Multilingual Music Glossary
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Some random terms
- rubato
“Robbed” time; the subtle pressing forward and holding back the tempo in performance. - un peu
A little. - comodetto
Diminutive form of comodo. - rigaudon
A lively French dance, originally a folk dance but also a court dance and an instrumental form, in duple meter. - dolce
Sweet, soft, with tender emotion. - Zimmerman numbers The numbering system identifying compositions by Henry Purcell.
- root position The position of a chord when the base pitch of the chord is in the lowest voice.
- passacaglia
Baroque form in moderately slow triple meter, based on a short, repeated base-line melody that serves as the basis for continuous variation in the other voices. - pasticcio
A composition assembled from passages taken from numerous other sources by various composers. - molto
“Very”, “much”. - tempo giusto
A directive to perform in exact, strict time. - con mala grazia
Ungracefully, awkwardly. - verve
A high degree of energy, excitement or spirit. Often referred to as the artistic inspiration and special feeling of excitement that is used by artists to realize the expression of ideas in performance or composition. - strascinando
Dragging. - consonance An accord of sounds sweet and pleasing to the ear.