CELL (MUSIC)

In music a 'cell' is similar to a figure or motif.
The 1957 ''Encyclopédie Larousse'' defines a cell as follows:

★ "a small rhythmic and melodic design that can be isolated, or can make up one part of a thematic context. A cell can be developed independent of its context, as a melodic fragment. It can be the source for the whole structure of the work; in that case it is called a generative cell."
The 1958 ''Encyclopédie Fasquelle'' defines a cell as follows:

★ "a term in musical composition, used to discuss cyclic works. It is the smallest indivisible unit; the cell is distinct from the motif, which can be divided; the cell can, itself, be used as a developmental motif."

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Source

Source

★ Nattiez, Jean-Jacques (1990). ''Music and Discourse: Toward a Semiology of Music'' (''Musicologie générale et sémiologue'', 1987). Translated by Carolyn Abbate (1990). ISBN 0-691-02714-5.

★
★ (1958). ''Encyclopédie Fasquelle''.