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

  • trio [Italian] A composition for three performers.
  • Werke ohne Opuszahl [German] “Works without opus number”. A catalogue prepared in 1955 by Harry Halm and Georg Kinsky, listing all of the compositions of Ludwig van Beethoven that were not originally published with an opus number, or survived only as fragments. The abbreviation is also used sometime to refer to works without opus by other composers.
  • gymel A Medieval technique of splitting one voice part into two parts, both with the same range. In most cases the voices would start and end together, but would diverge in the middle of the composition.
  • tardamente [Italian] Slowly.
  • xylophone A percussion instrument consisting of a row of chromatically tuned wooden bars, arranged in the manner of a piano keyboard.
  • farce A comedy which aims to entertain the audience by means of extravagant and improbable situations.
  • tosto [Italian] Swiftly, rapidly.
  • pop Term born as an abbreviation of popular music, that since the 1950s has been used in the sense of a musical genre, originally characterized as a lighter alternative to rock and roll.
  • program symphony A multi-movement composition with extra-musical content that directs the attention of the listener to a literary or pictorial association.
  • tierce de Picardie [French] A practice from the baroque era of ending a composition with a major chord, when the rest of the composition is in a minor key, thus giving the composition a sense of finality.
  • sereno [Italian] Serene, calm.
  • trio sonata [Italian] A baroque sonata for two treble instruments and continuo, generally requiring four performers.
  • vocalese A style or genre of jazz singing wherein lyrics are written for melodies that were originally part of an all-instrumental composition or improvisation.
  • alto flute A flute pitched in the key of G, sounding a 4th lower than the concert flute.
  • adirato [Italian] Angry, wrathful.