monody

American  

[mon-uh-dee] / ˈmɒn ə di /

noun

monodies plural

1. a Greek ode sung by a single voice, as in a tragedy; lament.

2. a poem in which the poet or speaker laments another's death; threnody.

3. Music.

   1. a style of composition in which one part or melody predominates; homophony, as distinguished from polyphony.

   2. a piece in this style.

   3. monophony.

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monody British  

/ ˈmɒnədɪ, mɒˈnɒdɪk /

noun

1. (in Greek tragedy) an ode sung by a single actor

2. any poem of lament for someone's death

3. music a style of composition consisting of a single vocal part, usually with accompaniment

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• monodist
  noun
• monodic
  adjective
• monodically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• monodies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of monody

First recorded in 1580–90; from Late Latin monōdia, from Greek monōidía “a solo, monody,” equivalent to monōid(ós) “singing alone” + -ia noun suffix; see mon-, ode) -y ³

Example Sentences

“The Wishing Tree,” a beautiful, seemingly slight nine-line monody, commemorates his laconic, generous mother—“I thought of her as the wishing tree that died / And saw it lifted, root and branch, to heaven.”

From The New Yorker • Oct. 3, 2019

Suddenly, a hidden 35-piece baroque orchestra begins the accompaniment to the introductory monody, and a spotlight picks out a bearded Father Time at the door of a pyramid above the abyss.

From Time Magazine Archive

Of the other "Water Scenes," there is a shimmering "Dragon Fly," a monody, "Ophelia," with a pedal-point of two periods on the tonic, and a fluent "Barcarolle" with a deal of high-colored virtuosity.

From Contemporary American Composers Being a Study of the Music of This Country, Its Present Conditions and Its Future, with Critical Estimates and Biographies of the Principal Living Composers; and an Abundance of Portraits, Fac-simile Musical Autographs, and Compositions by Hughes, Rupert

As this lady's name has been mentioned in a monody on the death of Major André, we take this opportunity of correcting a mistake that occurs in a note to that performance.

From Practical Education, Volume II by Edgeworth, Maria

L’amorosa Fiammetta is a monody of passion sustained even to the verge of dulness, but strikingly real, and therefore artistically valuable.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 1 "Bisharin" to "Bohea" by Various

Related Words

• elegy
• hymn