word painting
Sound depicts meaning
Word painting is a compositional technique in vocal music where the melody, rhythm, or harmony mimics the literal meaning of the lyrics.
A phrase about ascending might rise in pitch; words about running might quicken in tempo.
The technique dates to Renaissance madrigals but appears throughout Western music: The composer used word painting when the choir sang "falling" on a descending scale.
Portraying with specific details
- vividIntensely clear and bright
- sensoryRelated to perception
- evocativeTending to summon memories
- pictorialRelating to pictures
scenic · atmospheric · lyrical · poetic · figurative · metaphorical · impressionistic · painterly
Executed via software logic
- descriptivePortraying with specific details
- illustrativeServing to explain
- mimeticRelating to imitation
- onomatopoeiaSound-imitating word formation
Baroque · Renaissance · choral · vocal · compositional · Monteverdi · Handel · Bach
Of countryside or clergy care
- stormSevere atmospheric disturbance
- birdsongAvian musical vocalizations
- thunderStorm's acoustic aftermath
- flowingMoving continuously onward
ascending · descending · rippling · galloping · sighing · weeping · laughter · battle
Sound-to-color perception
- multisensoryInvolving several perception modes
- perceptionMental interpretation of stimuli
- associativeConnecting by relationship
- visualizationForming mental or graphical images
Painter's stroke method
- coloristicRelating to hue qualities
- tonalRelating to pitch
- dynamicActive and changing
- crescendoGradual increase in loudness
decrescendo · tremolo · pizzicato · glissando · orchestration · instrumentation · timbre · texture
descriptive
Portraying with specific details
pictorial · scenic · atmospheric · lyrical · poetic · figurative · metaphorical · impressionistic · painterly · rendering
programmatic
Executed via software logic
- descriptivePortraying with specific details
- illustrativeServing to explain
- mimeticRelating to imitation
onomatopoeia · Baroque · Renaissance · choral · vocal · compositional · Monteverdi · Handel · Bach · Vivaldi
pastoral
Of countryside or clergy care
- stormSevere atmospheric disturbance
- birdsongAvian musical vocalizations
- thunderStorm's acoustic aftermath
flowing · ascending · descending · rippling · galloping · sighing · weeping · laughter · battle · nature
chromesthesia
Sound-to-color perception
- multisensoryInvolving several perception modes
- perceptionMental interpretation of stimuli
- associativeConnecting by relationship
brushwork
Painter's stroke method
- coloristicRelating to hue qualities
- tonalRelating to pitch
- dynamicActive and changing
crescendo · decrescendo · tremolo · pizzicato · glissando · orchestration · instrumentation · timbre · texture · register
- literary devicesmetaphor, simile, hyperbole, personification, alliteration
- poetry termspoetry, rhyme, verse, rhythm, meter
- descriptive languagedescriptive writing, vivid language, vivid detail, sensory language, sensory detail
- descriptive writingdescription, descriptive writing, imagery, sensory details, visual imagery
- imageryvisual imagery, metaphor, symbolism, allegory, sensory detail
- word-picturesimagery, mental picture, visual language, evocation
word paintingabstract expressionism
Nonrepresentational art emphasizing spontaneous emotion
word, paint, painting, portrait, painted, painter, wording, wordy, illustration