# Mirror canon

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mirror_canon
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mirror_canon.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_canon
> Source revision: 1280409984
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

[[File:Mirror canon.png|thumb|Mirror canon<ref>[Riemann, Hugo](/source/Hugo_Riemann) (1904). ''Text-book of Simple and Double Counterpoint Including Imitation or Canon'', p. 185. Breitkopf & Härtel.</ref>File:Mirror canon.mid]]

The '''mirror canon''' (also called a '''canon by contrary motion''') is a type of [canon](/source/canon_(music)) which involves the leading voice being played alongside its own [inversion](/source/Melodic_inversion) (i.e. upside-down). The realisation from the 'closed' (unrealised) form can be affected by placing the page in front of a mirror, thus upside down, and beginning with the already progressing first voice.

The Canon a 2 'Quaerendo invenietis' from [J. S. Bach](/source/Johann_Sebastian_Bach)'s ''[The Musical Offering](/source/The_Musical_Offering)'', BWV 1079, is a fine example of the process. In its original closed form, the [alto clef](/source/alto_clef) and an upside-down [bass clef](/source/bass_clef) indicate both the mirror procedure and the appropriate pitches of the voices for the purpose of realisation.<ref>Boyd, Malcolm. ''Oxford Composer Companions: J.S. Bach'', Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 296.</ref>
[[File:Bach Canon a 2 'Quaerendo invenietis' from the Musical Offering.png|thumb|center|500px|Bach: Canon a 2 'Quaerendo invenietis' from the ''Musical Offering''File:Bach Canon a 2 'Quaerendo invenietis' from the Musical Offering.wav]]

A spectacular example of [contrapuntal](/source/counterpoint) ingenuity can be found in the [double canon](/source/Double_canon_(music)) that forms the [trio](/source/Minuet) section of [Mozart](/source/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart)'s [Serenade for Wind Octet in C, K. 388](/source/Serenade_No._12_(Mozart)). Here a pair of [oboe](/source/oboe)s and a pair of [bassoon](/source/bassoon)s unfold two mirror canons at the same time. [Erik Smith](/source/Erik_Smith) sees this as "a perfect example of Mozart's use of academic means, canon, inverted canon and mirror canon, to a purely musical and emotional end".<ref name=Smith>[Smith, E.](/source/Erik_Smith) (1982) ''Mozart Serenades, Divertimenti and Dances'', p. 39. London, BBC</ref> Smith compares the mirror canons here to "the visual image of two swans reflected in the still water."<ref name=Smith />
[[File:Mozart Trio from Wind Serenade K388.png|thumb|center|500px|Mozart: Trio from Wind Serenade K. 389File:Mozart Trio from Wind Serenade K388.wav]]

[Anton Webern](/source/Anton_Webern) made much use of mirror canons in his later works. According to [Richard Taruskin](/source/Richard_Taruskin), the first [movement](/source/movement_(music)) of Webern's [Symphony](/source/Symphony_(Webern)), Op. 21 (1927–1928) "consists of three elaborately worked out double canons that pit two prime forms against two inversions". The texture of the first movement unfolds through constantly changing orchestration (see ''[Klangfarbenmelodie](/source/Klangfarbenmelodie)''), that leads Taruskin to conclude that "Webern was not interested in having his canons perceived by the listener as coherent lines. Instead they are absorbed into a kaleidoscopically fragmented texture that has often been compared to a painterly technique known as pointillism.”<ref>[Taruskin, R.](/source/Richard_Taruskin) (2010). ''The Oxford History of Western Music: Music in the Early Twentieth Century'', pp. 728, 731. Oxford University Press.</ref><ref>{{YouTube|dlpYYhJFXEM|Anton Webern – Symphony Op. 21 (audio)}}, [Berlin Philharmonic](/source/Berlin_Philharmonic), [Pierre Boulez](/source/Pierre_Boulez)</ref>

== See also ==
*[Mirror fugue](/source/Mirror_fugue)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Portal bar|Classical music}}
Category:Polyphonic form
Category:Canon (music)

{{music-genre-stub}}

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mirror canon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_canon) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_canon?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.