riddle canon
- noun
- Specialized
:
canon enigma
- The composer's riddle canon challenged musicians to decipher when to enter using only visual clues.
Examples
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One of the most famous Renaissance riddle canons uses a rebus to hide its solution.
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Performers often enjoyed unraveling the mysteries hidden in a riddle canon during rehearsals.
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The riddle canon intrigued many musicians in the Renaissance.
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Can you explain the concept of a riddle canon?
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One of the most intriguing aspects of a riddle canon is that performers must interpret cryptic symbols to determine their entry timing.
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During the Renaissance, many composers created riddle canons that encouraged musicians to solve puzzles as they played.
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In a riddle canon, musicians enjoyed the challenge of deciphering the hidden clues that dictated when they should come in.
Synonyms
A musical puzzle that uses hidden signs to make the same tune begin again
A musical piece where each voice starts at a time shown by puzzle signs
A musical piece where the voices follow hidden instructions written as riddles
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is transparently compositional: 'riddle' (a puzzle) modifies 'canon' (a imitative musical piece), so a learner who knows both words can infer it is a type of canon that involves riddles or puzzles. While the historical detail about cryptic timing cues is specialized, the core meaning (a canon characterized by riddles) follows normal noun+noun compounding and is directly derivable from the constituents.
Etymology
The noun riddle canon comes from old music where composers hid small puzzles in the written music. Performers had to 'solve' these puzzles to know when each singer or player should start, so the phrase means a canon that is also a riddle.
