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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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

  • fluttertonguing Wind instrument technique in which the tongue is fluttered or trilled against the roof of the mouth.
  • capriccio [Italian] A piece of music, usually fairly free in form and of a lively character. The typical capriccio is fast, intense, and often virtuosic in nature.
  • con malinconia [Italian] With melancholy.
  • verse anthem Anglican devotional composition for solo voices with a choral refrain.
  • litany A prayer or processional of supplication to God, to Mary, or to the saints in which the priest or deacon chants the supplication and the congregation responds with “Ora pro nobis”, “Kyrie eleison”, etc.
  • eilen [German] To hasten, to accelerate.
  • decani [Latin] In Anglican church music, referring to the half of the choir sitting on the dean's side of the church.
  • flamenco [Spanish] A genre of dance and music characterized by its use of modes, its unusual rhythm patterns and its use of guitar accompaniment.
  • lentezza [Italian] “Slowness”.
  • dramatic soprano A soprano voice type with a heavier tone color and more power throughout her range.
  • motet Polyphonic vocal genre, secular in the Middle Ages but sacred or devotional thereafter.
  • riflessivo [Italian] Reflective, thoughtful.
  • come prima [Italian] “As before”. A directive to return to a previous tempo or to play a particular passage in the manner of a previous passage.
  • degree Any tone of the diatonic scale.
  • anonymous A person whose name is unknown.