Something Classic: Polyphony in Music

I love classical music, probably more so than any other type of music. I don't know a whole lot about it, but Classical music is my comfort music.* I feel at home, there, where there is a strong sense of familiarity without judgement or expectation. Classical music is interpretive -- how do you feel, how do you perceive, how do you listen?

Recently, I was visiting home, and my younger sister and I were working on homework together. She is far more superior to me in most every category (academic and practical), and so it's always a compliment to me when she consults me for advice on anything. "What is polyphony?" she asked me (pronouncing it "pah-lee-FO-nee"), and I began considering the meaning of the term on multiple levels. To begin, I explained it to her musically. 

Polyphony is the style of simultaneously combining a number of parts, each preforming an individual melody and harmonizing with one another.

Polyphony is evident in Vivaldi's Winter in his concerto of the Four Seasons.  The sharp, biting sound of the distinctive violin predominates the piece, while the symphonic sounds of the orchestra provide a more continuous melodic foundation. The contrast between the two is vibrant and crisp, transitioning into a smooth, fluttering second movement. The constant differentiation between the solo violin and the polyphonic symphony is stark and depicts the paradoxical bitter innocence of winter.

The piece played by the solo violinist is brilliant, and portrays a powerful sense of honesty. Throughout the Allegro and Largo movements, the soloist is at the forefront of the piece evoking images of winter's brisk brutality, as well as its fresh liveliness. The solo violin carries the composition, moving it quickly in the first and third movements, and drawing out long, trailing notes in the second movement. Figuratively, the solo piece is the focal point – the intricacies of winter, while the orchestra contributes to the completion of the evocative musical scene.

The rapid, staccato progression of the solo violin accompanied by the fullness of the orchestra creates authentic layers that are necessary for the integrated nature of the composition. 

Vivaldi's Winter movement of his The Four Seasons is impressively redolent of a biting, forceful winter full of nuances and secret life hiding behind the orchestra of angry cold.

*NB: This is not like "comfort food," and is, in fact, quite the opposite.