Music consisting of two or more independent but harmonious melodies.
Example:
At concerts she preferred Mahler and Beethoven, but when she was working she listened only to Renaissance polyphony.
Polyphony is usually avoided in American folk and popular music, which almost always employs a strong melody with a much less important accompaniment. But it is typical of Dixieland, bluegrass, and almost any kind of music where more than one musician improvises at once. Polyphony is used primarily for music of the Renaissance and Baroque eras from about 1400 to 1750; J.S. Bach is the most famous master of polyphony.