Round

Round, short vocal composition in which all voice parts sing the same melody at the same pitch, but each part enters at a given number of beats after the previous voice so that the melody imitates itself. The round is thus a form of canon. Most rounds are circular canons; that is, they are written so that the piece can be repeated endlessly until the singers agree to stop. A catch is the 17th- and 18th-century English round, typically with a humorous or punning text.

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