Ornamentation

ornamentation

In music, the addition of notes for expressive and aesthetic purposes. For example, a long note may be ornamented by repetition or by alternation with a neighboring note (“trill”); a skip to a nonadjacent note can be filled in with the intervening notes; or the resolution of a dissonance (see consonance and dissonance), because of its inevitability, can be delayed.

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ornamentation

In architecture, applied embellishment in various styles that is a distinguishing characteristic of buildings, furniture, and household items. Ornamentation often occurs on entablatures, columns, the tops of buildings, and around entryways and windows, especially in the form of moldings. Throughout antiquity and into the Renaissance, and later for religious buildings, applied ornament was very important, often having symbolic meaning. The anthemion petal motif was especially popular on the moldings of ancient Greek cornices. Other motifs from antiquity include the Egyptian cartouche (oval), fretwork (banding) of capitals, fluting and reeding of columns, bas-relief egg-and-dart moldings (with alternating oval and pointed forms), and scrollwork such as that found on Ionic capitals and in the running-dog pattern (or wave scroll). Brattishing refers to the continuous embellishment around the top of a wall, common in the Gothic period. The diaper motif, an allover pattern of small repeated shapes, was also often used in this period. The use of strapwork (interlaced scrollwork), which originated with Islamic metalwork, is characteristic of Mannerist architecture and furniture.

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Ornamentation 

the embellishment of vocal and instrumental melodies. Originally, the embellishment of a melody with supplementary melodic figurations was introduced by a performer in the form of improvisation. Gradually, standard types of embellishments developed, which were indicated in the music by the composer himself. Ornamentation was developed particularly in French harpsichord music, where, to compensate for the quickly fading sounds characteristic of the harpsichord, embellishments served to prolong tones. A prominent role in the development of vocal ornamentation was played by Italian opera.

Short melodic embellishments are called melismata and include the Vorschlag, mordent, gruppetto, and trill. Melismata are denoted in the music by small notes or special signs. The most developed embellishments include melodic figuration, fioriture, virtuoso passaggi, and coloraturas.

REFERENCES

Iurovskii, A. [Introduction.] In the collection Frantsuzskaia klavesinnaia muzyka. Moscow, 1934.
Beyschlag, A. Die Ornamentik der Musik, 2nd ed. Leipzig, 1953.