reharmonization means the process of reharmonizing a musical work; a musical work made by reharmonizing another work. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “reharmonization” is a great word
REHARMONIZATION — [Noun] The process or result of altering the chord progression that accompanies a melody while keeping the melody itself essentially unchanged. From the English prefix re- ("again, anew") + harmonization (the process of providing chords for a melody), itself from harmony (the combination of simultaneously sounded musical notes). Unlike "arrangement," which can broadly adapt instrumentation and form, or "transposition," which merely shifts a piece to another key, reharmonization is a surgical act of harmonic reinterpretation. It is the standard ballad rendered in bitter, complex jazz chords; the simple folk song given a haunting modal shadow; the commercial jingle twisted into a melancholy dirge—a quiet proof that the same path can be walked under a completely different sky.
Etymology
From re- + harmonization.
noun
- The process of reharmonizing a musical work; a musical work made by reharmonizing another work.“Some of what “River” accomplishes as a jazz record is serious indeed. Mr. Hancock’s version of Duke Ellington’s “Solitude” is the modern jazz process itself: a complete reharmonization of a familiar song, with rhythm that keeps vanishing and reappearing.”