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

  • rubato [Italian] “Robbed” time; the subtle pressing forward and holding back the tempo in performance.
  • 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.
  • symphonic poem A piece of orchestral music in one principal self-contained section called a “movement” in which a program from a poem, a story or novel, a painting, or another source is illustrated or evoked.
  • gigue [French] A lively baroque dance in compound meter originating from the British jig, imported into France in the mid-17th century. It usually appears at the end of a suite.
  • slur A curved line drawn over or under a series of notes, indicating that those notes should be played legato.
  • counterpoint The art of combining two or more melodies to be performed simultaneously. In counterpoint, the melody is supported by another melody rather than by chords.
  • da capo aria [Italian] A lyric song in A-B-A form, commonly found in operas, cantatas and oratorios.
  • placido [Italian] Calm, placid.
  • agitato [Italian] Agitated, excited, restless.
  • transposition Shifting a melody up or down in pitch, while keeping the same relative pitches.
  • stromentato [Italian] Accompanied.
  • misterioso [Italian] Mysterious.
  • 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.
  • diatonic scale A seven note musical scale, consisting of five whole steps and two half steps.
  • licenza [Italian] A directive to perform a certain passage with some freedom of manner.