Rhapsody

Meaning: (Derived literally from the common word Rhapsody, Musical Composition, The name is usually chosen for its association with music. It is a style of instrumental music that has inspired composers since the 1800’s. The word “Rhapsody” originally referred to an epic poem intended to be recited, such as Homer’s “Odyssey”. In ancient Greece, such literature would be recited by a “Rhapsodios”, whose name was a hybrid of “Rhaptein” (to stitch) and “Oide” (song).

By the Romantic era in the 19^th Century, the word’s associations with poetry in a relatively unrestrained style led to “Rhapsody” being used to describe a musical composition, usually in one movement and with no fixed structure. Czech composer Vaclav Tomasek was the first to use the term musically, applying it to a set of piano pieces he wrote in around 1810. Franz Liszt did the most to popularize the label, however, composing some 19 folk-influenced “Hungarian Rhapsodies” between 1846 and 1885.

As the Romantic era faded and the 20^th Century dawned, composers continued to write increasingly loosely structured rhapsodies for solo instruments, chamber ensembles and orchestras, enjoying the freedom to paint musically in different shades, evoking strong emotion and conjuring colorful imagery.

Because of the rhapsody’s liberated, almost spontaneous character, there are no absolute requirements for the style. George Gershwin used a jazz band as the medium for his “Rhapsody in Blue” (1924) Sergei Rachmaninov’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (1934) also could be described as a piano concerto and the British band Queen named its greatest rock hit “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975).

It was made known by the British science fiction TV series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967-1968), in which the five female pilots were codenamed Rhapsody, Symphony, Harmony, Destiny, and Melody.)

Origin: (English, French)

Pronunciation: (RAP-suh-dee, RAEPSahD-iy, raeps-uh-dee)

Gender: Female

I have added this name to my Favorite Female Names List on the right side of this blog. I forget what made me think to add this but I absolutely love it as a name. It is beautiful and musical. “Composers continued to write increasingly loosely structured rhapsodies for solo instruments, chamber ensembles and orchestras, enjoying the freedom to paint musically in different shades, evoking strong emotion and conjuring colorful imagery.” So I could see a person in the real world or a character with this name being very free and slightly flippant, being fun and light hearted, sweet and sassy, layed back but not a push over. In short I could see a very artistic person being named this.

If you don’t believe people name real life kids this I found on www.babynamewizard.com that a few people talked about having named their daughters this. They seemed to have mostly stuck with more common middle names so as to not, I think, come off too flamboyant.

I love this name so much that I wish I had the courage to say if I ever have a daughter in the future I would name her Rhapsody, but I really don’t think anyone in my family would care for it. They tend to not agree with my naming style. But if is should still love it in the future when I am married and have a child I might try to persuade my future husband to allow me to name our future daughter Rhapsody.

I also found it cool that it was one of the names that was made known by the British science fiction TV series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967-1968), in which the five female pilots were codenamed Rhapsody, Symphony, Harmony, Destiny, and Melody *see on list of posts, except Destiny which isn’t on this blog*. I had never heard of the show so I looked it up. They used marionettes but I think it would be cool if remade now into a live human cast TV Series, because it sounds pretty cool.