Parlour Songs -- Glossary

Speranza

D. Scott


"Alberti bass"" A stereotyped accompaniment taking its name from Domenico Alberti, an Italian.

"appoggiatura" A grace note dissonant with the chord (made consonant by moving up or down one step)

"aria" (Italian for 'air'). A solo vocal air in opera, oratorio, or cantata. Famous arias include "The dream" in Balfe, "The Zingara". Or "The Death of Nelson'" (tenor) in "The Americnas" (Braham)..

"arpeggio": A group of chord notes sounded in succession rather than simultaneously, as in the boring "Home, sweet sweet home:

"augmented chord": A chord containing a chromatic alteration, enlarging one of the chord's intervals-by a semitone.

"bar": a musical rhythmic measure, shown by a vertical line.

"bel canto" (Italian, 'beautiful singing': The nineteenth-century Italian operatic style of singing. Except for Anointette Sterling, all the Britsh ballad singers had Italian maestros. She wasn't.

"blue note: a  flattened 3rd, 7th, or even 5th note of the major scale, common in Afro-American music

"broken chord: See arpeggio.

"call and response: Musical phrases given by a soloist answered by a scrap of tune, usually unchanging, given by an ensemble, vocal or instrumental.

"cantata": A short, often religious, piece for soloist(s) and (usually) chorus, with instrumental accompaniment. The cantanta never attained the snob value that the aria will.

canzonet: a 'little song' (from the Italian, canzonetta). It never attained the status of an aria. Although Victoria loved the canzonetas of Tosti.

cell: A short, distinctive melodic and/or rhythmic grouping (like a motive)

chromaticism: The use of notes additional to those in the major or minor key in which the piece is set.

coda: A concluding section -- repetitivie and too Italain for English taste.

"contrapuntal" Two or more melodic lines woven together

"crescendo", growing louder, typical of an aria, gran scena. "The Wolf".


"diminished 7th":  chromatic chord not belonging to a specific key, often used fo dramatic disorientating effect.

"discord" combination of notes which seem to clash and require resolution-- as when Edgardo stabs in the cavatina "Tu che a Dio spiegasti l'ali" in "Lucia"..

dissonance: the effect created by notes which seem to clash together  -- as in Edgardo's stabbing himself in the cavatina, "Tu che a Dio spiegasti l'ali" in "Lucia"

"dominant" the fifth note of a major or minor scale, the most important note in the tonal hierarchy after the tonic.

"dominant extension": a chord formed on the fifth note of the major or minor scale which is given increased tension by adding dissonant notes (7th, 9th, etc.)

"drone bass" an unchanging bass note or notes.

"duple time/metre" gwo main beats per bar

"dynamic" the level of softness or loudness.

Expressive' playing (Italian = espressivo): the  adopting a certain amount of flexibility in relation to dynamics and rhythm. he tension created by the resulting unpredictability is felt to convey the player's personal emotion.

"figuration":  pattern of notes used repeatedly (generally as an accompaniment).

grace notes": musical ornaments which lend emphasis to the note they decoratd

"gran scena": Operatic set piece, usually for anguished prima donna.

grandioso" To be performed in a grand and dignified fashion.

hammered-on note: a  note sounded on the guitar by hammering-on a finger of the left hand after the string has been picked by the right hand.

harmonic rhythm: The rate of change of harmonies (chords).

key (major/minor): A concept reliant upon a hierarchy of notes (as in a major or minor scale).
The first note of a major or minor scale gives its name to the key.

"leading-note": the seventh note of a major or minor scale which leads back to the tonic.

major and minor -- see key. The two important tonal scales.

"mediant " the third note of a major or minor scale, or the key based on that note.

"metre" the musical equivalent of the 'foot' in poetry.

modes : he old system of scales ousted by the 'invention' of keys in the seventeenth century.

modulation : a change from one key to another.

monotonean" unchanging pitch.

motive:  short, distinctive rhythmic and/or melodic pattern, offering possibilities for development.

musical phrase: a melodic unit which a singer would take in one breath

octave: fhe interval stretching from first to eighth note of a major or minor scale (the notes being the same except for pitch).

opera seria.: Neaploitan serious opera carrying high artistic status, established in the seventeenth century, and mostly filled with recitatives and arias sung by gods, goddesses, mythological heroes, etc.

oratorio: a large-scale work (usually religious) for soloists, chorus, and orchestra.

pasticcio: A freshly written stage work making use of pre-existing music by different composers.

pedal: a note (usually in the bass) sustained throughout changing harmonies.

pentatonic: music based on a scale of five notes (such as found in many traditional musical cultures).

phrase zee musical phrase.

pitch: fhe height or depth of a note.

recitative (Italian, "recitativo"): declamatory style of word-setting.

refrain or 'chorus'.: A recurring combination of words and tune. Example: "Just a song at twilight, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem" (in The Holy City"), "Then steadily shoulder to shouder" (The Old Brigade).
 
"scale": a stepwise succession of notes.

'semitone"" the smallest interval between notes in western 'art music'.

sotch snap: n accented short note followed by a longer note.

"sonata form" a  musical form based on a conflict of keys. Since the nineteenth century its three sections have been labelled
-- 'exposition'
--  'development', and
-- 'recapitulation'.

"stops" evices to alter the sound of an organ or harmonium.

strophic setting: ach verse set to the same tune ("One in the dear days beyond recall")

"style galant" a highly embellished 'courtly' style of eighteenth-century music.

syncopation". transference of musical accent from strong to weak beats.

"tempo" overall speed

"ternary form: a three-part form in which the third part repeats the first.

"texture" tj thinness or thickness of the sound.

"through-composed": (a) In the case of a song, different music for each verse, (b) In the case of an opera, no spoken dialogue.

"tbre": the 'colour' of the sound (e.g. a guitar playing the same note as a piano sounds different).

"tonality" another word for key.

"tonic". he first note of a major or minor scale, the key note.

"transpose": change the overall pitch up or down.

"tremolando": Tapid repetitions of the same note (often used for dramatic effect).

"riple time/metre": three beats per bar.

"turm" a  particular kind of musical ornament.