Definition
Imitation occurs when one voice repeats, at a short distance, an idea just presented by another voice. The voice that begins is called the proposta (dux, leader); the one that imitates is the risposta (comes, follower). Imitation is the principle common to canon and fugue, and in the Renaissance it is the basic technique of the motet (points of imitation).
Parameters of an imitation
- Interval: at the unison, at the octave, at the fifth (above or below), at the fourth, at other intervals.
- Distance: the entry delay (half a bar, one bar, several bars). The shorter it is, the closer the imitation (stretto-like).
- Duration: only the beginning (head) or the entire line.
- Fidelity: strict (exactly the same intervals, major and minor included) or tonal/diatonic (same scale degrees, qualities adapted).
- Transformation: direct, by contrary motion, retrograde, by augmentation, by diminution.
Types with examples in C
Subject: C D E C (quarter notes).
- At the octave: C3 D3 E3 C3 below.
- At the upper fifth (diatonic): G A B G.
- At the lower fourth: G2 A2 B2 G2.
- By contrary motion (inverted around C): C B A C.
- Retrograde: C E D C.
- By augmentation (doubled values): C D E C in half notes.
- By diminution (halved values): C D E C in eighth notes.
- Free: only the rhythm or only the contour (up, up, down) is imitated.
Strict and free imitation
- Strict (real): identical intervals, qualities included (a major third stays major). Apart from the unison and the octave, it often requires accidentals.
- Diatonic (tonal): same degrees in the scale of the mode; it is the form most used in polyphony and inventions.
- Free: the head is imitated, then the answer continues independently. Zarlino distinguishes the fuga legata (integral imitation, that is, canon) from the fuga sciolta (imitation of the opening part only).
The Renaissance point of imitation
In the motet each phrase of the text receives a motif; the voices enter one after another imitating it (often alternating finalis and fifth), then the phrase closes with a cadence and a new point begins. Fux teaches imitation with this model: short subject, entries at the fifth and octave, then free counterpoint.
Rules for writing a correct imitation
- Write the subject and check that the answer, superimposed on the continuation of the subject, forms a correct counterpoint (rules first: consonances on the strong beats).
- The closer the entry, the simpler the subject must be (stepwise, long values).
- At the fifth, check the semitone: in C the subject B–C, imitated at the upper fifth, becomes F#–G (real imitation) or F–G (diatonic imitation). The choice changes the color and the perceived key.
- For contrary motion use an axis that preserves the scale (see the entry on mirror counterpoint).
Typical errors
- Imitation so free that it is unrecognizable.
- Entries too close with a subject rich in leaps: unavoidable parallel fifths arise.
- A subject that ends on the strong beat where the answer enters, covering it.
Modern application
- Pop: call and response between voice and instrument, or between two voices, is a free imitation; imitating the head of the chorus on a synth one bar later creates a composed echo, richer than a simple delay because it can change interval.
- Soundtracks: imitative entries of strings from low to high (bass, viola, violin) build natural crescendos.
- Choirs: the point of imitation is the simplest way to give a long text room to breathe: each section enters with the same words staggered.
Related topics
Canon and imitation, types of canon, fugue, two-part invention, call and response, mass and motet.