harmonist

¹ American  

[hahr-muh-nist] / ˈhɑr mə nɪst /

noun

1. a person skilled in harmony.

2. a person who makes a harmony, as of the Gospels.

---

Harmonist ² American  

[hahr-muh-nist] / ˈhɑr mə nɪst /

Or Harmonite

noun

1. a member of a celibate religious sect that emigrated from Germany to Pennsylvania in 1803.

---

harmonist British  

/ ˈhɑːmənɪst /

noun

1. a person skilled in the art and techniques of harmony

2. a person who combines and collates parallel narratives

---

Other Word Forms

• harmonistic adjective
• harmonistically adverb

Etymology

Origin of harmonist¹

First recorded in 1560–70; harmon(y) + -ist

Origin of Harmonist²

1815–25; after Harmony, town in Pennsylvania; see -ist

Explanation

A harmonist is someone who's very good at blending different voices or instruments into music that sounds pleasant. To be a successful composer, you have to be a great harmonist. Harmonists are skilled at harmonies, creating music from separate strands that go well together. Another kind of harmonist does a similar thing with literature or religious texts, interpreting different passages in a way that melds their meanings or finds agreement between them. Historically, Christian harmonists also brought harmony to the Bible by trying to arrange its parts in chronological order. The Greek root of harmonist is harmonia, "concord of sound."

Example Sentences

Mr. Jobim once called him “a great melodist, harmonist, king of rhythm, of syncopation, of swing” and “singular, without equal.”

From New York Times • Dec. 23, 2023

Above all, Mr. Sondheim said, he is a harmonist whose songs are inspired by theatrical characters.

From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2015

Throughout the vibrant Scherzo, the plaintive Adagio and the episodic and ultimately exuberant finale, Mr. Gilbert brought out musical resonances that linked Rachmaninoff as a harmonist to Debussy, Mahler and even early Schoenberg.

From New York Times • Jan. 9, 2010

"The towering headlands, crown'd with mist, Their feet among the billows, know That Ocean is a mighty harmonist."

From Shakespeare: His Life, Art, And Characters, Volume I. With An Historical Sketch Of The Origin And Growth Of The Drama In England by Hudson, Henry Norman

It must suffice to indicate the general principle by which the harmonist must be guided.

From Companion to the Bible by Barrows, E. P. (Elijah Porter)