canto fermo
cantus firmus (ˈkæntəs ˈfɜːməs)
/ (ˈkæntəʊ ˈfɜːməʊ) /
a melody that is the basis to which other parts are added in polyphonic music
the traditional plainchant as prescribed by use and regulation in the Christian Church
Origin of canto fermo
1Words Nearby canto fermo
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
How to use canto fermo in a sentence
Choral music in all ages has tended to consist largely of counterpoint on a canto fermo (see Contrapuntal Forms).
In the very sound of it there is a canto fermo; it proceeds as by a chant.
In the simplest cases the canto fermo has notes of equal length and is unbroken in flow.
In life we have destiny from which there is no escape; in counterpoint we have the canto fermo of which not a note may be altered.
Castellinaria | Henry Festing JonesThe morning service closed at half-past one with a hymn in canto fermo.
Letters of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy from Italy and Switzerland | Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
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