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A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H-I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P-Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X-Y-Z________________________
Va. -
Standard abbreviation for viola.
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van Beethoven -
Beethoven was of Flemish ancestry. There "van" is used instead of the German/Austrian von. And, by the way, Beethoven means "beet garden" in Flemish.
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Vanessa, by Samuel Barber -
Many think the opera should be named Erika. I do not agree. The point of the masterpiece is the 'Vanessa'-izing of Erika.
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Variation -
The restatement of a musical entity - a full melody or a small motive - with elaborations or ornaments added. These may be alterations to the harmony while the melodic material remains unaltered, or they may be melodic variations in which the harmony remains the same while melodic changes are made. They may be rhythmic variations in which the rhythm changes while all else remains the same.Of course, in more complex works a composer may well vary all or several of the elements at once, yet keep a germ of the original in place to keep it anchored to the original entity being varied.
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VC -
Standard abbraviation for violoncello (cello).
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Verismo -
"Reality"; a movement in late 19th century Italian opera which emphasized the lives of the peasant class or the working poor.
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Verklärte Nacht -
A string sextet by Arnold Schoenberg which recounts an emotionally charged tone poem. The piece was arranged by the composer for string orchestra.
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Verses -
A verse is one metrical line of poetry that we usually call a line; a stanza is the larger unit we often inaccurately call a verse.
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Vertical -
Harmony. Called vertical because it is laid out on the page so that tones which sound together are directly over or under each other.
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Vespers -
In music the setting of Psalm texts used as an evening service. The Psalms are (Vulgate) 110 (Dixit Dominus), 111 (Confitebor tibi), 112 (Beatus vir), 130 (De profundis), 132 (Memento, Domine). The Lukean "Magnificat" is also included.
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Vibraharp -
A metalaphone laid out like a keyboard. It has resonators hanging below which also contain an electrically driven rotating disc in each one. This creates a sense of *vibrato. This is the instrument commonly called 'Vibes'.
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Vibrato (stringed instruments) -
The variations of pitch caused by wiggling the finger back and forth on the string while holding one basic pitch.
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Vibrato (vocal) -
A slight shifting of pitch above and below the primary pitch. It lends expressivity to solo singing. The tradition has been for boys to remain without vibrato.
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Vibratos -
The variations of pitch caused by rolling the finger on the string.
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Viennese lift -
A kind of phrasing in which the notes on a beat are followed by a silence which drops into the next beat's notes. It is also a wondrously flexible way of stretching and shrinking the measure which keeps the music light. It is the essence of much waltz music from Schubert through the Strausses and into Richard Strauss. It is raised beyond its usual self by Ravel in La valse, achieving a kind of loving grotesquerie.
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Viola Quintet -
A string quartet with an extra viola. Mozart, Brahms, and Dvorák composed some.
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Violone -
The predecessor of the modern double bass.
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Virginal -
A small harpsichord with no legs. It is meant to be placed on a table and played there. By thus reducing the amount of sound which emerges from the bottom of a full harpsichord, the virginal's sound is quite intimate. It was meant for private amusement.
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Vivace -
Lively.
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Vivaldi's poems for The Seasons (new translations) -
These present a problem worth noting. The use of a poet as translator rather than a student's pure word for word translation, while it may capture the pictures' moods well, could lack the verbal accuracy to convey the composer's intentions.
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Vocalise -
Wordless singing. There is the famous Vocalise by Rachmaninoff, and the outer sections of the first movement of Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileira No. 5. There is also the second movement of Carl Nielsen's Symphony No. 3, which calls for a soprano and tenor to sing on "ah" from within the orchestra as part of the winds. The Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 3 uses a tenor vocalise from off-stage.
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Voice leading -
The way the individual parts or 'voices' move (or are 'led') through the music. There are standard rules for making this work well.
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Voicing -
1) The arrangement of pitches within a chord or the emphasis given to them by the performer.
2) The distribution of pitches among instruments or different lines of music.