Glossary

À l’aise – comfortable; in an easy, flowing manner

À la vienne – in the style of a Viennese waltz

Adagietto – slightly faster than adagio; more lighthearted than adagio

Adagio – to be played slowly and gracefully

Allegro vivace – cheerful; lively

Allant – lively; energetic

Allegre – fast

Allegretto – moderately fast

Allegrissimo – very fast

Allegro – fast; merry; lively

Amabile – gracious; charming

Andante – a walking pace

Andante ma non troppo – walking pace but not too much

Andante moderato – moderate walking pace; faster than Andante but slower than Moderato

Andantino – slightly faster than Andante

Animato – animated; lively

Bewegt – emotional; agitated

Breit – broad

Brillante – brilliant; sparkling

Brio – energy; vivacity

Calmo – calm

Canon – a polyphonic composition for two or more voices in which the initial voice is imitated in one or more trailing voices.

Cantabile – singable; in a singing style

Cascara – a rhythmic ostinato found in Salsa and Afro-Cuban music, exemplified below:

Clave – “key”; an underlying rhythmic pattern used in Salsa and Afro-Cuban music. There are several different clave rhythms, including the Rumba and Son.

Comodo – comfortable

Con – with

Con brio – with energy; with vivacity

Con fuoco – with fire

Crab canon – a canon in which the imitating voice is the retrograde (backwards) statement of the original. It is possible that both voices may begin and end together, making it difficult (or impossible) to know which is the prime and which is the retrograde. Also known as a retrograde canon.

Deciso – definitively

Delicato – delicately

Desto – “awake”; full of life; energetic

Dolce – sweetly

Edel – noble

Ein wenig schnell – a little faster

En allant – with energy; in a lively manner

Espressivo – expressive

Etwas breit – somewhat broad

Fliessend – flowing

Fröhlich – cheerful; happy

Gehend – a walking pace

Geist – spirit

Gesangvoll – lyrical

Geschwind – “speed”; fast; quick

Giocoso – playful; humorous

Giusto – steady; exact

Grave – serious; very slow

Grazioso – graceful

Inversion – when used in reference to rhythm, inversion generally signifies that a rhythmic idea (prime) on a time-point scale has had its attacks turned into non-attack points and its non-attack points turned into attacks. For example, on a time-point scale of 8 where the prime rhythm features attacks at 2-3-5-6-7, the “inversion” would be 1-4-8. This concept of rhythmic inversion was developed in the mid-twentieth century.

Jolie – pleasant; pretty

Klar – clear; bright

Kraft – force; power

Langsam – slow

Largement – “largely”, slow; broad

Larghetto – slightly faster than Largo

Largo – “large”; broad; slow

Lebhaft – lively

Leggiero – light

Leicht – light

Lent – slow

Lentement – slowly

Lento – slow

Lustig – “funny”; merry; cheery

Maestoso – majestic

Marcato – marked; accented

Marcia moderato – moderate march

Marziale – march-like

Mässig – moderate

Mensuration canon – a canon in which the imitating voice appears in either augmentation (proportional lengthening) or diminution (proportional shortening) relative to the lead voice. In some examples, the lead voice and imitating voice may begin at the same time with the faster of the two repeated so that the two voices also end together. When the voices do not begin together, a mensuration canon can be referred to as either an augmentation canon or a diminution canon, as a way of identifying the nature of the trailing voice relative to the lead voice. Also known as a prolation canon.

Mit – with

Mit Geist – with spirit

Mit Kraft – with force; with power

Mit Schwerigkeit – with seriousness

Moderato – moderate

Modéré – moderate

Moins vite – slower

Molto – very

Molto allegro – very fast

Munter – lively

Nicht – not

Nicht schnell – not fast

Nicht zu langsam – not too slow

Nicht zu schnell – not too fast

Non-retrogradable rhythm – a rhythm that is the same backwards as it is forwards. Non-retrogradable rhythms can take place within a single measure, stretch across several measures, or even span an entire piece. Also known as rhythmic palindromes.

Ostinato – a repeated musical rhythm (can also include pitch)

Perpetual canon (round) – a canon that repeats ad infinitum

Pesante – heavy

Placido – tranquil; calm

Presto – very fast

Prime – a musical idea, such as a rhythm, melody, or pitch-class series, that serves as a generator of additional material that may be subject to various musical transformations and operations (e.g., retrograde, inversion, retrograde inversion, etc.).

Prolation canon – a canon in which the imitating voice appears in either augmentation (proportional lengthening) or diminution (proportional shortening) relative to the lead voice. In some examples, the lead voice and imitating voice may begin at the same time with the faster of the two repeated so that the two voices also end together. When the voices do not begin together, a mensuration canon can be referred to as either an augmentation canon or a diminution canon, as a way of identifying the nature of the trailing voice relative to the lead voice. Also known as a mensuration canon.

Rapide – quick

Rasch – very fast

Retenu – held back

Retrograde – a musical idea, such as a rhythm or melody, that is presented backwards from its original (prime) iteration. There are two ways in which rhythms can appear in retrograde. The first is to present the rhythmic values in the reverse order of their initial appearance (e.g., dotted-eighth note, sixteenth note, quarter note, half note would retrograde as half note, quarter note, sixteenth note, dotted-eighth note). The second is to place each rhythmic event on a time-point series, then reverse this series so that the rhythmic events occur in the opposite direction. (On a time-point scale of 16 events [i.e., 16 sixteenth notes], the aforementioned rhythm features attacks at 1-2-5-9. To reverse this conceptually, 1 becomes 16, 2 becomes 15, etc. Therefore, 1-2-5-9 retrogrades to 8-12-15-16.) Note: the two methods typically yield very different results, yet both are considered rhythmic retrograde. The first method has been used for centuries, while the latter only became common in the mid-twentieth century.

Retrograde canon – a canon in which the imitating voice is the retrograde (backwards) statement of the original. It is possible that both voices may begin and end together, making it difficult (or impossible) to know which is the prime and which is the retrograde. Also known as a crab canon.

Retrograde inversion – a statement of a musical idea (prime) that has been both retrograded and inverted. This technique typically employs the second, more recently developed approach to rhythmic retrograde using a time-point scale (see Retrograde) and combines it with the modern notion of rhythmic inversion (see Inversion).

Risoluto – determined; deliberate

Ritmico – rhythmic

Ruhig – quiet

Rumba clave – a rhythmic ostinato common in Salsa and Afro-Cuban musics, exemplified below:

Scherzando – lively; playful

Schnell – fast

Schwerigkeit – “difficulty”; seriousness

Schwungvoll – peppy; energetic

Sehr – very

Sehr langsam – very slow

Sehr rasch – very, very fast

Sehr ruhig – very quiet

Sehr schnell – very fast

Semplice – simple

Serioso – serious

So schnell wie moglich – as quickly as possible

Son clave – a rhythmic ostinato common in Salsa and Afro-Cuban musics, exemplified below:

Spaashaft – amusing

Spiritoso – humorous; spirited

Tranquillo – tranquil; calm

Tres – very

Tres vif – very lively

Tres vite – very quickly

Vif – lively

Vite –quickly

Vivace – lively

Vivacissimo – very lively

Walzer – waltz

Ziemlich ruhig – quite calm