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Whitstable Choral - Choral glossary Category: Music and Sound > Choral Date & country: 24/10/2013, UK Words: 663

espirando
gasping

espressivo
to be played or sung with expression

estinto
becoming extinct

estramamente
extremely

ethnomusicology
the study of music of different cultures, especially non-Western or non-European music.

etude
a study written for the purpose of practising and developing facility in a special problem of technique, or for displaying the technical skill of the performer.

facile
light, easy

familiar style
chordal style in polyphonic music.

fantasia
a movement free in spirit and form, rather like an improvisation.

fantastico
whimsical

fastoso
proudly, stately

fauxbordon
parallel first inversion chords in 15th-century music.

ferma
resolute, steady

fermata
a pause or hold

fermato
firmly, resolutely

feroce
fierce fervente

fervido
vehement festivo/festoso

fiacco
feeble, weak

fiebile
sad, mournful

fieramente
boldly

figuration
recurrent melodic pattern.

figured bass
use of numerals and other signs accompanying the notes of a bass part to indicate harmony to be filled in on a keyboard instrument; used in the Baroque.

final
the concluding tone in a plainsong; the tonic.

finale
the last movement or concluding section of a large composition.

fine
the end

finement
acutely

flat
a symbol placed in front of a note to indicate lowering that note by one half step

florid
ornamented, embellished, decorated,

form
the plan of organization of musical materials.

forte
loud

forte possibile
as loud as possible

forte-piano
loud, then immediately soft

fortissimo
very loud

forza
strength, power

forzando/forzato
forced, usually on one note or chord

freddezza
coldness

frescamente
vigorously

fretta
increasing the time

fugal
in the style of a fugue; use of contrapuntal imitation.

fughetta
a short fugue or a fugal section in a composition.

fugue
a contrapuntal form based on imitation of a subject (theme) written for two or more voices. It is based on a short theme or subject, stated at the beginning by one voice, and brought in by each of the others in turn.

funerale
mournful

fuoco
fire, passion

furioso
furiously

furore
fury, rage

gaio
with cheerfulness

galante
boldly, gallantly

garbo
grace, elegance

gavotte
an old French dance form, stately and dignified, in duple time beginning on the weak half of the bar. Sometimes found in the old suites. It was often followed by another Gavotte or a Musette, and then repeated.

garbato
graceful

generoso
in a dignified manner

gentile
pleasing, elegant

gigue (jig)
a lively dance in 6/8 or 12/8 time, usually the final movement of a suite. It was contrapuntal in style with the second half frequently using the inverted subject.

giocando
cheerful, merry

giocoso
humourously

giustezza
precision

glissando
in a gliding manner, slurred

glissando
producing all pitches between two or more notes, as by sliding the finger along the string of a violin or the keyboard of a piano.

gradevole
gracefully

gradualmente
gradually, by degrees

grandioso
grand, noble

grave
extremely slow and solemn

grazioso
in a graceful style

grosso
full, great

grottesco
grotesque

guibilazione
jubilant

guisto
equal, steady and exact time

gusto
taste, expression

half note
one half the value of a whole note

harmony
the element of music having to do with simultaneous sounds, the combinations of tones, chord structure, chord progression, consonance, and dissonance.

homophony, homophonic
a texture consisting of a single melodic line with subordinate accompaniment. Also, sometimes used to mean chordal style in polyphonic music.

hopak
a lively Russian dance in simple duple time.

hornpipe
a very lively English dance, first written in triple time but later in quadruple time. Now usually associated with sailors, but this apparently has no historical basis.

hymn
a religious song.

idiom
style appropriate to a specific medium, its capacities and limitations. Also used to mean style in general.

il piu
the most

im
in the

imitando
imitating

imitation
a theme or melody which appears consecutively in different parts in contrapuntal texture.

impaziente
impatient, hurried

imperioso
pompous

impetuoso
vehement

imponente
haughtily

impromptu
a piece that suggests improvisation, that has a feeling of informality. First used in the early nineteenth century.

improvisation
to create music extemporaneously. Also applies to unindicated ornamentation and to realization of a figured bass.

in
in, in the

incalzando
with growing warmth

inconsolato
in a mournful style

inquieto
restless, uneasy

instantemente
urgently

instrumentation
the instruments indicated in an orchestral score.

intermezzo
an interlude, a piece designed originally to be performed between the acts of a play or opera.

interval
the pitch distance between two tones, designated numerically as seconds, thirds, fourths, and so on.

intimo
expressive

intrata (intrada)
the name given to an opening piece of march-like character. The Italian equivalent of an Entr

intrepidamente
boldly

invention
a short contrapuntal piece for two or three voices, in imitative style.

inversion
in melody, the interval-for-interval progression in the opposite direction, up for down and vice versa. In harmony, the root of a chord in some part other than the bass, e.g., first inversion (third of the chord in the bass), second inversion (fifth of the chord in the bass).

invertible counterpoint
counterpoint so designed that either of two melodic lines may be the upper.

irato
angrily