so·nor·i·ty
| \ sə-ˈnȯr-ə-tē
, -ˈnär- \
, -ˈnär- \
plural sonorities
Definition of sonority
Examples of sonority in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The smooth melodic contour and noble warmth of this sonority is an Elgar fingerprint.
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Barrymore Laurence Scherer, WSJ, "A Joyful Song of Proud Tradition," 4 Sep. 2020
Though there is plenty of content, the manipulation of sonorities drives the music.
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New York Times, "Review: 19 Female Composers Start to Mark a Century of Suffrage," 6 Feb. 2020
Throughout, three sopranos (Eliza Bagg, Martha Cluver and Estelí Gomez) sing wordless lyrical fragments and soft sonorities, lending an eerily angelic touch.
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New York Times, "Review: At the Philharmonic, New Music for a Changing World," 21 Feb. 2020
Bent and sliding pitches, other worldly textures and novel sonorities have been central to her musical vocabularies, elements of East and West intermingling in compelling ways.
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Howard Reich, chicagotribune.com, "Chicago composer Wang Lu links cultures through music with ‘Code Switch’," 30 Sep. 2019
Conductor Storgards deserves credit for bringing forth the textural lucidity of what followed, ensuring that the winds, for instance, were unmistakably distinct from the rest of the orchestral sonority.
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Howard Reich, chicagotribune.com, "CSO review: A dynamic debut from violinist Ray Chen," 6 Dec. 2019
Salonen elicited eerily beautiful sonorities from Weill’s strange orchestration—for example, a slow-motion, proto-minimalist shimmer of winds in the third movement.
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Alex Ross, The New Yorker, "The L.A. Philharmonic Revisits the Weimar Republic," 9 Mar. 2020
Throughout, the 13-minute work impressed with deft part writing and handling of sonorities.
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Scott Cantrell, Dallas News, "Exciting singing — maybe too consistently so — from the Santa Fe Desert Chorale," 2 Mar. 2020
Elements of atonality and sturdy diatonic harmony and moments of fleeting lyricism and blazing sonorities often merge or clash.
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New York Times, "Christopher Rouse, Composer of Rage and Delicacy, Dies at 70," 23 Sep. 2019
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sonority.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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“Sonority.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sonority. Accessed 14 May. 2021.
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Time Traveler for sonority
The first known use of sonority was circa 1623
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