Music Notation and Terminology Part 20

MISCELLANEOUS TERMS (_Continued_)

_Lyric_--a short, song-like poem of simple character. Also applied to instrumental pieces of like character.

_Maggiore_--major.

_Marcato il canto_--the melody well marked; _i.e._, subdue the accompaniment so that the melody may stand out strongly.

_Melos_--melody. This word _melos_ is also applied to the peculiar style of vocal solo found in Wagner's music dramas. See _recitative_ (p. 75, Sec. 170).

_Mellifluous_--pleasing; pleasant sounding.

_Menuetto, menuet_--same as _minuet_. (See p. 68, Sec. 151.)

_Mezzo soprano_--a woman's voice of soprano quality, but of somewhat lower compa.s.s than the soprano voice. Range approximately b to g".

_Minore_--minor.

_Nocturne_ (sometimes spelled _nocturn_, _notturna_, _nokturne_, etc.)--a night piece; a quiet, melodious, somewhat sentimental composition, usually for piano solo.

_Nuance_--delicate shading; subtle variations in tempo and dynamics which make the rendition of music more expressive.

_Obbligato_ (sometimes incorrectly spelled _obligato_)--an accessory melody accompanying harmonized music, (usually vocal music).

The word _obbligato_ (It. _bound_, or _obliged_) refers to the fact that this is usually a melody of independent value, so important that it cannot be omitted in a complete performance.

_Offertory_ (sometimes spelled _offertoire_, or _offertorium_)--a piece of music played or sung during the taking up of the offering in the church service. The word is often applied by composers to any short, simple piece of music (usually for organ) that is suitable for the above purpose.

_Opus_--work; used by composers to designate the order in which their compositions were written, as _e.g._, Beethoven, Op. 2, No. 1.

_Orchestration_--the art of writing for the orchestra, this implying an intimate knowledge of the range, quality, and possibilities of all the orchestral instruments.

_Ossia_--or else; used most often to call the attention of the performer to a simpler pa.s.sage that may be subst.i.tuted for the original one by a player whose skill is not equal to the task he is attempting to perform.

_Overture_--(from _overt_--open)--an instrumental prelude to an opera or oratorio. The older _overtures_ were independent compositions and bore no particular relation to the work which was to follow, but in modern music (cf. Wagner, Strauss, etc.), the _overture_ introduces the princ.i.p.al themes that are to occur in the work itself, and the introduction thus becomes an integral part of the work as a whole. The word _overture_ is sometimes applied to independent orchestral compositions that have no connection with vocal works, as the _Hebrides Overture_ by Mendelssohn.

_Pizzicato_--plucked. A term found in music for stringed instruments, and indicating that for the moment the bow is not to be used, the tone being secured by _plucking_ the string.

_Polacca_--a Polish dance in three-quarter measure.

_Polonaise_--same as _polacca_.

_Postlude_--(lit. after-play)--an organ composition to be played at the close of a church service.

_Prelude_--(lit. before-play)--an instrumental composition to be played at the beginning of a church service, or before some larger work (opera, etc.). The term is also applied to independent piano compositions of somewhat indefinite form. (Cf. _preludes_ by Chopin, Rachmaninoff, etc.)

_Priere_--a prayer; a term often applied (especially by French composers) to a quiet, devotional composition for organ.

_Quintole, quintuplet_--a group of five notes to be performed in the time ordinarily given to four notes of the same value. There is only one accent in the group, this occurring of course on the first of the five tones.

_Religioso, religiosamente_--in a devotional style.

_Requiem_--the ma.s.s for the dead in the Roman Catholic service. It is so called from its first word _requiem_ which means _rest_. (See p. 77, Sec. 165.)

_Rhapsody_--an irregular instrumental composition of the nature of an improvisation. A term first applied by Liszt to a series of piano pieces based on gypsy themes.

_Ribattuta_--a device in instrumental music whereby a two-note phrase is gradually accelerated, even to the extent of becoming a trill. (See Appendix E, p. 150, for an example.) [Transcriber's Note: Corrected misspelling "Ribbatua" in original.]

_Ritornello, ritornelle_--a short instrumental prelude, interlude, or postlude, in a vocal composition, as _e.g._, in an operatic aria or chorus.

_Schottische_--a dance in two-quarter measure, something like the _polka_.

_Sec, secco_--dry, unornamented: applied to a style of opera recitative (see p. 75, Sec. 170), and also to some particular chord in an instrumental composition which is to be sounded and almost instantly dropped.

_Score_--a term used in two senses:

1. To designate some particular point to which teacher or conductor wishes to call attention; as _e.g._, "Begin with the _lower score_, third measure." The word _brace_ is also frequently used in this sense.

2. To refer to all the parts of a composition that are to be performed simultaneously, when they have been a.s.sembled on a single page for use by a chorus or orchestral conductor. The term _vocal score_ usually means all chorus parts together with an accompaniment arranged for piano or organ, while the terms _full score_ and _orchestral score_ refer to a complete a.s.semblage of _all parts_, each being printed on a separate staff, but all staffs being braced and barred together.

_Senza replica, senza repetizione_--without repet.i.tion; a term used in connection with such indications as _D.C._, _D.S._, etc., which often call for the repet.i.tion of some large division of a composition, the term _senza replica_ indicating that the smaller repeats included within the larger division are not to be observed the second time.

[Transcriber's Note: Corrected misspelling "senza repet.i.tione" in original.]

_Serenade, serenata_--an evening song.

_s.e.xtet_--a composition for six voices or instruments.

_s.e.xtuplet_--a group of six notes to be performed in the time ordinarily given to four of the same value. The s.e.xtuplet differs from a pair of _triplets_ in having but one accent.

_Simile, similiter_--the same; indicating that the same general effect is to be continued.

_Solfeggio, solfege_--a vocal exercise sung either on simple vowels or on arbitrary syllables containing these simple vowel sounds. Its purpose is to develop tone quality and flexibility. These terms are also often applied to cla.s.ses in sight-singing which use the sol-fa syllables.

_Sopra_--above.

_Soprano_--the highest female voice. Range approximately b--c"'.

_Sostenuto_--sustained or connected; the opposite of _staccato_.

_Sotto_--under. _E.g._, _sotto voce_--under the voice, _i.e._, with subdued tone.

_Solmization_--sight-singing by syllable.

_Staccato_--detached; the opposite of _legato_.

_Subito_--suddenly.

_Tenor_--the highest male voice. Range approximately d--c".