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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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

  • Gesamtkunstwerk [German] The integration of all of the arts (music, poetry, dance and other visual elements) into a single medium of dramatic expression. This term was used by Richard Wagner to describe the vision of his later operas in the late Romantic era.
  • tonality The organization of a composition around a tonic.
  • clavier [French] Any keyboard instrument.
  • through-composed Song form that is composed from beginning to end without repetitions of any major sections, each verse having its own, unique melody.
  • ripieno [Italian] The notes added when realizing the figured bass of a basso continuo.
  • a cappella [Italian] Choral or vocal music performed without instrumental accompaniment.
  • Handel-Werke-Verzeichnis [German] The numbering system identifying compositions by George Frederic Handel.
  • malinconico [Italian] Melancholic.
  • monotone A single sustained, unvarying tone, or a succession of notes of the same tone. Often used in the recitation of liturgical texts.
  • retrograde Backward statement of a melody.
  • placido [Italian] Calm, placid.
  • tenuto [Italian] A directive to perform a certain note or chord of a composition in a sustained manner for longer than its full duration.
  • harmony Tones sounding simultaneously.
  • mosso [Italian] Moved, agitated.
  • doppio [Italian] “Double”.