance in the 14th century.

Harmony was seen as silly, disrespectful, and a distraction from the words. Instruments and certain musical styles were banned in the church because they were linked to secular music and pagan traditions. In 1322, Pope John XXII banned polyphony from the Liturgy. He warned against its "unbecoming" qualities in his 1324 bull Docta sanctorum patrum. Pope Clement VI, however, supported polyphony.

The oldest known polyphonic mass composed by one person is Guillaume de Machaut’s Messe de Nostre Dame, from 1364, during Pope Urban V’s time. The Second Vatican Council said Gregorian chant should be the main focus of church services, but other sacred music, including polyphony, could still be used.

• Tomás Luis de Victoria
• William Byrd, Mass for Five Voices
• Thomas Tallis, Spem in alium
• Orlandus Lassus, Prophetiae Sibyllarum
• Guillaume de Machaut, Messe de Nostre Dame
• Geoffrey Chaucer
• Jacob Obrecht
• Palestrina, Missa Papae Marcelli
• Josquin des Prez, Missa Pange Lingua
• Gregorio Allegri, Miserere

English Protestant "west gallery" music included polyphonic harmony with multiple melodies, like fuguing tunes, by the mid-18th century. This tradition was brought to North America by emigrants and spread through tunebooks, including shape-note books like The Southern Harmony and The Sacred Harp. Though this style is no longer common in British or North American sacred music, it survived in rural Southern United States. It later gained popularity again in the United States and countries like the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, and Australia.

Polyphonic singing is a traditional folk style in parts of southern Europe. It is also called ancient, archaic, or old-style singing.

• Byzantine chant
• Ojkanje singing, in Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Ganga singing, in Croatia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Bosnian root music in the Podrinje region of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Epirote singing, in northern Greece and southern Albania
• Iso-polyphony, in southern Albania
• Gusle singing, in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Albania
• Izvika singing, in Serbia
• Dvuglas singing in Southern Bulgaria: woman choirs in Shopluk (Bistritsa Babi) and Rhodopes (Nedelino), and men choirs in Bansko and Pirin Macedonia

Incipient polyphony (previously called primitive polyphony) includes antiphony, call and response, drones, and parallel intervals.

Balkan drone music is called polyphonic by Balkan musicians because they use the Greek word polyphōnos ("many voices"). In Western classical music, it is not strictly polyphonic because the drone parts do not have melodies. It is better described as multipart.

The polyphonic singing tradition of Epirus is a type of folk polyphony practiced by Aromanians, Albanians, Greeks, Bulgarians, and ethnic Macedonians in southern Albania and northwestern Greece. This style is also found in North Macedonia and Bulgaria.

Albanian polyphonic singing has two main styles performed by the Tosks and Labs in southern Albania. The drone is performed in two ways: among the Tosks, it is always continuous and sung on the syllable "e" with staggered breathing; among the Labs, the drone is sometimes sung as a rhythmic tone with the song’s text. This style includes two-, three-, and four-voice polyphony.

In Aromanian music, polyphony is common and follows a set of rules.

Albanian folk iso-polyphony has been named by UNESCO a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity." The term iso refers to the drone, which accompanies the singing and is related to the ison of Byzantine church music.

The French island of Corsica has a unique style called Paghjella, known for its polyphony. Traditionally, Paghjella has staggered entrances and three singers with independent melodies. It uses a lot of melisma and is sung in a nasal tone. Many songs include a Picardy third. After a revival in the 1970s, Paghjella changed. In the 1980s, it had fewer traditional features, more singers, and more homophony. Corsicans saw the shift away from polyphony as a loss of cultural identity. By the 1990s, Paghjella returned to a strong polyphonic style with less structure.

Cantu a tenore is a traditional style of polyphonic singing in Sardinia.

Caucasus region

Polyphony in the Republic of Georgia may be the oldest polyphony in the Christian world. Georgian polyphony is usually sung in three parts. It has loud, clashing sounds and uses parallel fifths. A special tuning system based on perfect fifths is also used. UNESCO has declared Georgian polyphonic singing an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Singing is highly valued in Georgian culture. There are three types of polyphony in Georgia: complex polyphony, common in Svaneti; polyphonic dialogue over a bass background, common in Kakheti, a region in eastern Georgia; and contrasted polyphony with three partially improvised parts, found in western Georgia. The Chakrulo song, sung during ceremonies and festivals, belongs to the first category. It uses metaphors and includes a yodel called krimanchuli and a "cockerel’s crow," performed by a male singer who uses a high voice. Some songs are connected to the grapevine and date back to the eighth century. These songs were part of daily life, including work in the fields (like the Naduri song, which includes sounds of physical effort), healing songs, and Christmas carols (Alilo). Byzantine religious hymns also included Georgian polyphonic traditions, making them an important part of that tradition.

Chechen and Ingush traditional music is known for its vocal polyphony. Their polyphony uses a drone and is mostly three-part, unlike most other North Caucasian traditions, which are usually two-part. The middle voice carries the main melody, supported by two low, continuous sounds that form a fifth around the melody. Dissonant intervals (like sevenths, seconds, and fourths) are common. Chechen and Ingush songs often use sharper dissonances than other North Caucasian traditions. A unique ending uses a final, dissonant three-part chord made of a fourth and a second (c-f-g). This chord is rare, except in western Georgia, where a few songs also end with it.

Oceania

Some parts of Oceania have rich traditions of music with many voices singing together. People in the New Guinea Highlands, such as the Moni, Dani, and Yali, and those on Manus Island use this style. Many of these musical traditions use repeating sounds or close, slightly clashing harmonies that may sound unusual to people from Western cultures. In Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands, groups play music using large bamboo pipes. Europeans were surprised to find repeating and slightly clashing harmonies in Polynesian singing. Over time, Polynesian music was influenced by Western church music, which introduced a style called counterpoint into their traditions.

Africa

Many music traditions in Sub-Saharan Africa use polyphonic singing, where voices move together in the same direction. The Maasai people traditionally sing with drone polyphony, while other East African groups use more complex methods. For example, the Dorze people sing with up to six different vocal parts, and the Wagogo use counterpoint, where separate melodies are played at the same time. The music of African Pygmies, such as the Aka people, often includes repeating patterns and counterpoint, along with yodeling. In Central Africa, many groups prefer parallel singing, where voices move in unison rather than using counterpoint. In Burundi, rural women greet each other with akazehe, a two-part vocal rhythm where sounds fit together like puzzle pieces. The San people, like the Pygmies, use repeated melodies, yodeling, and counterpoint in their singing. In contrast, neighboring Bantu groups, such as the Zulu, typically sing in parallel lines. In tropical West Africa, people often use parallel harmonies instead of counterpoint.