DIAPHONY. - A genre of composition in early polyphony (v. ARS ANTIQUA), whose name is used by medieval theorists (9th-12th centuries) as equivalent to organum, which indicates the technique in which parallel motion still predominates, whereas in descant contrary motion will gain the upper hand.
Rules for d. are found especially in ch. 13 of the Musica enchiriadis, of the 10th century (v. Gerbert, Scriptores ecclesiastici de musica sacra potissimum, St-Blasien 1784, I, pp. 165-66) and in chs. 18 and 19 of the Micrologus of Guido d'Arezzo (ibid., II, chs. 18, 19, pp. 21-23). In the first treatise the intervals of the 4th, 5th and 8th are prescribed, while in the second those of the major 2nd, major and minor 3rd and the 4th are proposed.
Cervelli, Luisa. “Diafonia.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. IV, col. 1546. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950. https://azioneromana.com/article/diafonia.
MLA
Cervelli, Luisa. “Diafonia.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. IV, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950, col. 1546. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/diafonia.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec4_diafonia,
author = {Cervelli, Luisa},
title = {Diafonia},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {IV},
pages = {1546},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1950},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/diafonia}
}
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