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

  • clos [French] The second ending of a repeated section.
  • calmato [Italian] Calm.
  • empfindungsvoll [German] Feelingly.
  • staggered breathing A technique used in musical ensembles by wind instruments to create the effect of a continuous sound with no breaks for performers to breathe. The effect is created by making sure that in each section no performer is breathing at the same time, so that it seems like no one is breathing at all.
  • 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.
  • giubiloso [Italian] Jubilant.
  • guerriero [Italian] Martial, warlike.
  • voce piena [Italian] “Full voice”.
  • largo [Italian] A slow and solemn tempo marking, usually around 40–60 BPM.
  • chaconne [French] Baroque form in 3/4 time similar to the passacaglia, in which the variations are based on a repeated chord progression.
  • rock A loosely defined genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the mid 1950s, characterized by a hard, driving duple meter and amplified instrumental accompaniment.
  • strascinando [Italian] Dragging.
  • fortissimo [Italian] Very loud, louder than forte.
  • bravura [Italian] Literally, “skill”. Great dexterity and skill in execution.
  • Cecilia [Italian] Saint honored as the patroness of music.