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Philharmonica Orchestra glossary Category: Music and Sound > Orchestras Date & country: 26/11/2007, UK Words: 125

Accelerando
Gradually getting faster

Adagio
Slow

Alla Marcia
In the style of a march

Allegretto
Moderately fast

Allegro
Quick, lively, cheerful, fast, bright

Alto
(voice) Lowest female voice

Andante
Walking pace

Andantino
A little slower than andante

Animato
Animated, lively

Antiphony
Phrases or motifs played alternately by two groups

Appassionato
Passionately

Aria
A musical piece intended for one voice and an orchestral accompaniment

Arpeggio
The notes from a chord are played in succession

Articulation
The performance technique used to indicate the attack, length and quality of musical notes, for example, short staccato, accents.

Assai
Very

Attaca
At the end of a movement, continue to (attack) the next movement without a break

Ballade
A song with verse form, usually with a particular rhyme scheme

Baritone
(voice) Medium male voice (see also: bass, tenor) (music) Second lowest brass / wind instrument

Baroque
The music of the period c. 1600 - 1750 - following the Renaissance and preceding the Classical era.

Bass
(voice) Lowest male voice (see also: baritone, tenor) (music) Range of instruments with the lowest pitch range

Cadenza
An elaborate unaccompanied solo, showing off the soloist`s technical ability. Traditionally musicians were expected to improvise cadenzas, but composers eventually began to write their own.

Cantabile
To play in a style that mimics a singing voice

Cantata
A musical piece based on a narrative, usually in choral or solo form.

Canzone
Literal meaning: song. Lyric, poetic expression. Can mean ‘song-like

Canzonetta
Originally a popular, secular, Italian composition

Chromaticism
Use of the chromatic scale - all twelve notes / semitones

Clarino
Trumpet (Italian)

Classical
The music that was written in the late 18th and early 19th centuries - preceded by the Baroque era

Con anima
With soul

Con Brio
With spirit and vigour

Con fuoco
Fast and lively with fire

Concerto
A musical work where a solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra

Cor Anglais (English horn)
A larger oboe, which is a fifth lower

Crescendo
Gradually growing louder

Dal segno
A mark on a composition that directs the musician to repeat a specific section

Decrescendo
A smooth decrease in volume during a passage of music

Demisemiquavers
A 32nd note, half the length of a semiquaver

Diatonic
The (Western) standard seven-tone scale

Double stopping
Playing two notes at once - common for stringed and tuned percussion instruments

Dynamics
Volume directions

Embellishment
A brief decoration, usually improvised, added to the main melody of a piece.

English horn
see Cor Anglais

Ensemble
A group of musicians that perform a piece together

Finale
Final movement

Forte
Loud

Fortisissimo
Very, very loud

Fortissimo
Very loud

Fuge
Parts of music following each other in succession

Glissando
A slide from one pitch to another, sounding all pitches in between

Grace notes
A musical ornament or flourish

Grazioso
Gracefully

Harmonics
High notes produced by stringed instruments when the performer lightly places their finger in certain positions along a vibrating string

Harmony
Two or more tones sounding together.

In modo di
In the style of...

Inconsolato
Mournfully

Interlude
A short piece of music played between the longer movements.

Intermezzo
A short piece of music, often fitting between other movements of a larger work or a single character piece

Jentele
Graceful / elegant

Jubiloso
Jubilant

Lament
A song of mourning

Larghetto
Somewhat slowly, but not as slow as largo

Largo
Very slowly

Legato
Music played in a smooth, connected style (opp. Staccato)

Maestoso
Majestically, stately

Marcato
Emphasised / stressed

Medieval
The music from a period of about 500 A.D. until about 1430 A.D. - followed by the Renaissance era

Melody
The dominant tune of a composition

Metronome
A device which 'clicks' along to a certain beat, used by musicians to help them stay in time.

Mezzo-forte
Moderately loud

Moderato
Moderately

Molto
Very

Motif
A short tune that characterises a composition

Movement
A self-contained section of a symphony

Mute
A device fitted to a musical instrument to alter the sound produced â€` normally reducing the volume

Nationalistic
Views supporting a nation

Nocturne
Night - usually solemn / contemplative pieces.

Non troppo
Not too much (occasionally, not too fast)

Notation
Visual symbols used to write down music

Opus
Work â€` a way to record composers` works by giving them opus numbers

Ornamentation
Additional notes used to decorate the music - usually improvised

Ostinato
Obstinate, persistent; i.e., a short musical pattern that is repeated throughout an entire composition or portion of a composition

Overture
Opening, a musical introduction

Passage
A phrase or short section of music

Passionato
Passionately

Patriotic
Supportive, positive attitudes towards a country

Patron
A person or organization who gives support and often financial aid.

Perfect cadence
The chords V â€` I (5th degree of the scale to the 1st) which end a phrase

Piccolo
A small flute â€` very high pitched!

Piu mosso
More movement

Pizzicato
Direction to musicians of stringed instruments to play by plucking the strings, rather than using the bow

Première
The first performance of a piece of music

Prestissimo
As quickly as possible

Presto
Very quickly

Quartet
A composition performed by four musicians

Quaver
A eighth note

Range
The amount of notes an instrument or voice can produce. The higher the range, the more notes can be produced.

Register
The range of the pitch of an instrument.

Renaissance
The era of music covering the 15th / 16th centuries (c. 1430-1600 A.D.) - preceded by the Medieval era and succeed by the Baroque era

Repertoire
The collective term for all the pieces a musician is able to play

Ritardando
Gradually getting slower