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

  • vamp till ready In 20th century music, an indication to the accompanist to repeat a passage until the soloist is prepared to enter.
  • ensemble [French] A group of musicians that perform as a unit.
  • tristezza [Italian] Sadness.
  • meantone temperament Temperament yielding acoustically pure thirds by decreasing the natural fifth by 16 cents. Due to the non-circular character of this temperament, only a limited set of keys are playable. Used for tuning keyboard instruments for performance of pre-1650 music.
  • tenerezza [Italian] Tenderness.
  • ronde [French] Lively Renaissance round dance or country dance associated with the outdoors, in which the participants danced in a circle or a line.
  • sans [French] “Without”.
  • Feldmusik [German] Music performed outdoors on wind instruments.
  • classical The music of the period circa 1750–1825. The Classical period falls between the Baroque and the Romantic periods.
  • dispersed harmony Harmony in which the notes which form the various chords are widely dispersed.
  • diminuendo [Italian] A directive to smoothly decrease the volume.
  • strict counterpoint The strict application of the rules of part writing.
  • a cappella [Italian] Choral or vocal music performed without instrumental accompaniment.
  • Ländler [German] A folk dance in 3/4 time which was popular in Austria, south Germany and German Switzerland at the end of the 18th century.
  • decani [Latin] In Anglican church music, referring to the half of the choir sitting on the dean's side of the church.