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

Romantic
That era of music covering most of the 19th century ending around 1900 - follows on from the Classical era

Rubato
Literal meaning: ‘robbed time`. A subtle fluctuation of tempo for expressive purposes - typical of the Romantic period.

Scherzo
A joke, usually fast and light-hearted with 3 beats in a bar

Secular
Non-religious, opposite to sacred

Sonata
A musical piece for one or two players consisting of four movements

Soprano
(voice) The highest female voice range

Sostenuto
Sustained, lenghtened

Spiccato
A technique for stringed instruments where the bow bounces lightly on the strings, creating a staccato effect

Staccato
A detached style of playing that shows the distinction between notes (opp. Legato)

Suite
An organized set of movements

Syncopation
When a beat is stressed which normally isn`t, for example in 4/4, beats 2 and 4.

Tableaux
A group of scenes from a story

Tempo
Speed or pace of a piece

Tenor
(voice) Highest pitch range of the male voice (see also: bass, baritone) (music) Instruments with a pitch range from about C-below-middle-C upwards about two octaves

Timbre
A term to describe the different qualities that the sound (not pitch) can have, for example spiky, shiny, smooth, different colours

Tone poem
An orchestral form based on a poem or programme

Tremolo
Rapid repetition of a note

Triad
Three notes, each spaced a third apart

Trill
Fast alternation between two notes that are next to each other

Tutti
All together / the whole orchestra

Un poco
A little

Viola
Alto (French) Viola (Italian) Bratsche (German) Instrument in the string family.

Virtuoso - virtuosic
Performing with exceptional technical ability

Vivace - vivacissimo
Very lively

Waltz
A dance in triple time, which was a very popular ballroom dance in the 19th century