Antiphonals

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of musical composition designed for alternating choirs or voices that perform in response to each other
2. Reflecting the concept of liturgical singing where one group responds to another within a religious context
3. Involving part-singing or choral works where voices interact in a call-and-response format, typically in a sacred or ceremonial setting

Etymology: "Antiphonals" is the plural of "antiphonal," which describes singing in which two groups answer each other, or in which a single voice and a chorus trade lines. The adjective comes from "antiphon," a sung response, and that word reaches back to Greek "antiphōnos," meaning "answering" or "sounding in response," built from "anti," "against" or "in return," and "phōnē," "voice" or "sound." The sense of opposition in "anti" here is one of exchange rather than hostility: the voices answer one another across the space. The plural form is the one that often appears in the plural names of books. Medieval churches kept large books of chant, and the collections containing the call-and-response pieces were known as antiphonals, so the noun came to name the volumes themselves as well as the style of singing.