retrograde

In astronomy, describing the orbit or rotation of a planet or satellite if the sense of rotation is opposite to the general sense of rotation of the Solar System. On the celestial sphere, it refers to motion from east to west against the background of stars.

retrograde

In music, term describing a process in which the order of notes is reversed. It is used as a basic technique in 20th-century serialism, in addition to inversion. However, it also occurs in music of the Middle Ages, as a form of musical riddle, the first known example dating from the 13th century. Haydn used retrograde motion in the third movement of his Symphony no. 47 in G (1772), as did Beethoven in the final fugue of his piano sonata Hammerklavier (1818).