Echo

The reflection in music

Everyone knows an echo: you call, and a little later the same comes back more softly. Music imitates this. A phrase sounds first at normal loudness, then repeats more softly, often with the word “Echo” in the score. The notes stay the same; only the loudness and sometimes the tone colour change. On instruments with two manuals, such as the organ or harpsichord, players often change manuals for the echo.

Echo and terraced dynamics

In an echo the loudness jumps from one level to the other, without transition. That is why it is a simple case of terraced dynamics. Unlike a crescendo, the loudness does not glide. Musically the echo creates space: you hear that the phrase sounds “farther away”, although nobody has moved away.

Echo and canon

A canon repeats a melody in another voice after a delay, but at the same loudness. The echo, by contrast, usually repeats in the same voice, directly afterwards, and more softly. Both play with repetition, but the echo depends on the change of loudness.

Common mistakes

• Playing the echo too loudly: It should be clearly softer than the original.
• Phrasing the echo differently: It keeps the notes, rhythm and accents of the phrase, even if it shortens it.
• Putting a pause before the echo: It follows the phrase immediately.