Coloration (melodic embellishment)
Improvised embellishment of a melody with figurative ornaments, especially in 15th- and 16th-century organ arrangements.
What it means
Coloration, from the German kolorieren, describes the practice of embellishing a given melody with rapid passing notes, neighbour notes and decorative figures without altering its melodic core. The underlying voice, such as a chorale melody or cantus firmus, remains recognisable but is played around with runs and figuration.
Musical use
The technique was especially common in 15th- and 16th-century organ music, in intabulations and chorale settings where the long note values of a model were broken up into florid, colored runs. It is related to the diminution technique of the 16th and 17th centuries, which likewise resolves longer note values into shorter decorative figures; coloration leans more toward free, keyboard-idiomatic ornamenting of a model than toward systematic rhythmic subdivision.
Performance practice
When studying historical colorations or improvising your own, keep the underlying melody in your ear — the ornamentation should bring the tune out, not bury it.