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Translation Dictionary - Lyrics glossary Category: Music and Sound Date & country: 24/10/2013, UK Words: 469

sonore
sonorous

sopra
above

soprano
the highest of the standard four voice ranges (bass, tenor, alto, soprano)

sordina, sordine (plural)
a mute, or a damper in the case of the piano. Note

sordino
see sordina, above

sospirando
sighing

sostenuto
sustained, lengthened

sotto voce
in an undertone i.e. quietly

spiccato
distinct, separated; i.e., a way of playing the violin and other bowed instruments by bouncing the bow on the string, giving a characteristic staccato effect

spiritoso
spiritedly

staccato
making each note brief and detached; the opposite of legato. In musical notation, a small dot under or over the head of the note indicates that it is to be articulated as staccato.

stanza
a verse of a song

stornello
originally truly 'improvised' now taken as 'appearing to be improvised,' an Italian 'folk' song, the style of which used for example by Puccini in certain of his operas.

strepitoso
noisy

stretto
tight, narrow; i.e., faster or hastening ahead; also, a passage in a fugue in which the contrapuntal texture is denser, with close overlapping entries of the subject in different voices; by extension, similar closely imitative passages in other compositions

stringendo
tightening, narrowing; i.e., with a pressing forward or acceleration of the tempo (that is, becoming stretto, see preceding entry)

subito
suddenly (e.g., subito pp, which instructs the player to suddenly drop to pianissimo as an effect)

sul ponticello
on the bridge; i.e., in string playing, an indication to bow (or sometimes to pluck) very near to the bridge, producing a characteristic glassy sound, which emphasizes the higher harmonics at the expense of the fundamental; the opposite of sul tasto

sul tasto
on the fingerboard; i.e., in string playing, an indication to bow (or sometimes to pluck) over the fingerboard; the opposite of sul ponticello. Playing over the fingerboard produces a warmer, gentler tone.

sur la touche (Fr)
sul tasto

syncopation
a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of downbeat rhythm with emphasis on the sub-division or up-beat, e.g. in Ragtime music.

tacet
silent; do not play

tempo
time; i.e., the overall speed of a piece of music

tempo di marcia
march tempo

tempo di valse
waltz tempo

tempo giusto
in strict time

teneramente
tenderly

tenerezza
tenderness

tenor
the second lowest of the standard four voice ranges (bass, tenor, alto, soprano)

tenuto
held; i.e., touch on a note slightly longer than usual, but without generally altering the note's value

ternary
having three parts. In particular, referring to a three-part musical form with the parts represented by letters

tessitura
the 'best' or most comfortable pitch range, generally used to identify the most prominent / common vocal range within a piece of music

timbre
the quality of a musical tone that distinguishes voices and instruments

tranquillo
calmly, peacefully

tremolo
shaking; i.e., a rapid repetition of the same note, or an alternation between two or more notes (often an octave on the piano). String players perform tremolo with the bow by rapidly moving the bow while the arm is tense. It can also be intended (inaccurately) to refer to vibrato, which is a slight undulation in pitch. It is notated by a strong diagonal bar across the note stem, or a detached bar for a set of notes (or stemless notes).

troppo
too much; usually seen as non troppo, meaning moderately or, when combined with other terms, not too much, such as allegro [ma] non troppo (fast but not too fast)

tutti
all; all together, usually used in an orchestral or choral score when the orchestra or all of the voices come in at the same time, also seen in Baroque-era music where two instruments share the same copy of music, after one instrument has broken off to play a more advanced form

un poco
a little

un, uno, or una
one, as for example in the following entries

una corda
one string; i.e., in piano music, depress the soft pedal, altering, and reducing the volume of, the sound. In some pianos, this literally results in the hammer striking one string rather than two or three. (For most notes on modern instruments, in fact it results in striking two rather than three strings.) Its counterpart, tre corde (three strings; see in this list), is the opposite

unisono or unis (Fr)
in unison; i.e., several players in a group are to play exactly the same notes within their written part, as opposed to splitting simultaneous notes among themselves. Often used to mark the return from divisi (see in this list).

uptempo
a fast, lively, or increased tempo or played or done in such a tempo.. It is also used as an umbrella term for a quick-paced electronic music style.

ut (Fr)
first note of the series ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, in fixed-doh solmization.

V.S. (volti subito)
turn suddenly; i.e., turn the page quickly. While this indication is sometimes added by printers, it is more commonly indicated by orchestral members in pencil as a reminder to quickly turn to the next page.

veloce
with velocity

velocissimo
as quickly as possible; usually applied to a cadenza-like passage or run

vibrato
vibrating; i.e., a more or less rapidly repeated slight alteration in the pitch of a note, used to give a richer sound and as a means of expression. Often confused with tremolo, which refers either to a similar variation in the volume of a note, or to rapid repetition of a single note.

vif (Fr)
Quickly, lively

virtuoso
(noun or adjective) performing with exceptional ability, technique, or artistry

vittorioso
victoriously

vivace
very lively, up-tempo

vivacissimo
very lively

vivo
lively

vocal score or piano-vocal score
a music score of an opera, or a vocal or choral composition with orchestra (like oratorio or cantata) where the vocal parts are written out in full but the accompaniment is reduced to two staves and adapted for playing on piano

voce
voice

volante
flying

wenig (Ger)
a little, not much

wolno (Polish)
loose, slowly; found as a directive in The Elephant from The Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Sa

Z
beat

z
tenderly

z
doubtful, delaying; i.e., rallentando

zart (Ger)
tender

Zartheit (Ger)
tenderness

Zeichen (Ger)
sign

Zeitma
time-measure, i.e., tempo

zelo, zeloso, zelosamente
zeal, zealous, zealously

ziehen (Ger)
to draw out

ziemlich (Ger)
fairly, quite, pretty, or rather

zitternd (Ger)
trembling; i.e., tremolando