# General term for "similarities between different works" / patterns within a work etc?



## YusufeVirdayyLmao

*General term for "similarities between different works" / patterns within a work etc?*

(This question is more about the "tracking influences and patterns through history" kind of analysis rather than harmony/rhythm/etc., so I'm not _entirely_ sure if this question fits into this subforum - however it seemed like the most fitting one on the list.)

If you find a similar/identical phrase in 2 unrelated works by 2 different composers, or some other similar element (could be anything as large as structure or climactic arc etc.), and don't know yet whether this is:

1) a singular, individual case of imitation, that could be anything from a "reference", to "homage", or "allusion", to plagiarism / rip-off, to a creative thing like "influence", the idea of using that element in a new context, or in an altered form, etc.;

1a) possibly a coincidence of some kind - in which case one would be interested in trying to "explain" such a coincidence in some way or another;

2) not an individual resemblance, but rather just two examples of a common element found in many works (of this genre or broader) - obviously with lots more examples to be found if you keep looking;

or various combinations like "it's a common trope, but was also a direct imitation of that particular earlier example", or the entire later work turning out to be a pastiche with many such references, etc.;

is there like an established term used for such a finding? A general term that encompasses "homage", "plagiarism", "pastiche", "trope" as its subtypes, and is particularly useful when you've just found it and have no idea which of those it might be?

Or, alternatively/additionally, a term that only refers to individual similarities between 2+ works, but no longer applies to "tropes" and common widespread stylistic features?

_______

Same question about similarities found within a composer's output, or, within a particular work or series - you find the same phrase in 2 spots of the work (or the composer's general output), and don't know yet if it's a specific "callback", or a "self-reference", or a "reprise", or maybe a case of "self-plagiarism" and "creative bankruptcy", etc.;
or whether this might just be the tip of a larger iceberg consisting of many more iterations of this phrase (or its altered forms etc.) found throughout the piece - which then would make it a "theme" or "leitmotif", and so on;

so if you then keep looking and identify it as being one of those, you can call it a "reprise" or "leitmotif" and so on - however after just having found it, and having no idea what you might discover further down the line, is there a term/category that you can use for this finding?

Possibly something less generic/opaque than "similarity" or "pattern", but essentially something to that effect?

I've been browsing around Wikipedia and its various pages on homage, pastiche, imitation etc., but haven't really found any such encompassing term yet - and I'm not even sure whether one exists at all lol.
Anything from an "academic" term to some other coined on internet forums or whatnot, would do;
one that possibly refers to not just music but other artforms as well (although I can't really be picky at this stage lol).

The main reason I'm currently looking for such a term, is because I'm planning to make some contributions to AllTheTropes.org (the TVTropes fork/off-shoot that is) via adding new findings/entries (mostly along the lines described above), as well as trying to improve the site's structure and organization in certain places (again, primarily the areas revolving around a work's internal patterns, as well as connections to other works that don't amount to more widely used "tropes", at least to my current knowledge);

and at the start of all that, before really doing anything, I'd have to create probably at least 2 new subpages for "similarities to other works (that aren't tropes yet)" and "internal patterns/structure", in which I'd then enter new findings - and under which I'd try/suggest to sum up already existing subpages like "Shout Out" or "Leitmotif", as well as various related "tropes" currently scattered around the alphabetic main list like "Call Back", "Dark Reprise", and various others.

So with all that detail aside (mostly for those here already familiar with that site obviously lol), I'm basically just looking for a good name for either of those new subpages - and can't come up with anything that isn't either too long and clunky, or too short and non-descriptive;
so something like an already established term used in comparable academic (or other) research&analysis would be great for that.

So does anyone know whether such a term/terms exist(s), and if yes, what those are?

(And, as an additional question, whether any other (wiki-esque) online sites exist that also document such patterns and connections - maybe sth like a project by universities/students/academics to convert that kind of information into a more "searchable" digital format?
Could be open to public contributions, or closed / heavily moderated etc., either way it'd be interesting.)


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## Bwv 1080

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galant_Schemata

http://openmusictheory.com/schemataSummary.html


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