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

  • Werke ohne Opuszahl [German] “Works without opus number”. A catalogue prepared in 1955 by Harry Halm and Georg Kinsky, listing all of the compositions of Ludwig van Beethoven that were not originally published with an opus number, or survived only as fragments. The abbreviation is also used sometime to refer to works without opus by other composers.
  • Zungenstoss [German] Tongue thrust.
  • Burgundian chanson Fifteenth century French composition, usually for three voices, some or all of which may be played by instruments.
  • half note A note that has half the duration of time of a whole note.
  • beat A throbbing that is heard when two tones are slightly out of tune.
  • eclogue A rustic poem usually having to do with shepherds, springtime and love. In Romantic piano music, a light, lyrical, uncomplicated composition.
  • dodecaphony Ensuring that all 12 notes of the chromatic scale are sounded as often as one another in a piece of music while preventing the emphasis of any.
  • jarabe [Spanish] Traditional Mexican dance form with multiple sections in contrasting meters and tempos.
  • energico [Italian] With energy, vigorous.
  • gypsy scale A scale resembling the harmonic minor scale, but with an augmented fourth. It is called the Gypsy scale because of its exotic sound and its use in Hungarian music.
  • canzona [Italian] A 16th-century multipart vocal setting of a literary canzone, or a 16th- and 17th-century instrumental composition.
  • instrumentation The particular combination of musical instruments employed in a composition.
  • flamenco [Spanish] A genre of dance and music characterized by its use of modes, its unusual rhythm patterns and its use of guitar accompaniment.
  • glissando [Italian] Rapid slide through pitches of a scale. A glissando with the voice is known as portamento.
  • part In instrumental or choral music, the music for a single instrument or voice.