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Cabaletta -
A brief aria with repeats. Often used as the conclusion of an extended scene or aria. "Di quella pira" is the cabaletta which concludes an entire act (III).
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Cadence -
(from Latin Cedere - to fall) A place where music comes to some degree of repose.
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Cadence, Final -
The end of the movement or piece.
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Cadential climax (in Händel) -
Where a phrase comes to rest. Händel knew how to make the few beats before relaxation take on drama through tense rhythms and harmonies often rising to a forceful sound level as well.
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Cadential harmonies -
Typical harmonic patterns at *cadences are often spiced up by the composer to make the rest even more inevitable. Sometimes these can be saccharine, sometimes quite dissonant.
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Cadential passages -
Those found as a phrase or larger section comes to a close (from Cedere - to fall). This was a place where a soloist's music might become busier than usual in order to emphasize the resolution into repose which follows.
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Cadential points -
Places in the music where a phrase comes to rest, either partially, still needing to go on, or full, able to relax completely.
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Cadenza -
An unaccompanied solo in a concerto or sonata meant to show off the soloist's skill. Cadenzas were originally improvised, but in the 19th century were written out. The name refers to their traditional place at a big *cadential point near the end of the movement.
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Cadenzas (rhapsodic) -
Periods of showing off technique, while waxing poetic.
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Call-and-response -
A solo singer sings a brief passage and a larger group answers. It is most prevalent in folk music. In America it was the most common form of field music among the slaves.
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Cambiata -
'Changing', i.e. a changing voice from boy or girl to adult, most usually referring to the former.
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Canon -
"Rule." Voice "A" is duplicated by voice "B" while "A" continues. "B" continues to follow "A".
The leading voice is called the *dux, the following voices are called the *comes.

If the duplication is exact, then it is called "real" imitation; if little changes must be introduced to make it all work, then the following part is called "tonal."

Canon at the *unison means that the comes starts on the same pitch as the dux.

Canon at any other interval - say, "canon at the fourth" - means that the canon imitates at the designated distance away from the original. For instance, the dux may begin on A, while the comes begins on D, yet preserves the same melodic shape as the dux.

*Rounds like Frere Jacques are a real canons at the unison.
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Cantabile -
As if sung. An indication to an instrumental player that the melody is to be lyrical and connected.
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Cantus firmus -
Firm song. This was originally a chant melody sustained while other voices sang more elaborate music. It was a binding factor as the chant was already known and its melody could be anticipated. Later in history tunes other than chant melodies began to act like the old cantus firmus still with slow tunes with busier parts above. The old term was applied to them and is still used for a slow statement of an original melody while busier music is played at the same time.
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Cantus firmus-style -
Places the main melody as a slow line with other more elaborate lines surrounding. It means 'firm song', the line which is the basis upon which the other lines dance. This style at first always used a Gregorian chant as the cantus firmus.
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Canzonetta -
Short song of a light and flowing character.
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Capriccio -
A short piece in a capricious or whimsical manner.
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Case, upper and lower -
Musicians' shorthand uses upper case to represent major and lower case to mean minor. Thus lower case for a key name followed by 'minor' is actually redundant, as is upper case followed by "major."
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Castrato (-i) -
Boys with particularly attractive voices were castrated before puberty so that their voices would not change. A castrato's vocal quality was rich with color and quite agile when trained correctly. The best of the castrati were also the embodiment of the 'star' attitude. As eunuchs, they were considered to be safe house guests and often were feted by the wealthy and the nobility.
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Catch, Elizabethan -
A style in which one voice has pauses into which another voice steps with a word which makes punning sense with the first voice. In some songs there are places where one singer finishes a word begun by another.
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Cavali -
A student of Monteverdi.
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Celli -
Plural of cello, which is itself short for violoncello, the full name of the instrument.
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Cello (open strings) -
>From bottom to top: C, G, D, A.
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Cello Quintet -
A string quartet plus an additional cello.
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Cembalo -
(It.) Harpsichord.
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Central Park in the Dark] by Charles Ives -
See *Unanswered Question.
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Chaconne -
A piece in which a melody, usually a bass line, is repeated as the basis for variations appearing above. At times the actual melody may disappear, but is always implied in the sense that it could be inserted at the proper phrase beginning and always fit. Brahms's Chaconne finale to his Symphony No. 4 is based not on the opening bass line but on the upper melody: E, F-sharp, G, A, A-sharp, B, B octave lower, E. This tune can be sung at all times until the coda* suddenly darts off into distant harmonic realms.
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Changes -
Jazz slang, short for 'chord changes' or chord progression.
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Chansons -
Songs. The French art-song style.
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Character (singer) -
A singer who uses odd voices to portray a distinctive character, like a witch or the goofy masquerade characters in Mozart and Rossini farce scenes.
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Characteristic dances -
Dances with a stereotypical style: A Russian dance, an Arabian dance, a Chinese dance, etc. The music also takes on the stereotypical elements of the characterization through rhythm, orchestration, or melodic shape.
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Cheerios - The radio drama The Lone Ranger from the 1940s and early '50s was sponsored by Cheerios oat cereal.
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Chest voice or chest tones -
The low part of a singer's voice, which vibrates primarily in the chest.
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Chester -
A tune by William Billings, the Revolutionary-period composer from Boston. Chester was so famous that during the Revolution it served the same purpose as a national anthem. It is worth noting that the engraver of Chester and much other music by Billings was a silversmith named Paul Revere.
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Chiff -
A slightly percussive burst of air produced immediately prior to the actual pitch on some kinds of organ pipes.

Therefore "chiffy attacks" have a slightly percussive, onomatopoeic 'chiff' sound as they begin. Chiff is an organ term. Chiffy attack refers to other instruments which use the same effect.
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Chitarrone -
A 17th century lute with a long neckand eight sympathetic or drone strings in addition to the six strings found on a simple lute.
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Choir, instrumental -
Each large division of the orchestra - woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings - is called a choir.
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Chops -
Musicians' slang for technical ability. The term derives from the brass players who use their lips (their chops, as it were) to control pitch. Thus when someone played really well, it was said that person had great chops. Other players, from woodwind players, who at least use their lips to play, to strings, percussionists and pianists took up the usage. A variant version of the derivation says that pianists' fingers, which can be said to look like chop-sticks (which is, indeed, the reason for the kid-piece of that name), were the source.
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Choral writing (in German opera) -
Generally the writing is more complex and more satisfying than that of Italian opera, although one can hardly accuse Verdi of boring choral writing, especially as his career progressed. The choral parts to Wagner's operas offer vast choral riches.
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Chorale -
Protestant hymn-tune meant for congregational singing. Usually set in four parts - soprano, alto, tenor, bass - chorales became the basis of what is still the standard musical style of Christian hymn-books.
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Chorale prelude -
A work in which a chorale melody appears as the work's foundation. The melody is stated, often phrase by phrase, with other material surrounding it and appearing before and after the chorale's statement. This material is often expressive or depictive of the first stanza of the chorale text.
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Chord -
Most strictly, the sounding of two or more tones at a time. But it has come to mean three or more tones which are built on the harmonic basis of the piece. Most works are built on *triadic harmony, so for them a chord is built of thirds. But works can also be built on seconds (as in Bartók) or on fourths (as in Scriabin or Copland or any number of 20th century composers).
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Chordal -
Using well defined chord structures.
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Choreopoem -
A work which is based on a choreographic idea. The most drastic example is Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker which was entirely choreographed by Petipa before Tchaikovsky composed one note. Other more modern choreopoems find a movement idea as inspiration, even when there is no actual dance intended to match the music.
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Choros -
Urban street music from Brazil.
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Choruses (Jazz)-
In jazz parlance it is the full length of the main body of a song, not including the introductory 'verse.'
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Christmas Concerto -
A type of piece current in early 18th century Italy. It was an evocation of the pastoral encounter of the angels and shepherds as told in the New Testament book of Luke. The composers worked within the idea of the *concerto grosso, incorporating picturesque musical ideas: the resting shepherds (usually in a relaxed 12/8 meter), the beating of angelic wings, the joyous 'Gloria', the fright of the shepherds, and the disappearance of the angels into heaven. In addition to the most famous Christmas concerto by Corelli, Torelli and Sammartini also composed excellent works in this style. And the Christmas story portion of Handel's Messiah (the instrumental "Pifa" through the chorus "Glory to God") is a choral version of the "Christmas Concerto" idiom.
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Chromatic (-ism) -
(1) The movement of tones by half-steps, the smallest distance between tones in western music.
(2) A late-19th century style in which tonalities shifted constantly by using tones that have to resolve a half-step up or down.
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Chromatic scale -
All neighboring half-steps.
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Ciaconna -
See "Chaconne
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Cimbalom (or cymbalom) -
A stringed instrument of Hungarian association rather like a hammered dulcimer. A large set of strings is struck by hammers. The sound is very mellow.
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Circular breathing -
A wind player maintains air pressure and correct *embouchure while breathing through the nose.
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Circular Modulation Canon -
A *canon in which each succeeding entrance leads the piece to a different key. After twelve of these key-changes the piece arrives back at the original place.
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Clara Schumann -
Wife of the composer Robert Schumann. She was one of the great pianists of the 19th century, able to support her family by performing.
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Clarinet -
A reed instrument which is played by blowing across a single reed so that it vibrates the column of air within the tube which makes up the body. Pitch is changed by the use of keys which effectively change the length of the column of air. The difficulty of playing a clarinet lies in the fact that it operates in two registers, the lower is an octave and fifth, while the upper extends as much as two more octaves above. In the 'fifth' before over flowing is required to achieve the upper octaves, the clarinet can be weak, and the shift between octaves positively disconcerting.
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Clarinet Quintet -
A string quartet plus a clarinet.
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Classical attitude -
Structure is what the music is about, not extra-musical meaning.
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Classical period -
Debatable with regard to its beginning, though most will agree the style began to emerge in a mature form in the 1760s with Haydn. Mozart is certainly in the heart of classicism from the 1770s to his 1791 death. It is characterized by elegance of line, balance of form, and restraint of emotion. Balance of sections was paramount, and the division of sections are purposely quite audible. Its terminal dating lies around the early 19th century, when compositions such as Beethoven's 'Eroica', von Weber's 'Der Freischütz', and late Schubert Romanticism evolved. But E. T. A. Hoffman, who lived just at the end of what we call the Classical period, called Mozart a Romantic, so even there distinctions blur.
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Clave -
Wooden sticks used as rhythm instruments in Cuban bands.
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Coda -
'Tail'. It refers to a closing section placed after the main formal body of a piece of music. Usually it brings the music to a less abrupt and more satisfactory close. Beethoven, however, was not above making his codas enormous in scope. The bird-call section of the second movement in the 'Pastoral' Symphony is of moderate length for a coda. However, the slow movement of the "Eroica" has a coda of astonishing length.
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Codetta -
A small *coda.
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Col legno or Battendo col legno -
"With the wood". A bizarre effect in which the wood of the bow, as well as the hair, plays the strings.
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Color -
The refining of the general *timbre of an instrument; also the combining of two or more instruments to create a new sound.
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Coloratura -
A style of vocal music which exploits a singer's ability to execute elaborate ornaments and runs. Sopranos and mezzo-sopranos are most typically associated with the style, but there are coloratura roles for tenor, baritone, and bass.
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Comes -
The following voice in a canon or other example of imitative counterpoint. It means "follower", related to the English word "comet" which "follows" its tail.
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Common practice -
A term to describe the harmonic and contrapuntal usages of the 18th century, a time when those aspects of music became more or less solidified for tonal music, and which became the basis of musical pedagogy to this day. The term was, of course, applied only later. No one in Bach's or Mozart's time talked about their era being one of "common practice."
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Common-tone modulation -
Modulation is changing tonality or key. Usually this is accomplished through a series of harmonies which lead the ear to a new tonality. But common-tone modulation is based on allowing the ear to hear a single tone which is common to both the old and the new tonality and jumping from one to the other by keeping the common tone evident.
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Comodo -
Comfortably.
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Compass -
The full usable range of a given voice.
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Compass, even -
The full range of a given voice is produced with consistency of tone quality.
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"...complete incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream." -
The eleven segments are called 'complete', yet we have seen on several occasions complete performances of the play in which various segments of the music are used in snippets: the first three tones of the horn in the 'Nocturne' are used for all Oberon entrances, the first two measures of the Scherzo for Puck, etc. We have been unable to ascertain if these choices are those of the original production.
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Comprimario -
A secondary singer, a bit part.
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Con moto -
With motion.
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Con sentimento -
With sentiment.
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Concertante -
Playing extended soloistic music in an orchestral work but not in a solo concerto.
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Concertato -
See *Concertino.
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Concerti -
Plural of Concerto.
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Concertino -
The group of soloists in a *Concerto Grosso.
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Concertmaster -
The lead violinist. This person is now responsible for many things which go unseen by an audience. At one time the position was one which filled the same job as a conductor does today. One of the great breakthroughs from the primacy of the concertmaster or leader to the emergence of the conductor was the arrival of Berlioz who wanted to be in charge but was a flutist. He had his way.
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Concerto form (Exposition) -
The orchestral introduction finds the orchestra playing all the musical themes while the soloist just sits waiting for the tunes to be presented. Then the exposition repeats, this time with the soloist playing. Of course the second exposition is different in detail from the first, but they use the same material.
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Concerto grosso (jazz) -
A work for classical ensemble and a smaller jazz ensemble. The orchestra acts like the baroque ripieno (or large ensemble) and the small jazz group like the concertino (or small solo ensemble) which was a major feature of the early 18th century.
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Concerto grosso (large concerto) -
A group of soloists, the *concertino, and a larger ensemble, the *ripieno, form the basis for virtuosic playing on the one hand, and accompaniment and *tutti sections on the other. The style is of the baroque period of the 18th century. Handel and Vivaldi wrote many. Bach's Brandenburg Concerti are all in concerto grosso format.
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Conductor's stick -
"Stick' is not only the physical baton used to beat time but is a metaphor for a conductor's vocabulary of visual communication.
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Conductus -
A medieval style (11th and 12th centuries) in which independent parts were added around a slow moving *cantus firmus of a secular melody.
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Consonant architectural points -
Typically in tonal music endings of sections come to rest, usually through the use of consonance and resolution.
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Continuity score -
A composer's way of writing out a representation of the entire length of a work without filling in all the notes of accompaniment and other material. It is like an outline, but one which lasts the length that the full work will eventually take. Schubert's continuity score for his "Tenth Symphony" jumps back and forth between one and two lines of notes with little messages about who is to play scribbled in. From this Peter Gülke has constructed (one can hardly use the word 'reconstructed') a score.
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Continuo (Basso continuo)-
Usually the combination of a keyboard instrument (harpsichord, organ) and a bass instrument (cello, bassoon). The keyboard player improvises the harmony based on the numeric chord-symbols called *figured bass. It can also be the lower part of an organ solo written in two parts, but with a figured bass supplied.
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Contrabass -
1) Reading the bass clef an octave lower than written. 2) Another term for a double bass, the lowest of the string instruments.
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Contra-Dance -
(or country) dancing is what in America became Square Dancing.
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Contralto -
The lowest female voice.
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Contrapuntal -
See Counterpoint.
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Contrapuntists -
Composers who write contrapuntal music.
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Contrary motion -
Two lines doing the upside-down of each other. If one voice goes up a third, the other goes down a third, etc.
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Cook, Will Marion (1869 - 1944)
African-American violinist and composer. Tired of the discrimination he had to fight in the United States, Cook went to Europe. There he became a highly respected student of *Joachim and a composition student of Dvorák. When Dvorák came to teach in New York, he asked Cook to return. Reluctantly Cook complied with his teacher's wish.

When Dvorák returned to Europe, Cook stayed in America. He became a major part of the Harlem Renaissance. He composed an opera with his wife as the leading soprano. He hoped it would become the first "black opera." It was never produced.

George Gershwin was heavily influenced by Cook, often traveling uptown to Harlem to hear Cook's music and groups. It was white Gershwin who composed the first "black opera," Porgy and Bess. Ironically, the first Bess was Cook's wife.
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Cornet à piston -
A brass instrument with a tube length the same as that of a trumpet. The bore, however, is conical - gradually widening from mouthpiece to bell. The sound is less piercing than that of a trumpet. The pistons (valves) alter the pitch so the instrument can play all twelve pitches in a chromatic scale. The instrument is often favored by French composers over the trumpet. Berlioz was among the first to use the valved version, and it is the choice
of Franck in his Symphony.
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Counter melody -
A tune which plays at the same time as the main melody, but not matching its contour or rhythm.
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Counterpoint -
Two or more lines doing different things at the same time. These different things may be identical or similar but taking place at slightly different times. Sometimes they are completely different in musical content but fit together.
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Countertenor-
Sometimes called a male alto, is a male who sings with mostly 'head voice', similar to what is called falsetto. It is a favorite sound for the top voice in 50s doo-wop. But a countertenor is so far developed in skill and expressiveness as to put pop singers to shame.
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Coupling -
A mechanical arrangement which allows an organist or harpsichordist to play on one keyboard and have sounds from another keyboard on the instrument also play.
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Courante -
A dance in three beats with 'running' figures featured. It is not unusual for accents to change within the measure.
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Covered, covering (vocal) -
Darkening the quality by bringing its resonating focus farther back in the head.
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Cowbells
Featured in Mahler's Sixth Symphony.
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Creatures of Prometheus -
A ballet by Beethoven from which the theme of the finale to the Symphony No. 3 is taken.
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Crescendo -
Becoming gradually louder.
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Cross relations -
Two versions of the same letter-name of pitch in close juxtaposition or simultaneously played. G-sharp in one voice against G-natural in another is one example.
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Cross-rhythms -
Simultaneously played rhythms which have no direct relationship to each other through subdivision of the beat.
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Cyclic themes -
The same musical materials used in different movements to create unity. Berlioz, and Schumann are great symphonic users of this form of organization.
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Cymbalon -
See Cimbalom
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Celeste or celesta -
A set of steel plates with resonator played by a keyboard and struck by hammers. The lowest pitch is middle-C.