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descant
(redirected from Discantus)

    Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.02 sec.

descant

In music, a high-pitched line for one or more sopranos, added above the normal soprano line (melody) of a hymn tune; a high-pitched instrument of a family, such as the descant recorder (known in the USA as soprano recorder); or an improvised melody sung against a written voice part, also known as faburden, fauxbourdon, or discant.

Older English writers used the term descant to mean counterpoint.



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? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
In addition to the word organum, the word discantus was in general use for improvisation using a second (upper) voice over a plainchant melody.
The music of the Bohemian Middle Ages by Matousek, Lukas / Czech Music
It is the purity of these early voices -- celebrated by the Schola Discantus under Kevin Moll --which touches one, for it is in a sense unspoken prayer set to music.
Byron Janis Plays Chopin by De Toledano, Ralph / National Review
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