polyphony
noun
po·lyph·o·ny pə-ˈli-fə-nē 
: a style of musical composition employing two or more simultaneous but relatively independent melodic lines : counterpoint
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Soon the others start to sing, too, their voices overlapping to create a rapturous polyphony. 
Carolina Schneider Comandulli, Scientific American, 23 Apr. 2022 The Master Chorale and the cellist Cécilia Tsan nimbly negotiated the score’s Hindustani gestures, which were seamlessly woven into a four-part texture modelled on Renaissance polyphony. Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2022 In this oral history, Alexievich brings forth a polyphony of voices from one of the most radical social-engineering experiments ever carried out. Marci Shore, The Atlantic, 11 Mar. 2022 For practitioners of what used to be called the lively arts, Life Isn’t Everything, an oral biography of Mike Nichols, is manna from heaven, its brilliantly orchestrated polyphony bringing him, his work, and his world to vivid life. Simon Callow, The New York Review of Books, 24 Sep. 2020 For practitioners of what used to be called the lively arts, Life Isn’t Everything, an oral biography of Mike Nichols, is manna from heaven, its brilliantly orchestrated polyphony bringing him, his work, and his world to vivid life. Simon Callow, The New York Review of Books, 24 Sep. 2020 For practitioners of what used to be called the lively arts, Life Isn’t Everything, an oral biography of Mike Nichols, is manna from heaven, its brilliantly orchestrated polyphony bringing him, his work, and his world to vivid life. Simon Callow, The New York Review of Books, 24 Sep. 2020 For practitioners of what used to be called the lively arts, Life Isn’t Everything, an oral biography of Mike Nichols, is manna from heaven, its brilliantly orchestrated polyphony bringing him, his work, and his world to vivid life. Simon Callow, The New York Review of Books, 24 Sep. 2020 For practitioners of what used to be called the lively arts, Life Isn’t Everything, an oral biography of Mike Nichols, is manna from heaven, its brilliantly orchestrated polyphony bringing him, his work, and his world to vivid life. Simon Callow, The New York Review of Books, 24 Sep. 2020 See More
Carolina Schneider Comandulli, Scientific American, 23 Apr. 2022 The Master Chorale and the cellist Cécilia Tsan nimbly negotiated the score’s Hindustani gestures, which were seamlessly woven into a four-part texture modelled on Renaissance polyphony. Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2022 In this oral history, Alexievich brings forth a polyphony of voices from one of the most radical social-engineering experiments ever carried out. Marci Shore, The Atlantic, 11 Mar. 2022 For practitioners of what used to be called the lively arts, Life Isn’t Everything, an oral biography of Mike Nichols, is manna from heaven, its brilliantly orchestrated polyphony bringing him, his work, and his world to vivid life. Simon Callow, The New York Review of Books, 24 Sep. 2020 For practitioners of what used to be called the lively arts, Life Isn’t Everything, an oral biography of Mike Nichols, is manna from heaven, its brilliantly orchestrated polyphony bringing him, his work, and his world to vivid life. Simon Callow, The New York Review of Books, 24 Sep. 2020 For practitioners of what used to be called the lively arts, Life Isn’t Everything, an oral biography of Mike Nichols, is manna from heaven, its brilliantly orchestrated polyphony bringing him, his work, and his world to vivid life. Simon Callow, The New York Review of Books, 24 Sep. 2020 For practitioners of what used to be called the lively arts, Life Isn’t Everything, an oral biography of Mike Nichols, is manna from heaven, its brilliantly orchestrated polyphony bringing him, his work, and his world to vivid life. Simon Callow, The New York Review of Books, 24 Sep. 2020 For practitioners of what used to be called the lively arts, Life Isn’t Everything, an oral biography of Mike Nichols, is manna from heaven, its brilliantly orchestrated polyphony bringing him, his work, and his world to vivid life. Simon Callow, The New York Review of Books, 24 Sep. 2020 See More Word History
Etymology
Greek polyphōnia variety of tones, from polyphōnos having many tones or voices, from poly- + phōnē voice — more at ban entry 1
First Known Use
1790, in the meaning defined above
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