An octave is a stanza made up of eight lines of eleven syllables.
Octave is a notion that can be used to name each part that makes up a whole divided into eight portions or segments : “According to the contract, you are entitled to one eighth of the proceeds from the sales,” “One eighth of the land will be allocated to the sowing of wheat .
Before moving forward, we must establish the etymological origin of the term. In this sense, we can determine that it derives from Latin, more precisely from the word octavus , which can be translated as “he who has the position that follows the seventh.”
Generally, whether feminine (octave) or masculine (eighth), it is an ordinal numeral adjective that qualifies what happens to the seventh in a certain order : “The eighth edition of the literary contest was a great success” , “The team finished eighth in the standings, behind France” , “This is the eighth day in which we do not have electricity” .
The eighth in literature
In the field of literature , an octave is the stanza composed of 8 lines of eleven syllables (that is, hendecasyllables). This combination of verses follows a certain scheme regarding rhymes, which are consonants. The concept, however, can also be used to name any combination that has 8 verses.
In this sense, we cannot ignore the existence of what is known as the real octave. This is the term used to refer to a stanza of eight lines of eleven syllables each that also has three consonant rhymes. In this case, it must be noted that the last two rhyme with each other and the first six follow this structure: 11A 11B 11A 11B 11A 11B.
There are various authors who cultivated this type of octave throughout their careers. This would be the case, for example, of the Spanish Garcilaso de la Vega (1498 – 1536) and the Renaissance artists Ludovico Ariosto (1474 – 1533) or Torquato Tasso (1544 – 1595).
The notion in other areas
It should not be overlooked either that within the religious sphere the term octave is also used. Specifically, this is used to refer to the period of eight days during which the Church is in charge of celebrating some important event.
Likewise, we must not forget the existence of a media that responds to the name “Octava Digital” . It is an online publication that compiles and reports on all the events and news that occur in relation to the Aragonese population of Utebo .
The notion of octave is used in music.
Octave in music
The idea of octave is also used in music . It may be the interval that exists between a pair of sounds that have frequencies that maintain a 2-1 link. If a sound has a fundamental frequency of 2640 Hz, it will be found one octave higher than one whose frequency is 1320 Hz.
The Western musical scale includes seven different levels in terms of tone and semitone. The series that covers all the notes (from C to B ) and that includes the repetition of the first note ( C ) is also called the octave.