Terminology

a cappella: vocal music sung without accompaniment

aleatoric: music where the composer leaves choices to the performer and which involves randomness

bar: also ‘measure’, a unit with a specific number of beats, shown in the time signature and separated in the score by barlines

basso continuo: the group of bass and harmony instruments that forms the foundation of the Baroque orchestra

cadenza: an unaccompanied virtuoso solo passage in a concerto

cantus firmus: a melody around which a polyphonic work is built, often a Gregorian chant

chamber music: music for ensembles smaller than a symphony orchestra (but at least two instruments), typically with one musician per part

chanson: French for ‘song’, in classical music this refers to secular polyphonic songs from the Renaissance era

chord: three or more pitches sounded at once

chromatic: involving much use of semitones

concerto: a work for soloist and orchestra

crescendo: the volume of the music increases gradually

dance suite: a form used in the Baroque era featuring multiple movements in the style of various dances of the time, such as allemande, courante, gigue, minuet, air, bourrée or gavotte

Darmstadt School: a style of composition emerging from summer classes given in Darmstadt, Germany from the 1940s onwards

diminuendo: the volume of the music decreases gradually

electronic music: music where electronic devices are used to reproduce recordings or to generate sounds live in performance

figured bass: see thorough bass and basso continuo

forte, f: loud, strong dynamics

fragment: part of a larger entity; for instance, a melody may be reduced to fragments

fugue: a polyphonic work of the Baroque era with multiple simultaneous melodic lines based on imitation

functional harmony: a theory of harmony that developed in the Classical era, featuring logical and expected chord progressions

Gregorian chant: monophonic liturgical singing that was originally transmitted as an oral tradition in monasteries

harmony: several pitches sounding at once

homophony: music consisting of melody and accompaniment; compare polyphony

key: in tonal music, a key is an environment based on a specific set of pitches and with a specific tonic or fundament, the resting place where the music begins and ends

leading tone: the 7th tone in a major or minor scale that leads to the fundament or tonic

leitmotif: a composition technique developed by Wagner where each event or character is assigned a signature tune

Lied: German for ‘song’, this refers to a Romantic genre of solo song where the vocal part and piano part are of equal importance

madrigal: a secular vocal work of the Renaissance era for 4 to 6 voices

major: one of the two basic types of scale and chord in tonal music

mass: a sacred work usually based on the liturgy of the Catholic Church

microinterval: an interval smaller than a semitone

minimalism: a style of music based on much repetition of very simple elements and slow changes

minor: one of the two basic types of scale and chord in tonal music

modes: scales common in the Renaissance era (and again in the 20th century) that differ slightly from the major and minor scales of tonal harmony

monody: music consisting of a vocal line plus accompaniment (compare polyphony)

motet: an unaccompanied vocal work, usually on a sacred text

motif: a brief musical subject

neo-classicism: a style of the early 20th century that drew on influences from the Classical era

neumes: an early form of musical notation

noise: sounds that do not have a specific or identifiable pitch, e.g. traffic noise

overture: originally the introduction to an opera, later also an independent dramatic orchestral work that in the Romantic era evolved into the tone poem

part: the music for one orchestra member, showing only what he/she plays in the work in question

partita: a genre from the Baroque era

phrasing: how musical ideas are shaped or performed

piano, p: quiet, soft dynamics

polyphony: music with many voices, specifically with each voice having an independent melodic line

prelude: an introduction like an overture, with no preset form or duration

Renaissance: an era in the history of music approximately from 1400 to 1600

score: sheet music showing all the parts played or sung in a composition, used by the conductor

serialism: a technique that developed in the 1940s based on rational, formula-based organisation of musical material

solo: a musical passage played by a single musician

spectral music: music based on the acoustical properties of sound, specifically the overtone series

Sprachgesang: German for ‘speech-song’, a mode of expression between speech and singing developed by Arnold Schönberg, a composer of the Second Viennese School

symphony: a work for symphony orchestra, typically in four movements, that became established in the Classical era

thorough bass: a system of notation where a bass line was marked up with numbers based on which the basso continuo group was able to improvise harmonic accompaniment (similar to the use of chord symbols in popular music today)

through-composed: instead of repeated stanzas or choruses, the music changes throughout the work; a poem with stanzas may be set in a through-composed song with a different melody for each stanza

tonal music: music based on the existence of an anchor point called the tonic or fundament and on the harmonies generated from the major or minor scale built on the tonic

tone poem: a dramatic symphonic work that evolved from the overture, often with a specific narrative or programme

tone row (12-tone row): all 12 pitches of the chromatic scale arranged in a particular order by the composer

transposition: the pitch that sounds is different from the pitch that is written in the music

tutti: Italian for ‘all’, meaning that everyone in a section or the entire orchestra is playing

unending melody: ideally, a melody that has no beginning or end, no repeated stanzas or choruses (compare through-composed)

virtuoso: a musician with supremely brilliant technical command of his/her instrument