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Salon miniature -
Short solo piano music intended for playing before small groups in homes.
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Sarabande -
A slow dance in three beats
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SATB -
The common designation for the four voices of a chorus: soprano, alto, tenor, bass.
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Scalar -
Using scales or scale segments.
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Scales -
Scale means 'steps.' The scales of western civilization are made of variations on a standardized set of whole- and half-step relationships dating back to ancient Greece and Rome.
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Scales a third apart -
Like singing harmony at camp. If you read music, that would be playing C-E, D-F, E-G, etc.
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Scales, artificial -
Scale means 'steps.' The scales of western civilization are made of variations on a standardized set of whole- and half-step relationships dating back to ancient Greece and Rome. Artificial scales are those that leave that continuum for other constructions.
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Scena -
A vocal solo which is far more than a mere aria, becoming instead a much more fully realized characterization of some length.
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Scherzando -
Jokingly; lightly and humorously.
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Scherzo -
'Joke.' It is the fast-paced 19th century successor to the minuet, retaining the form of the more sedate dance. AABBCCDDAB, with the CCDD as the contrasting *trio section.
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Scherzo: Allegretto vivace -
Translates roughly to 'Humorous: somewhat quickly and lively.'
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Schubertiad -
Gatherings of Schubert and his friends for the purpose of performing Schubert's music. He was not a well-known composer in his life-time and this was one of the few ways in which he could hear any of his music.
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Scoop -
Attacking under the correct pitch then sliding up to it.
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Scope of the beat -
Conductors can indicate various expressive elements, especially *dynamics, through varying the size and contour of the beat.
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Scordatura -
'Out of tune.' In Mahler's Fourth, a famous scordatura example, the concertmaster's violin is tuned A-E-B-F, as compared to the usual G-D-A-E. Another famous example is in Bartók's Contrasts. In both cases the violinist must bring two instruments on stage and change back and forth between "in tune" and "out of tune."
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Score -
The parts for each instrument and/or voice written on the page so that they stand alone, yet are coordinated so that all the parts have the same place in time matched up vertically on the page. The modern score was invented by Monteverdi when the Parisians wanted to perform his works and he could not go to Paris. So the modern orchestral score is a means of giving the composer's knowledge and memory to another person.
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Scottish Songs -
What all Celtic songs were called in the early 18th century. So some of the songs set by Haydn and Beethoven are Scottish, but some are also Irish and Welsh.
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Second inversion of a D minor chord -
D minor chord is D-F-A. Its second inversion would place the A on the bottom.
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Second Viennese School -
Schoenberg and his disciples Webern and Berg. In other words, the original 'twelve-tone' (*Dodecaphonic) composers.
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Second-half of beats -
Let's be a little child-like: say 'pie, pie, pie' for awhile using a steady beat. Then say 'ap-ple pie, ap-ple pie.' Notice that the '-ple' of ap-ple is the second half of the beat
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Secondal harmony -
Harmony based not on the traditional thirds, but on seconds, which is to say, adjacent tones.
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Secondary dominant -
The relationship of the dominant (chord on the fifth step of the scale) to the tonic (the first step of the scale) is the one we hear when most pieces end. So powerful is that relationship that it is common to imitate it on other steps of the scale. When this is done, a note outside the prevailing key must be introduced. This 'make-believe' dominant is called a secondary dominant.
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Secondo -
In a keyboard duet, the lower part. See *primo.
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Seconds -
The distance from a tone with one letter name to the closest tone with the next letter name. A to B, B to C, etc. A major second leaves out one key on a keyboard, as in A to B which leaves out the black key for A-sharp/B-flat, or E-flat to F, which leaves out the white key E. Minor seconds are from one key to the very next. A to B-flat, or E to F are examples. Seconds are generally considered to be dissonant.
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Secundal harmony -
Harmony based on the interval of the second. The results are tone clusters and other dissonances caused by the use of neighboring tones.
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Semi-cadence -
A place where music comes to some degree of repose, but not fully as at the end of a piece. Typically it is a half-repose on the V chord.
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Semini Abraham ("Abraham's seed" in a Magnificat) -
The use of Fugal writing promise to disperse Abraham's seed is a clever piece of musical pictorialism. As the fugue spreads its subject around in various guises and keys, so God's promise is to be kept with Abraham and his dispersed seed to all generations.
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Senza -
Without.
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Sequence -
The repetition of a short musical figure in a regular pattern in which the pitch level changes, usually down a step or up a step.
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Sequencer -
An electronic device which allows a given pattern of sound to play back over and over without the use of tape.
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Sequential harmony -
The repetition of a chord pattern beginning on a different chord each time.
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Sequential passage -
A short pattern is repeated, each time at a different starting pitch. Each of those starting pitches is usually a step up or down from the previous statement of the pattern.
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Serenade -
A piece to be sung or played in the evening, often a love song.
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Serialism, serial music -
A series of tones is used over and over in the same order or using an organized method of reversal or inversion of the pattern.
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Serpent -
A low wind instrument with a mouthpiece of the cup variety, like a brass instrument. But it is made of wood and leather, not brass. It got its name from its shape, which takes a few s curves to make it short enough to be manageable. It is now mostly a curiosity since it does not have much projection.
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7/8 -
Seven beats per measure and an eighth note receives one beat. The first movement of Bernstein's Chichester Psalms is in 7/8 as is the 'Dies irae' of Britten's War Requiem. Both are divided 1-2, 1-2, 1-2-3.
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Seventh -
A tone seven steps higher than the tone from which the chord is built. A seventh is invariably dissonant and needs to resolve to another pitch, usually down a step or a half-step.
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Sforzando -
An extra force on a tone marked 'sfz'.
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Shavian heritage (of Atlantans)-
is that of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's long time conductor Robert Shaw, one of the masters of creating clarity in a large texture.
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Shoot their chops -
Slang for wearing out their lips.
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Shuffling feet -
An alternative method of applauding that musicians use when they do not wish to bang their hands together, usually because they are holding an instrument.
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Si deve suonare tutto questo pezzo delicatissimamente e senza sordino -
'This entire piece must be played very delicately and without dampers" (i.e., with sustaining pedal). This is Beethoven's instruction at the beginning of the first movement of the "Moonlight" Sonata.
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Siciliana -
A dance in a relaxed 6/8, pastoral in nature.
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Siegfried-type character -
As Anna Russell put it, 'Very handsome, very brave S and very stupid.' But it is really a matter not of stupidity, but of innocence and naiveté.
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Sieta -
An unaccompanied solo lamenting the death of Jesus, sung during Good Friday processions in Seville.
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Signature minor, natural minor -
The minor scale using only the tones indicated by the key signature. This is the same as *Æolian mode. There are two other kinds of minor scale.
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Signature work -
A work by which a particular performer is best known. There are few possibilities for a violist to find a signature work to play with orchestra. Besides Schwanendreher there is the Concerto by Telemann, then a large leap in time to Bartók. Berlioz' Harold in Italy simply does not hold the virtuosic element high enough to satisfy performer or audience when a show-piece is called for. New Jersey native John Harbison's Viola Concerto (recorded by the Hugh Wolff NJSO and Jaime Laredo) is simply not well-known enough to have any draw as yet.
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Singing-lesson scene -
A particular comic opera genre which left the female 'student' a great deal of latitude in what songs could be sung. Often favorite arias from a later era have been interpolated, though that practice is now considered out of date.
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Single reed winds -
Clarinets and saxophones.
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Singspiel -
German stage work with spoken dialogue and operatic and folk-style music mixed. The most famous is Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), but also includes his Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) and Beethoven's Fidelio.
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Sinta, Donald -
Legendary classical saxophone guru of the University of Michigan, before that at the Hart School of Music in Hartford, and before that at the Ithaca College School of Music. The list of those positively influenced by his art and dedication includes nearly every saxophonist of any merit in the nation.
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Sitar -
A plucked stringed instrument from India. It has moveable frets (in this respect like the Japanese koto) and four strings upon which the player improvises melody. There are several drone strings, and un-plucked sympathetic strings which provide extra sonic power.
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6/8 -
Six beats in one measure; and eighth note receives one beat. This is most usually divided into two groups of three (ONE, two, three, FOUR, five, six) moving quickly as in a gigue or reel. It is common for the final movement of a classical period concerto.
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Sixteenth-notes
If the usual notation of one beat as a quarter note is in force, then sixteenth notes are the four even sub-divisions of that single beat.
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Sixths -
The distance of six letter-names in music, e.g. A up to F inclusive. Along with thirds, they make the same effect as singing the harmony of 'O, tell me whyyyy' at summer camp.
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Slide -
Changing pitch by sliding the finger along a string, creating a sort of siren sound. The more common variety is a *portamento (portamenti is plural), in which a natural change of hand position includes a slide as an unintrusive by-product.
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'Slide swipe' -
A violinist slides a finger upward along a string very quickly and with no specific final pitch.
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Slip of a finger -
Blue notes are often produced by sliding a finger from a black key to the next white key.
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Slow movement (of *Bach's "Double Concerto") -
From the master of the *fugue sure enough this gorgeous melodic movement, one of his finest, is a two voiced fugue for the solo violins with the orchestra accompanying.
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Slurred pairs -
Can be spoken by saying 'dee-ah, dee-ah'.
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Slurs -
The curved lines connecting notes which are to be played in a connected fashion.
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Smear -
Attacking a pitch and immediately sliding off it. It is a short gesture associated mostly with jazz playing.
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Soft pedal -
Called the "una corda" pedal, it means 'one string'. On a grand piano the hammers and keyboard shift to the right so fewer strings are struck (once upon a time only one, thus the name) and the soft portion of the hammer makes the strike.
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Solfeggio -
Singing with single syllables to represent pitches. There are two schools of solfeggio. One holds that each syllable should always refer to the same pitch. Do=C, Re=D, etc. This is called "Fixed Do." The other school has the syllables represent the steps of the scale, no matter what the scale's name. Thus Do=step one, Re= step two, etc.The original syllables were ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si. These were derived from a particular chant in which those syllables matched the steps of the scale. Eventually the ut became do (the Do of Domine being more exalted than the Ut of utque) and with the advent of "si" as the raised "sol", the seventh step became "ti".
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Solo and tutti -
are "one player alone" and "all together."
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Solzhenitsyn, Ignat -
Though his printed biography does not say so, he is the son of the great Russian writer and Soviet dissident Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn.
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Sonata -
From the late 18th century on, a work generally with three movements - fast, slow, fast (often like a jig). Many notable exceptions include four movements with a minuet added, or two movements with the slow movement omitted.
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Sonata allegro -
Which is to say the allegro movement of a sonata, typically the first movement, though sometimes the last as well.The form has thematic groups usually indicated by letters for the purpose of discussion. The form: (Optional introduction), A, transition, B (in a different key), A, transition, B, Development (essentially fooling around with the ideas in A and B), A, transition, B (now in the key used in A), (optional special ending), Development, A, transition, B, (optional special ending).
In brief: A, B, A, B, Dev., A, B, Dev., A, B.
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Sonata Form argument (Sonata-Allegro)
A structure in which Thematic Group A is set in opposition to Thematic Group B. They are developed in much the same way as one might construct an essay by working on the implications of an idea. A & B are then repeated in slightly altered fashion. It can be shown as: (Optional intro) Exposition: A-B-A-B - Development - Recapitulation: A-B-A-B - (optional coda).
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Sonata with a program
A sonata that tells a story.
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Sonata-rondo -
One or several episodes of a *rondo are developments of the material in the main rondo theme and the first episode. The effect is to have a *sonata form which blends with the rondo. AB (*exposition) C (*development of AB) ABA (*recapitulation) would be one
solution of a Sonata Rondo.
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Song-bells -
Small tuned metal discs about the size of finger-cymbals. They are laid out in keyboard formation. The tone when struck is light, not at all as firm as a finger-cymbal; when bowed on the edge they have an otherworldly clarity.
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Sonnets from the Portuguese -
They have nothing to do whatsoever with Portugal or Portuguese people. Elizabeth Barret Browning and her husband Robert feared that she could not be published as a poet in her own right, so they contrived the idea that her book should be presented as her translations of foreign poetry. Their first choice was Bosnian Sonnets (!), but then Browning, who had taken to calling Elizabeth 'My little Portuguese' because of her dark complexion, suggested the current title as a more personal joke.Various of the poems have been set by composers, the cycle by Libby Larson actually bearing the same title.
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Sonority -
The tone color. (see *Timbre)
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Soprano -
The highest singing voice.
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Sostenuto -
Sustained.
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Sotto voce -
'Under the voice', or, softly as if speaking in an undertone.
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Soubrette -
A secondary female part in comic opera, typically a lively and coquettish lady's maid.
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Sound shell -
The usually white hard surface behind performers which helps the sound go out rather than up.
________________________Southern California - This area is blessed with many of the finest musicians in the United States, which was why such composers as Stravinsky, Schoenberg, and Korngold resided there - not just the sunny weather but also the sunny musical climate. Not surprisingly, Southern California also has a host of fine musical ensembles, such as the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Long Beach Symphony, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The Pasadena Symphony clearly is in this league of fine ensembles, very much as a result of Jorge
Mester's efforts in leadership and orchestra development. There also are a host of chamber groups, such as the Armadillo String Quartet, Camerata Pacifica, Pacific Serenades, and Southwest Chamber - to list but a few. And there are a number of great music schools too, such as those at UCLA, USC, and UC Northridge. The wealth of talented soloists is just too extensive to even start to mention any individuals.
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"Soviet Octaves" -
A brilliant style often used in concertos and even sonatas in the Soviet Era in which the two hands play blisteringly fast passages using the same pitches separated by an octave or two.
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Spansiches Liederbuch -
Translates as "Spanish Songbook."
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Species -
A manner of writing counterpoint by using set rhythmical patterns which lead to some fairly predictable melodic outcomes as well.
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Spiccato -
A relaxed bouncing movement of the bow on the strings.
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Spillville, Iowa -
A tiny farming community in northeast Iowa where Dvorák lived for awhile. It was, indeed, in that community, where he played a pump-organ in the church on Sundays and that he composed some of his finest scores.
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Spinto -
An incisive voice.
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Sprechstimme -
A German term for speaking on given pitches rather than singing them. Though it has been used for centuries for extremely dramatic utterances, as a specialized technique, it was pioneered by Schoenberg and his followers in the early years of the 20th century.
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Square dancing -
In 18th and early 19th century Europe was called contra-dance (or country) dancing. All those contra-dances by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven are square-dance music.
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SSAA and TTBB -
Sopranos 1 and 2, Altos 1 and 2; Tenors 1 and 2, Basses 1 and 2.
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Staccatissimo -
As short as possible.
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Staccato -
Detached. As a rule of thumb, a staccato note, indicated with a dot under or over the note-head, lasts half the length of the written note, the remainder of the length becoming silence. There are other gradations of length, but detachment is always present.
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Staff -
A graph in which the notes written on the lines or in the spaces between lines indicate specific pitches. The higher the notes are, the higher the sound.In medieval times four lines were the rule. Later a fifth line was added, which constitutes the modern staff.
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Standard Violin Concertos -
Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Bruch No. 1, Sibelius, and a choice of those by Mozart. Increasingly Barber's concerto is a standard work. Shostakovich's No. 1 is also highly regarded.
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Stick (of the bow) -
The curved wooden shaft which is the support for the horse-hair which plays the strings of a stringed instrument. Its curve gives the bow its name.
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Stil Galant -
In the elegant and balanced style of the early classical period.
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Stile antico -
Musical style with restrictive harmonic rules which dominated in the post-renaissance period until Monteverdi developed a new practice. Even after his new style, the stile antico was part of the musical vocabulary for years, especially in liturgical works.
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Stockhausen: 9/11 attacks as "... the greatest work of art ..." -
It all depends on the translation of his German and also of one's view of what the word "art" means. If it means, as I think he would have it mean, an intentional act meant to create an affect of mind and spirit, and if the German word "grösseste" is translated not as "greatest" but as "largest" then he is correct. It may be a distasteful idea to many; it is certainly jarring to consider such an act as art. But many would counter that art is not meant to soothe but to shake the audience into a new way of thinking. If that is true, then Stockhausen has a point. He has also said that the 9/11 attacks were terrible and has not approved of them at all. What he understood first, coming as he does from a constantly functioning artist's perspective, was the magnitude of the concept and of the execution - to make a play on words without any humorous intent.
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Stop (harpsichord) -
A knob or knee-board which makes some change in the way the tones of the harpsichord are produced. Examples: a lute stop which drops a felt pad across the strings to give them a muted and shorter sound; the 16' which adds tones an octave lower than those played; the 4' which adds tones an octave higher.
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Stopped horn -
See *stopping.
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Stopping -
1) Placing the fingers on the strings.
2) Shoving the hand farther into the bell of a french horn.
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Stops (organ) -
The term derives from the bar which opens and closes the wind flow to a pipe, since closing it is called stopping. It has come to mean the knob which the organist uses to control which sets of pipes will sound. Each stop has a name describing the pipes it controls. Some are familiar (oboe, flute), some are early instruments (krumhorn), and some of the terms are technical (gedeckt, i.e. covered).See also: *stop (harpsichord)
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Straight-toned -
A very pure tone lacking in *vibrato. This is the vocal style we now associate with early choral music and even today's high church works.
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Stretto -
The overlapping of statements of the same theme, often with an increase in tempo. Related to "strata", layers.
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Stride bass (stride piano) -
Used in early jazz, it requires the left hand to 'stride' from an accented low note (often in octaves) to an off the beat chord which is near the middle of the keyboard.
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Strophic -
A song in which succeeding stanzas of text are set to the same music. Hymntunes and folksongs are perfect examples.
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Sturm und Drang movement -
A period in 18th century Germanic culture in which high drama, 'Storm and Stress' were a prevalent genre. In music this translated into minor keys and driving, serious musical subjects.
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Sub-dominant -
A fifth up from *tonic (I) is the *dominant (V), so a fifth down is the "lower" dominant. This is the fourth step of the scale (IV).
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Sub-mediant -
Half-way between *tonic (I) and the *sub-dominant (IV). In other words, step six (VI).
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Subdivide the beat
What a conductor should do when the music is slow. This means beating a faster time which indicates half-beats. It is very difficult to achieve good ensemble in slow music without subdividing. If there is no conductor, or if the one on the podium is beating too slowly, players all begin subdividing in their heads.
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Subdivision of conductor's beats -
Needed when music is slowing. Each beat is divided by the conductor into smaller segments to gain more exactness in showing the tempo change.
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Subito -
Suddenly.
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Subject -
The melody of a *fugue or other type of *contrapuntal music in which a distinctive melody returns periodically.
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Substitute chords -
Chords which can act like others and therefore take their place. In jazz these can be quite complex. But an easy key of C example would be the use of a D minor chord instead of an F chord.
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Suite (Baroque ) -
Was made of various movements which take on the character of 18th century dances. After an overture one hears an *Allemande, a *Courant, a *Sarabande, one or two Minuets, and a *Gigue.
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Sul ponticello -
The player bows right next to the bridge of the string instrument.
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Supertonic -
The second step of the scale, a step above *Tonic.
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Support -
The means of using the diaphragm to control the air flow of a wind player or singer.
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Suspended cymbal -
A cymbal hung parallel to the floor so it may be struck by mallets or sticks.
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Suspension -
A tone 'held over' from the previous harmony, then resolved into the current harmony. These suspensions can be worked into chains of chords where different voices suspend and resolve in sequence. It is pretty elementary stuff for a composer.
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Sustaining pedal -
The right-most of the three pedals, it is the one which enables all the strings to resonate at once, giving a larger sound, or a blurring of sonorities.
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Sympathetic vibrations -
If one string is vibrating at a certain pitch, and another nearby string can vibrate at that same pitch, then it will without any further inducement by striking or plucking. Thus if one string plays A and another can sound A, one need only set the first vibrating to make the second vibrate as well.
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Symphonic metamorphosis -
Melody, usually not of the composer's invention, transformed by the orchestral setting.
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Symphonies of Mozart (earliest) -
There is probably at least one early symphony undiscovered. Mozart's sister Nannerl writes of her little brother's first symphony as having trumpets and timpani and the one we now call the first has neither.
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Syncopated -
Natural accents and weak beats are reversed. In the pattern "di-dah-di" "dah" is the syncopation because the natural accenting would normally fall where on the first "di" and half-way through the "dah".