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

  • Kammerton [German] Literally, “Chamber pitch”. The pitch system used for instruments in Germany during the baroque period. In this system, the A above middle C was probably about 410–425 Hz.
  • doppel [German] “Double”.
  • just intonation Tuning system in which the notes are obtained by adding and subtracting natural fifths and thirds.
  • gavotte [French] Duple meter baroque dance of a pastoral character.
  • malinconico [Italian] Melancholic.
  • adagietto [Italian] A slow tempo marking, slightly faster than adagio.
  • transcription Either notating an unnotated piece, or rewriting a piece, either simply recopying, as for clarity, or as an arrangement for another instrument.
  • sight-reading The practice of playing or singing a composition at sight, without previous preparation.
  • sin' al fine [Italian] Literally, “to the end”. Usually attached to another directive, implying that whatever the other directive stated should be carried out to the end of the composition.
  • fugato [Italian] In the style of a fugue.
  • symphonie concertante [French] A musical genre of the late 18th and early 19th centuries that resembles a concerto for two to four solo instruments. It is a composition in two or three movements of a lighthearted character, usually in a major key. The genre features a few solo instruments and orchestra.
  • sonata-rondò [Italian] A form of a composition that displays characteristics of both the rondò and the sonata forms.
  • castrato Male singer who was castrated during boyhood to preserve the soprano or alto vocal register, prominent in seventeenth and early eighteenth century opera.
  • Konzertstück [German] An informal “concert piece”, usually in one movement, for solo instruments and orchestra.
  • barcarolle [French] A folk song sung by Venetian gondoliers (oarsmen of the traditional Venetian rowing boat called gondola), or a piece of music composed in that style. It is characterized by a rhythm reminiscent of the gondolier's stroke, almost invariably a moderate tempo 6/8 meter.