Multilingual Music Glossary

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We are currently providing explanations for 2484 terms from 12 languages, including English, Italian, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Latin…

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Some random terms

  • un pochettino [Italian] A little bit.
  • mute A mechanical device used with string and brass instruments to muffle the tone.
  • sonata [Italian] An instrumental genre in several movements for a soloist or an ensemble. The original usage for the term "sonata" implied a composition that was to be played rather than sung. Later, the term "sonata" came to be understood as a four movement piece: slow, fast, slow, fast, as was used in the church sonata (sonata da chiesa), or allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue, as was used in the chamber sonata (sonata da camera). As the sonata developed, it became longer and adopted the sonata-allegro form for the first movement, which was generally fast. The following movement was generally somewhat slower, and the number of movements varied, but was generally about three.
  • weniger [German] “Less”.
  • mutig [German] Courageous, spirited.
  • comp Jazz term used to describe the accompaniment backing up a soloist.
  • ritenuto [Italian] Literally, “kept back”. Immediate reduction of speed.
  • dopo [Italian] “After”.
  • paraphrase In the Renaissance, a melody borrowed from another source (usually chant) and then elaborated freely. In the 19th century, a virtuoso composition using popular melodies, usually from operas, in an elaborated manner.
  • secular Nonreligious.
  • tasto solo [Italian] Literally, “key only”. A directive indicating that a note is to be performed without harmony, especially used in compositions that use continuo.
  • rigore [Italian] Rigour.
  • musico [Italian] Term applied to any musician in the 17th and 18th centuries.
  • largamente [Italian] With a broad, full sound.
  • symphony In the early 18th century, any instrumental prelude, interlude, or postlude. In modern usage, the term is applied to a large composition for orchestra, generally in three or four movements. The symphony may also be defined as a sonata for orchestra.