monody

[mon-uh-dee]

noun

plural

monodies 

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.

monody

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• monodist noun
• monodic adjective
• monodically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of monody¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of monody¹

C17: via Late Latin from Greek monōidia, from _mono- + aeidein to sing

Example Sentences

Monteverdi’s writing in the “Vespers” is organized around a dazzling array of what, for him, were old and new forms: hymn, Gregorian chant, polyphony, operatic monody, arioso and embellished virtuoso singing.

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“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.”

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The Oriental monody seems to throw a spell over Rimsky-Korsakoff which spreads over all his works a sort of 'local colour,' underlined here by the chosen subjects.

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She wrote, it is believed, at least nine books of odes, together with epithalamia, epigrams, elegies, and monodies.

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He wrote a pathetic and not wholly forgotten monody on the death of his first wife, to which he could have added a new and poignant emphasis after his second marriage.

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Related Words

• elegy 
• hymn