Multilingual Music Glossary

# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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Found a word you don't know? No problem. Look it up in the Music Glossary!

We are currently providing explanations for 2484 terms from 12 languages, including English, Italian, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Latin…

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Please note: a music glossary is just like a dictionary. It contains explanations to musical terms. If you are looking for a piece, please go here instead: search tunes.

Some random terms

  • con malinconia [Italian] With melancholy.
  • pochissimo [Italian] “Very little”.
  • fixed form A form in which the poetic structure determines musical repetitions.
  • non [Italian] “Not”.
  • recapitulation In sonata-allegro form, the final presentation of the original theme group, first presented in the exposition.
  • upbeat The last beat of any measure, usually a weak beat.
  • martellato [Italian] Literally, “hammered”. Strongly marked.
  • compound interval An interval greater than an octave.
  • Abendmusik [German] Evening music, usually religious in nature, originating in the 17th century.
  • accompagnato [Italian] Accompanied.
  • geistvoll [German] Spirited, brilliant; with great sound.
  • planctus [Latin] Medieval style of song and poetry of a lamenting character.
  • imitation Compositional technique in which a melodic idea is presented in one voice (or part), then restated in another while the first voice continues with new material.
  • Raabe numbers A numbering system identifying compositions by Franz Liszt.
  • negligente [Italian] “Negligent”, unrestrained.