Multilingual Music Glossary
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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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Some random terms
- dolcissimo
Very sweet, very soft. - hopak A folk Ukrainian dance, introduced to the orchestra by such composers as Mussorgsky and Tchaikovsky.
- unison Interval between two notes of the same pitch; the simultaneous playing of the same note.
- whole tone scale A scale built entirely of whole tone intervals. Used commonly by the French impressionists.
- flat An accidental symbol that lowers the pitch of a note by a semitone.
- piece A term for any composition that is a complete work in itself. This could be a self-contained movement of a larger composition, such as an aria of an opera, or the entire composition.
- passamezzo
A 16th and 17th century Italian dance similar to or identical to the pavane. - bene
“Well” or “good”. - gigue
A lively baroque dance in compound meter originating from the British jig, imported into France in the mid-17th century. It usually appears at the end of a suite. - arioso
A short, melodious composition in the style of an aria. - mesto
Sad. - al niente
Literally, “to nothing”. Fade to silence. - melody Succession of single tones or pitches perceived by the mind as a unity.
- ma
“But”. - solo
A passage that is to be performed by a single performer.