Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

isorhythm

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: isorhythm
IPA

20

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

1

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A technique that arranges a fixed pattern of pitches with a repeating rhythmic pattern, used in some medieval motets and in more recent works.

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"In his motets Machaut strove for all-over patterns of rhythmic unity through isorhythms, a system codifying a few set patterns of time value, the number of repetitions of a pattern within a composition depending upon the desired length […]"
"Even when such preconceived structural arrangements are not used, as in the Gloria of the Machaut Mass, the idea of isorhythm is present in the suggestion of recurring and balancing strophic plans."
"Meaning simply "same rhythm," isorhythm refers to the practice of using the same rhythmic pattern, called in fourteenth-century treatises a talea ("cutting"), over and over in one or more part as the structural base for a motet or mass movement."

Etymology

Borrowed from German Isorhythmik, coined in 1904 by composer Friedrich Ludwig (1895-1970) (iso- + rhythm).

Origin

Source language: German

Word Breakdown

Prefix: iso
Root: Isorhythmik

Usage

Inflected Forms

isorhythms (plural)

Derived Forms

isorhythmic isorhythmically

Questions

What does isorhythm mean?: A technique that arranges a fixed pattern of pitches with a repeating rhythmic pattern, used in some medieval motets and in more recent works.
Where does isorhythm come from?: It is traced to German.

How to pronounce isorhythm

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