GYMEL

(from Latin cantus gemellus, twin song), medieval musical style of two-part polyphonic composition, possibly of popular origin, in which the voices move mainly in consecutive intervals of a third or a sixth. Crossing of parts is a common characteristic. Although gymel compositions have been preserved in manuscripts dating from the beginning of the 13th century, the name itself is first found in a detailed description of the style by the 15th-century theoretician Guilielmus Monachus. Gymel seems to have been favoured in England during the 13th century, preceding English descant (q.v.) and thus leaving its mark on the development of English polyphony. In late 15th- and early 16th-century English choral music, the word gymel denotes a duo, as well as the splitting of a part into two parts.