Sequence

DEFINITION

A style of chant used in the Medieval Church. It was usually syllabic, and the text, which was in Latin, was wide-ranging and extensive. A progression of chords which ends in a cadence. A restatement of an idea or motif at a different pitch level from the original.(1) a syllabic genre which follows the Alleluia in the mass. Both text and music were newly composed. The typical sequence has a deliberately irreglar structure, in which a series of couplets of various lengths are combined. Musically, this structure can be summarized as a b b c c d d... The presence of internal subdivisions within each line and the tendency towards motivic unity normally complicate the structure, and some sequences dispense with the couplet structure altogether. Most sequences were banned by the Council of Trent (1545-63), and only five survive in modern-day practice. (2) a melodic pattern that is repeated at successively higher (or successively lower) pitches. Repetition of a melody at a different pitch.<br><br> A playing of musical events, such as pitches, sounding of samples, and rests, automatically by some device, in a step by step order. Also refers to the action of programming a computer to play musical events, automatically, in a stepped order.