@344 ma (It.)\(1) But; (2) Abbreviation of the major scale.
@345 madrigal\A secular, polyphonic, unaccompanied vocal composition
set to
poems for several parts, mainly cultivated in the 16th and 17th
centuries.
Italian writers of this time included Gabrieli and Palestrina (16th
century).
Monteverdi and Marenzio wrote in the later highly stylised manner of
the
17th century. English writers included Morley and YVeelkes.
@346 maestoso (It.)\Majestic, dignified.
@347 maestro (It., 'master')\This title was given to well-known
conductors and
composers in Italy.
It is now used (sometimes rather amusingly) elsewhere.
@348 maggiore (It.)\Major.
@349 maj\Abbreviation of the major scale.
@350 major, minor\These are the two main scales of the western tonal
system.
The major key is based on the major scale and the minor key is based on
the
minor scale. The minor scale breaks into three variations: harmonic,
melodic
and natural. These terms also refer to chords and intervals being built
out of
the major or minor scale.
@351 mal (Ger.)\Time.
@352 malaguena (Sp.)\An Andalusian dance, originating in Malaga, marked by
singing. This term also describes an instrumental piece of similar
nature.
@353 malinconia (It.)\Melancholy.
@354 marcato (It.)\Marked, emphatic.
@355 march\A marching piece either slow (4/4 time) or quick (2/4 or 6/8
time).
@356 marche
(Fr.)\March.
@357 marcia (It.)\March. Alla marcia, in a march-like style.
@358 marziale (It.)\Martial.
@359 masque\Aristocratic, elaborate English stage entertainment chiefly
cultivated in the 17th century and involving poetry, dancing, scenery,
costumes, instrumental and vocal music. The masque was related to opera
and
ballet.
@360 mass\This is the main service of the Roman Catholic Church which
has
been set to music by composers including Bach, Mozart and Haydn.
@361 mattinata (It. )\Morning song.
@362 mazurka\A Polish folk dance in moderate to fast 3/4 or 3/8 time.
Adapted
and stylised by Chopin.
@363 md\Instruction to play with the right hand in piano playing.
Abbreviations
of main droite (Fr.) and mano destra (It.).
@364 mediant\A name for the third degree of the scale (e.g. E is in the
mediant in
C major). The mediant is so-called because it stands between the tonic
and
dominant.
@365 melisma (Gk., ' song'; plural melismata)\Describes a group of
notes sung to
the same syllable. However, the term is also applied to any florid
vocal
passage of improvisatory or cadenza-like nature.
@366 melodic minor\One of the three types of minor scale.
@367 melodie (Fr.)\I) Melody. (2) Song.
@368 melodrama\In musical contexts, this term refers to the dramatic
use of the
spoken word against a musical background. This style may be used
throughout an entire work or just as part of a work.
@369 meno (It.)\Less.
@370 Meno mosso\slower.
@371 menuet (Fr.), menuett (Ger.)\Same as minuet.
@372 menuetto\Term used by German composers who believed it to be
Italian for
minuet. The Italian for minuet is minuetto.
@373 messa di voce (It.)\The steady increasing and decreasing of volume
on one
long held note in singing.
@374 messe (Fr. and Ger.)\Same
as mass.
@375 mesto (It.)\Sad.
@376 meta (It.)\Half.
@377 metamorphosis of themes\Liszt's term for leitmotif, the recurring
and
development of themes symbolising a character, emotion, object, idea,
etc.
@378 metre\This is indicated by a time signature dividing up the music
into
regularly occurring accents (e.g. 3/4 time means that the basic note
values are
quarter notes and that every third one is accented).
@379 mezzo (It., 'half')\Mezzo-soprano, female voice midway between a
soprano
and contralto range.
@380 Mezzo forte\Midway between loud and soft and abbreviated mf.
@381 Mezza voce\With a moderate tone.
@382 MG\Instruction to play with the left hand in piano playing.
Abbreviation of
main gauche (Fr.).
@383 mi\Abbreviation of the minor scale.
@384 microtone\An interval smaller than a semitone, evident in some
modern
compositions.
@385 min\Abbreviation of the minor scale.
@386 minacciando (It.)\Threatening.
@387 minor\Opposite of major. Applied to scales, keys, chords and
intervals.
@388 minuet (Eng.),
minuetto (It.)\A moderately fast French dance of rustic
origin in 3/4 time but rising to court and becoming fashionable in the
18th
century. The minuet is the standard third movement in the classical
sonata,
symphony, string quartet, etc., developing later into the scherzo with
Beethoven. Form is A A B A.
@389 mirror\This term is sometimes attached to a fugue or canon to
describe two
or more parts appearing simultaneously, with one the correct way up and
the
other upside down, as if a mirror had been placed between them.
@390 missa (Lat.)\Mass.
@391 missa brevis (Lat.)\(I) A short concise musical setting of the
mass. (2) A
setting of the Kyrie and Gloria only.
@392 Missa solemnis\High Mass.
@393 misura (It.)\A measure. Senza misura, not in strict time.
@394 mit (Ger.)\With.
@395 mixed chorus, mixed voices\mixed chorus, mixed voices A body of
singers
including both adult male and female voices.
@396 mixolydian mode\A mode represented on the white notes of the piano
from
G to G.
@397 moderato (It.)\At a moderate pace. This term is used in other
tempos (e.g.
allegro moderato, implying a moderately fast pace).
@398 modes\Sets of eight-note scales inherited from ancient Greece via the
Middle Ages in which they were most prevalent, although they still
survive
today in plainsong and folk music. At the end of the 17th century the
modes
had been reduced to two scales, major and minor, which we know today.
Here
are the modes which may be represented by scales of white notes on the
piano
with the names derived from the Greek system. The 'final' of a mode is
the
note of a cadence, or resting point, in a melody, and the 'dominant' is
a
reciting note.
@399 modo (It.)\Manner. In modo di, in the manner of.
@400 modulate\The shift from one key to another in composition.
@401 molto (It.)\Much, very.
@402 monodrama\A dramatic stage work for only one character.
@403 monody (Gk., 'single song')\ A term used to describe a solo song
with
accompaniment (or continuo) in contrast to the polyphonic style in
which all
parts are of equal importance.
@404 monophony (Gk., 'single sound')\This term describes music with a
single
melody line without support of accompaniment.
@405 monothematic\Music with only one theme.
@406 morbido (It.)\Gentle, delicate.
@407 mordent\An ornament which has two forms: (1) upper mordent (or
inverted mordent); (2) lower mordent or simply, mordent.
@408 morendo (It.)\Dying away (of force and sometimes, speed).
@409 mosso (It.)\Animated, moving.
@410 motet\(1) In modern use this is a religious choral composition in
Latin of
the Roman Catholic service corresponding to the anthem in the Anglican
service. (2) In medieval times, this was a vocal composition based on a
given
set of words and melody, which sometimes came from a secular song.
@411 motif (Fr.)\(1) A term sometimes used in English for leitmotif.
(2) Sarne as
motiv or motive.
@412 motion\A term describing the course of a melody or melodies.
Conjunct
motion is movement by step. Disjunct motion is movement by leap.
Similar
motion describes two melodies moving in the same direction and contrary
motion describes two melodies moving in opposite directions. Paralicl
motion
describes parts moving the same way and also keeping the same interval
between them.
@413 motiv (Ger.),
motive (Eng.)\(1)
A short but recognisable melodic or
rhythmic figure. (2) In analysis, this term describes the smallest
subdivision of
(e.g. a theme).
moto (It.)\Movement. Con Moto means 'with movement'.
@414 motto theme\A term for music which recurs and develops in the form
of a
quotation.
@415 movement\A self-contained section of a large composition having
its own
time signature and title. In some works, movements are directly linked
(without a break inbetween) and sound incomplete without performing
them
in sequence. In all works, movements form a cohesive whole, much like
in a
set of related literary short stories.
movimento (It.)\Motion. Doppio mouvmento, at double the preceding
speed.
@416 MS (It. 'mano sinistra')\Left hand. Instruction to play with left
hand in
piano playing.
@417 M Sop\Abbreviation of mezzo soprano.
@418 musical play\A type of American-influenced light stage
entertainment
which succeeded the musical comedy in the mid-20th century. Now known
simply as a musical. An example is Phantom of the Opera with music by
Andrew Lloyd Webber.
@419 musical switch\A medley of popular tunes.
@420 music drama\A Wagnerian term for opera, which he felt to be inadequate.
This term describes Wagner's new concept of the leitmotif and the
fusing of
scenery, costume, libretti, music and drama into a new art.
@421 music theatre\A term describing (from the 1960's) dramatic works
simpler
than opera and suitable for the concert platform.
@422 musique concrete (Fr., 'concrete music')\Music in which natural
sounds
(instrumental, vocal or other) were recorded on tape and then
distorted,
combined, etc. This term was coined by Peter Schaeffer in 1948 but it
has
largely been superseded by electronic music.
@423 muta (It.)\Change. Direction to the timpani player to change
tuning or to
the wind player to change instrument.
N
@424 nach (Ger.)\To, after.
@425 nachschlag (Ger.)\Ornament
in German music in the 17th and 18th
centuries.
@426 nachtanz (Ger.,
'after dance')\A quick dance used to follow a slow one.
@427 nachtmusik (Ger.)\Serenade
or 'night music'. A title used in Mozart's Eine
Klcine Nachtmusik.
@428 nationalism, nationalist\Music with national characteristics (e.g.
use of
folk music. The term is particularly applied to 19th century composers
(e.g.
Smetena and Grieg. Bartok and Kodaly were also famous as nationalist
composers).
@429 natural\(1) The cancelling of a flat or sharp of a note or key
indicated by a
sign beside the note; (2) A trumpet or horn, etc. not having any valves
or keys.
@430 naturale\Instruction to a singer or instrumentalist to perform in
the normal
way (e.g. singing tenor instead of falsetto or playing without mutes).
@431 neapolitan sixth\A chord on the fourth degree of the scale with a
minor
third and sixth (e.g. in C major it includes the notes F, A flat and D
flat).
@432 neo (Gk., 'new')\A prefix indicating a new interest in older
styles (e.g. neo-
romantic refers to composers in the 20th century writing in the
romantic
style).
@433 neo-classical\Describes a trend, especially in the 1920's,
characterised by
its use of the concerto grosso technique, contrapuntal writing and
avoidance
of emotion. Neo-classical composers included Stravinsky and Hindemith.
@434 new music\(I) In the early 17th century this described the new
expressive
music; (2) Between 1850 and 1900 it described the new music of Wagner
and
Liszt as opposed to the more traditional music of Brahms; (3) Today it
refers
to music by contemporary composers.
@435 niente (It.)\Nothing. A niente, to nothing. Used after a
diminuendo symbol
to indicate the sound dying away entirely.
nobile, nobilmente (It.)\Noble, nobly.
@436 nocturne\A night piece with two main meanings: (1) In the 18th
century
this was a composition close to a serenade for several instruments and
movements. (2) In the romantic period it was a short Iyrical piece in
one
movement for piano (e.g. by Chopin).
noel (Fr., 'Christmas')\A Christmas carol.
non (Fr. and It.)\Not.
@437 non-harmonic note\A note which is not part of the chord with which
it
sounds. This could mean a passing note or an appoggiatura.
@438 nota cambiata (It., 'changed note')\A contrapuntal device whereby
a
dissonant note is used when one expects a consonant one.
@439 notation\Written music, by ordinary staff notation symbols or
graphic
representation or simply by letter-names (e.g. the tonic sol-fa.
@440 note cluster\The performance of a group of adjacent notes
simultaneously
on the piano, e. g. with the forearm or a piece of wood. Pioneered by
Cowell
in 1912 and used by Ives. Also known as tone cluster.
@441 note row\This occurs in 20th century serial music, also called
dodecaphonic music or twelve-note music. It is the order in which the
composer chooses to arrange the twelve notes, which serves as the
foundation
of the composition.
novelette (Eng.) or
novellette (Ger.)\A
short, instrumental, romantic piece. The
term was first used by Schumann for a piano work in 1848.
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