Multilingual Music Glossary

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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

  • sarabande [French] Stately Spanish baroque dance type in triple meter, a standard movement of the Baroque suite.
  • heavy metal Rock style that gained popularity in the 1970s, characterized by simple, repetitive ideas and loud, distorted instrumental solos.
  • dur [French] Literally, “hard”. With a harsh or ungraceful tone.
  • garbato [Italian] Kind, amiable, graceful
  • sonata-allegro form The opening movement of the sonata cycle, consisting of themes that are stated in the first section (exposition), developed in the second section (development), and restated in the third section (recapitulation).
  • Köchel Verzeichnis [German] The numbering system identifying compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
  • lebhaft [German] Lively.
  • pietoso [Italian] Pitiful, merciful, compassionate.
  • ritenuto [Italian] Literally, “kept back”. Immediate reduction of speed.
  • claque [French] A group of people employed to stimulate applause and other expressions on the part of the audience.
  • aeolian A mode used in Gregorian chant based upon the sixth tone of the major scale. In the key of C, the aeolian mode would be based on A, and would include A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A.
  • unison Interval between two notes of the same pitch; the simultaneous playing of the same note.
  • giusto [Italian] A directive to perform in an equal, steady, exact tempo.
  • impetuoso [Italian] Impetuous, vehement.
  • monody Term applied to Italian songs written to be performed by one voice with instrumental accompaniment dating from the first half of the 17th century.