Question

quodlibet noun "Whatever." Try to get philosophical nowadays and that may be the response you hear. We don't know if someone quibbling over a minor philosophical or theological point 600 years ago might have gotten a similar reaction, but we do know that Latin quodlibet, meaning "any whatever," was the name given to such academic debates. Quodlibet is a form of quilibet, from qui, meaning "what," and libet, meaning "it pleases." We can't say with certainty how quodlibet went from disputations to musical conglomerations, but English speakers have been using quodlibet for light musical mélanges since the early 19th century. 1 : a philosophical or theological point proposed for disputation; also : a disputation on such a point2 : a whimsical combination of familiar melodies or texts

Accepted Answer

September 3, 2016 KWAHD-luh-bet "In Part II the orchestral interlude is Happy Voices, which Del Tredici took in punning fashion and created a raucous fugue followed by a 'quodlibet' of all the tunes from the piece." — Vance R. Koven, The Boston Musical Intelligencer, 27 Mar. 2016"Of the many musicals I've attended in recent years, among the most enjoyable and perhaps the funniest was Monty Python's Spamalot. The music cues come fast and furious, and in all varieties, from classical quodlibets to Spike Jones-like punctuations—a true challenge for the music director to keep up and maintain the comic timing." — Joseph Church, OUPBlog, 15 Feb. 2015

Word	quodlibet
Date	September 3, 2016
Type	noun
Syllables	KWAHD-luh-bet
Etymology	"Whatever." Try to get philosophical nowadays and that may be the response you hear. We don't know if someone quibbling over a minor philosophical or theological point 600 years ago might have gotten a similar reaction, but we do know that Latin quodlibet, meaning "any whatever," was the name given to such academic debates. Quodlibet is a form of quilibet, from qui, meaning "what," and libet, meaning "it pleases." We can't say with certainty how quodlibet went from disputations to musical conglomerations, but English speakers have been using quodlibet for light musical mélanges since the early 19th century.
Examples	"In Part II the orchestral interlude is Happy Voices, which Del Tredici took in punning fashion and created a raucous fugue followed by a 'quodlibet' of all the tunes from the piece." — Vance R. Koven, The Boston Musical Intelligencer, 27 Mar. 2016 "Of the many musicals I've attended in recent years, among the most enjoyable and perhaps the funniest was Monty Python's Spamalot. The music cues come fast and furious, and in all varieties, from classical quodlibets to Spike Jones-like punctuations—a true challenge for the music director to keep up and maintain the comic timing." — Joseph Church, OUPBlog, 15 Feb. 2015
Definition	1 : a philosophical or theological point proposed for disputation; also : a disputation on such a point 2 : a whimsical combination of familiar melodies or texts

Quodlibet Philosophical Point Meaning Musical Theological Music September