Dictionary: A - B

A
@001 A\Note of the scale. A440 (440 cycles per second) is commonly used for

tuning the orchestra. Also, an analytical term for the first section of a piece.

@002 abend (Ger.)\Evening.

@003 abendlied (Ger.)\Evening song.

@004 absolute music\Music composed simply as music, with no references to

emotions, stories, paintings or any other non-musical subject.

@005 absolute pitch\Perfect pitch. The ability to recognize or recall any note.

@006 abstract music\Same as absolute music.

@007 accelerando (It.)\Getting gradually quicker.

@008 accent\Emphasizing a musical sound or note by playing it slightly louder.

@009 acciaccatura (It.)\A crushed dissonant note of the shortest possible

duration played before or after the main note or chord and immediately

released.

@010 accidental\In music notation, a temporary alteration to a particular note,

raising it or lowering from its normal pitch only to the bar in which the

accidental occurs. It is indicated by a sharp, flat, double sharp, double flat or

natural sign preceding a particular note.

@011 accompaniment\Harmonic or melodic support to the principal melody in

music. It is often made up of decorative or textural music, or sometimes

simple chords. The accompaniment often comes to the forefront of the music,

but its role is essentially to be supportive.

@012 acoustics\The sound qualities of a listening space, such as a concert hall or

theatre. The factors affecting acoustics have been studied by scientists and

engineers who have tried to document the variables that contribute to

satisfying sound for both the performing musicians and the audience. This

developing science, working with things such as the dimensions and

construction materials of a structure, has been used with varying success in

the design of new concert halls.

@013 adagio (It.)\Slow speed. Often used as the title of a slow movement in

Sonatas and similar pieces of music.

@014 a deux cordes (Fr.), a due corde (It.)\On two strings.

@015 ad lib\Play a passage with freedom as to rhythm and tempo.

@016 affettuoso (It.)\With feeling.

@017 agitato (It.)\Restless and wild.

@018 agogic\Used of deviations from the strict tempo and rhythm necessary for

the subtle performance of a musical phrase.

@019 air\A simple tune for voice or instrument.

@020 alberti bass\A keyboard moving figuration for the left hand using simple

arpeggio treatment of a series of chords. This was much used by 18th and

early 19th century composers.

@021 aleatoric music\Music containing chance or random elements. A trend

since 1945 with composers like John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

@022 al fine (It.)\To the end.

@023 alla (It.)\To the, at the, in the manner of.

@024 alla breve (It.)\Take the half note as the main unit, not the quarter note (e.g.

2/2 instead of 4/4).

@025 allargando (It.)\Getting broader.

@026 alla turca (It.)\In the Turkish style (e.g. Mozart's Rondo alla turca).

@027 alla zingarese (It.)\In the style of gypsy music.

@028 allegretto (It.)\Slower than allegro.

@029 allegro (It.)\Fast and lively.

@030 Allegro non troppo\Fast but not too fast.

@031 allemande (Fr.)\(1) A moderately slow dance movement often opening the

Baroque suite in 4/4 time. (2) A brisk dance in triple time current in the late

18th and early 19th centuries. A prototype of the waltz.

@032 antiphon (Gk.) \The plainsong setting of sacred words sung as responses in

Roman Catholic or Greek orthodox services. The term antiphonal derives from

the practice of alternating performances between sets of singers stationed

apart.

@033 appassionato (It.)\Impassioned.

@034 appoggiatura (It.) \A musical ornament (chiefly 18th century) of an

auxiliary note falling or rising to a harmonised note. It can be written or

unwritten.

@035 arabesque (Fr. and Eng.), arabeske (Ger.)\A short piece with decorative

qualities (e.g. Debussy, Arabesques).

@036 aria (It.)\Air or song for one or more voices found in opera and oratorio. A

da capo aria is one in which the first section is finally repeated after a

contrasting section.

@037 arietta (It.)\A little or light aria.

@038 arioso (It.)\Similar to an aria.

@039 arpeggio (It.)\A chord performed with the notes separated.

@040 arrangement\A re-write of an existing piece of music into a different style

or combination of instruments\voices.

@041 atonal\Music which is composed without reference to a key (e.g. major,

minor or modal). All the expected devices for musical composition, such as

melody, chords, rhythm, can be used. However, other methods of tonal

organization (including mathematical patterns) are used.

@042 attacca (It.)\Go on to the next section without a repeat.

@043 augmentation\The lengthening (e.g. doubling) of note time values. The

melody may be made of the same pitches, for example, but with longer time

values, has a different musical and emotional effect.

@044 ayre\A song for one or several voices in 17th century England.

B

@045 B\Note of the scale

@046 badinage or badinerie (Fr., 'playfulness')\This term was used as a title

movement in quick 2/4 time in the 18th century suite (e.g. Bach's Suite in B

minor for flute and strings.

@047 bagatelle (Fr., 'trifle')\Usually a short and light piano piece. Beethoven

wrote 26 (e.g. Fur Elise).

@048 ballad\A traditional solo song telling a story with music repeated for each

verse. In the l9th century the term came to mean a rather sentimental drawing-

room song. However, it may also be applied to a self-contained narrative song

(e.g. Schubert's Erlkonig or to operatic arias (e.g. Senta's Song from The

Flying Dutchman by Wagner. It describes a sentimental song in jazz.

@049 ballade\Chopin's term for a long, dramatic piano piece suggesting a story.

His Four Ballades are inspired by the poems of Mickiewicz. Brahms, Grieg,

Liszt and others later used the title.

@050 bar\The metrical division of music into groups of beats, and marked by

vertical barlines drawn across the musical staff. Also known as 'measure'. Its

main purposes are to indicate the placement of rhythmic emphasis and to be a

visual aid to musicians. A double bar (two vertical lines close together)

indicates the end of a piece, or section.

@051 barcarolle (Fr. from It.) \A song or piece of instrumental music in a

swaying 6/8 or 12/8 time associated with the Venetian gondoliers.

@052 baritone\Male voice between bass and tenor with a range of two octaves

from G (on bottom line bass clef) to G (above middle C). The term is also a

prefix for instruments indicating the range below the tenor type (e.g. baritone

saxophone.

@053 baroque\The musical period approximately between 1600 and 1750

encompassing composers such as Monteverdi, Frescobaldi and Gabrieli (early

baroque) and Bach and Handel (late baroque). It is characterized by elaborate

treatment of melody in polyphonic style.

@054 bass\Bass can refer to the lowest sounding male voice, or the largest bowed

string instrument. Generally, it refers to music written in the low range of

notes and notated in the Bass Clef. In piano music, this means the lower part

of the keyboard played by the left hand.

@055 basso (It., 'bass')\Basso cantanle describes a lyrical singing voice; basso

conlinuo is the same as continuo and basso ostinato is the same as ground

bass.

@056 berceuse (Fr., 'bercer' to rock) \An instrumental cradle song or lullaby in

compound duple time (e.g. Chopin's Berceuse).

@057 bergamasque (Fr.), bergamasca (It.), bergomask (Eng.) A peasant's dance

from Bergamo, north Italy, with 2 beats to the bar. Composers have used the

term in titles, (e.g. Debussy's Suite Bergamasque).

@058 binary form\A simple composition in two balanced sections. After

beginning in one key, the first section shifts to some other related key. The

second section, in the new key, then works its way back to the original key. If

the original key is a minor one, then the flrst section ends with the relative

major. Such compositions are usually short.

@059 bitonality\A 20th century concept of using two keys simultaneously,

evident in Stravinsky's music.

@060 bolero (Sp.)\A Spanish dance performed to the dancers' singing with

castanets in simple triple time.

@061 bourree (Fr.)\A popular fast dance of the 18th and l9th centuries. It began

with an upbeat, had two beats to the bar and was often found in dance suites.

@062 brace\The line with bracket joining two staves in piano music.

@063 bravura (It.)\A display of a musical passage requiring great virtuosity by the

performer.

@064 brillant (Fr.), brillante (It.)\Brilliant. Usually a direction for solo

performers.

@065 broken chord\A chord in which notes are sounded one after the other,

rather than all together.

@066 broken octaves\Alternate notes played an octave apart, frequently used in

piano music.