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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Found a word you don't know? No problem. Look it up in the Music Glossary!

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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Please note: a music glossary is just like a dictionary. It contains explanations to musical terms. If you are looking for a piece, please go here instead: search tunes.

Some random terms

  • Leichen-musik [German] Funeral music.
  • codetta [Italian] Literally, “little tail”. A passage similar to a coda, but on a smaller scale, concluding a section of a work instead of the work as a whole.
  • larynx The upper part of the trachea in the human throat. It is the mechanism that varies the tone of the voice.
  • glee An English part song for three or more voices originating in the 17th century.
  • immer [German] Ever, always.
  • vivacissimo [Italian] A fast tempo, faster than vivace.
  • erregt [German] “Agitated”.
  • tempestoso [Italian] Stormy.
  • fresco [Italian] “Fresh”, vigorous, lively.
  • concertmaster The term used to address the principal first violinist of an orchestra.
  • plainte [French] A song or instrumental composition with a slow, lamenting character.
  • mezzo piano [Italian] Moderately soft. Not quite so soft as piano.
  • Kammer [German] Chamber, room.
  • arabesque [French] An ornament or an embellished work. The term is taken from the Arabic art and architecture which is very ornate.
  • dramma giocoso [Italian] A kind of comic opera originating around 1750, with sentimental or pathetic plots bordering on tragedy rather than the traditional lighthearted comic plots.