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Classical Works - Classical music terms Category: Music and Sound > Classical music Date & country: 25/04/2012, UK Words: 218

Accelerando
A symbol used in musical notation indicating to gradually quicken tempo.

Accessible
Music that is easy to listen to and understand.

Adagio
A tempo having slow movement; restful at ease.

Allegro
A direction to play lively and fast.

Atonal
Music that is written and performed without regard to any specific key.

Baroque
Time in music history ranging from the middle of the 16th to the middle of the 17th centuries. Characterized by emotional, flowery music; written in strict form.

Beat
The unit of musical rhythm.

Cadence
A sequence of chords that brings an end to a phrase, either in the middle or the end of a composition.

Cadenza
Initially an improvised cadence by a soloist; later becoming an elaborate and written out passage in an aria or concerto, featuring the skills of an instrumentalist or vocalist.

Cadenza
Originally an improvised cadence by a soloist. Later it became a written out passage to display performance skills of an instrumentalist or performer.

Canon
A musical form where the melody or tune is imitated by individual parts at regular intervals. The individual parts may enter at different measures and pitches. The tune may also be played at different speeds, backwards, or inverted.

Cantabile
A style of singing which is characterized by the easy and flowing tone of the composition.

Cantata
Music written for chorus and orchestra. Most often religious in nature.

Capriccio
A quick, improvisational, spirited piece of music.

Carol
A song or hymn celebrating Christmas.

Castrato
Male singers who were castrated to preserve their alto and soprano vocal range.

Cavatina
A short and simple melody performed by a soloist that is part of a larger piece.

Chamber music
Written for 2 to 10 solo parts featuring one instrument to a part. Each part bears the same importance.

Chant
Singing in unison, texts in a free rhythm. Similar to the rhythm of speech.

Choir
Group of singers in a chorus.

Chorale
A hymn sung by the choir and congregation often in unison.

Chord
3 or 4 notes played simultaneously in harmony.

Chord progression
A string of chords played in succession.

Chorus
A group singing in unison.

Chromatic scale
Includes all twelve notes of an octave.

Classical
The period of music history which dates from the mid 1700

Classicism
The period of music history which dates from the mid 1800

Clavier
The keyboard of a stringed instrument.

Clef
In sheet music, a symbol at the beginning of the staff defining the pitch of the notes found in that particular staff.

Coda
Closing section of a movement.

Concert master
The first violin in an orchestra.

Concerto
A composition written for a solo instrument. The soloist plays the melody while the orchestra plays the accompaniment.

Conductor
One who directs a group of performers. The conductor indicates the tempo, phrasing, dynamics, and style by gestures and facial expressions.

Consonance
Groups of tones that are harmonious when sounded together as in a chord.

Contralto
Lowest female singing voice.

Counterpoint
Two or three melodic lines played at the same time.

Courante
A piece of music written in triple time. Also an old French dance.

Da Capo
In sheet music, an instruction to repeat the beginning of the piece before stopping on the final chord.

Deceptive cadence
A chord progression that seems to lead to resolving itself on the final chord; but does not.

Development
Where the musical themes and melodies are developed, written in sonata form.

Dissonance
Harsh, discordant, and lack of harmony. Also a chord that sounds incomplete until it resolves itself on a harmonious chord.

Drone
Dull, monotonous tone such as a humming or buzzing sound. Also a bass note held under a melody.

Duet
A piece of music written for two vocalists or instrumentalists.

Dynamics
Pertaining to the loudness or softness of a musical composition. Also the symbols in sheet music indicating volume.

Elegy
An instrumental lament with praise for the dead.

Encore
A piece of music played at the end of a recital responding to the audiences enthusiastic reaction to the performance, shown by continuous applause.

Energico
A symbol in sheet music a direction to play energetically.

Enharmonic Interval
Two notes that differ in name only. The notes occupy the same position. For example: C sharp and D flat.

Ensemble
The performance of either all instruments of an orchestra or voices in a chorus.

Espressivo
A direction to play expressively.

Etude
A musical composition written solely to improve technique. Often performed for artistic interest.

Exposition
The first section of a movement written in sonata form, introducing the melodies and themes.

Expressionism
Atonal and violent style used as a means of evoking heightened emotions and states of mind.

Falsetto
A style of male singing where by partial use of the vocal chords, the voice is able to reach the pitch of a female.

Fermata
To hold a tone or rest held beyond the written value at the discretion of the performer.

Fifth
The interval between two notes. Three whole tones and one semitone make up the distance between the two notes.

Finale
Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition.

Flat
A symbol indicating that the note is to be diminished by one semitone.

Form
The structure of a piece of music.

Forte
A symbol indicating to play loud.

Fourth
The interval between two notes. Two whole tones and one semitone make up the distance between the two notes.

Fugue
A composition written for three to six voices. Beginning with the exposition, each voice enters at different times, creating counterpoint with one another.

Galliard
Music written for a lively French dance for two performers written in triple time.

Gavotte
A 17th century dance written in Quadruple time, always beginning on the third beat of the measure.

Glee
Vocal composition written for three or more solo parts, usually without instrumental accompaniment.

Glissando
Sliding between two notes.

Grandioso
Word to indicate that the movement or entire composition is to be played grandly.

Grave
Word to indicate the movement or entire composition is to be played very slow and serious.

Grazioso
Word to indicate the movement or entire composition is to be played gracefully.

Gregorian Chant
Singing or chanting in unison without strict rhythm. Collected during the Reign of Pope Gregory VIII for psalms and other other parts of the church service.

Harmony
Pleasing combination of two or three tones played together in the background while a melody is being played. Harmony also refers to the study of chord progressions.

Homophony
Music written to be sung or played in unison.

Hymn
A song of praise and glorification. Most often to honor God.

Impromptu
A short piano piece, often improvisational and intimate in character.

Instrumentation
Arrangement of music for a combined number of instruments.

Interlude
Piece of instrumental music played between scenes in a play or opera.

Intermezzo
Short movement or interlude connecting the main parts of the composition.

Interpretation
The expression the performer brings when playing his instrument.

Interval
The distance in pitch between two notes.

Intonation
The manner in which tones are produced with regard to pitch.

Introduction
The opening section of a piece of music or movement.

Key
System of notes or tones based on and named after the key note.

Key signature
The flats and sharps at the beginning of each staff line indicating the key of music the piece is to be played.

Klangfarbenmelodie
The technique of altering the tone color of a single note or musical line by changing from one instrument to another in the middle of a note or line.

Leading note
The seventh note of the scale where there is a strong desire to resolve on the tonic.

Legato
Word to indicate that the movement or entire composition is to be played smoothly.

Leitmotif
A musical theme given to a particular idea or main character of an opera.

Libretto
A book of text containing the words of an opera.

Ligature
Curved line connecting notes to be sung or played as a phrase.

Madrigal
A contrapuntal song written for at least three voices, usually without accompaniment.

Maestro
Refers to any great composer, conductor, or teacher of music.

Major
One of the two modes of the tonal system. Music written in major keys have a positive affirming character.

March
A form of music written for marching in two-step time. Originally the march was used for military processions.

Measure
The unit of measure where the beats on the lines of the staff are divided up into two, three, four beats to a measure.

Medley
Often used in overtures, a composition that uses passages from other movements of the composition in its entirety.

Mezzo
The voice between soprano and alto. Also, in sheet music, a direction for the tempo to be played at medium speed.

Minor
One of the two modes of the tonal system. The minor mode can be identified by the dark, melancholic mood.

Minuet
Slow and stately dance music written in triple time.

Modes
Either of the two octave arrangements in modern music. The modes are either major or minor.

Modulation
To shift to another key.