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

  • quintet A piece for five singers or instrumentalists. Also, a group of such musicians.
  • opera seria [Italian] Italian opera of the 18th and 19th centuries that was either heroic or tragic.
  • encore [French] “Again”.
  • transverse flute The regular orchestral flute, as distinct from the recorder.
  • custos [Latin] (Plural: custodes.) A symbol that appears at the end of a staff line with a single voice). It anticipates the first note of the following line and thus helps the player or singer to manage line breaks during performance. Custodes were frequently used until the 16th century.
  • anonymous A person whose name is unknown.
  • fortissimo-piano [Italian] A dynamic marking (ffp) indicating that the marked note should be attacked very loudly, instantly diminishing to a much softer volume.
  • mutig [German] Courageous, spirited.
  • sonata [Italian] An instrumental genre in several movements for a soloist or an ensemble. The original usage for the term "sonata" implied a composition that was to be played rather than sung. Later, the term "sonata" came to be understood as a four movement piece: slow, fast, slow, fast, as was used in the church sonata (sonata da chiesa), or allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue, as was used in the chamber sonata (sonata da camera). As the sonata developed, it became longer and adopted the sonata-allegro form for the first movement, which was generally fast. The following movement was generally somewhat slower, and the number of movements varied, but was generally about three.
  • gioioso [Italian] “Joyful”.
  • ganz [German] Whole, entire, all.
  • Italian overture The baroque precursor of the classical symphony, evolved during the 17th and 18th centuries; it is characterized by its three movement form, consisting of a fast, a slow, and a fast movement.
  • verve [French] A high degree of energy, excitement or spirit. Often referred to as the artistic inspiration and special feeling of excitement that is used by artists to realize the expression of ideas in performance or composition.
  • villanella [Italian] A Renaissance polyphonic vocal form, usually with a simple tune in the top voice, and somewhat homophonic, regular rhythms in the lower voices.
  • acoustics The science that deals with the study of sound. Also, the art of optimizing sound in a room or other enclosed space, considering reverberation and other acoustical qualities.