Sheila's Corner INSTRUMENTAL COMPOSITION TERMS From my college instrumental class notes
COMPOSITIONS
ARABESQUE - a light and gracful composition, Oriental in style
BADINAGE - a playful composition
BALLET - a story told in dance and music
BARCAROLLE - boat song in 6/8 measure, written to imitate the songs of the Venetian boatman as they row their gondolas
CAZONETTA - a composition having a light, airy, singing melody; literally a little song
CAPRICCIO - a flighty composition; the music skips about = high, low, fast, slow = sudden changes in pitch and tempo
CHAMBER MUSIC - music suitable for a small room or hall
CONCERTO - sonata(see sonata) for solo instrument with orchestral accompaniment. It gives the performer the opportunity to show his/her skill
ENSEMBLE - a group
ENTRA'CTE - music played between the acts of a play
ETUDE - French for study; a composition to help the student; Concert-etude may be played in public
HUMORESQUE - a fanciful, humorous composition
INTERLUDE - a short piece to be played between the acts of a drama, opera, or any other serious work
INTERMEZZO - same as interlude
NOCTURNE - a night piece, peaceful and quiet
OVERTURE - a composition to be played before an opera, oratorio, or play; may be made up of themes from the opera or may create the atmosphere; sometimes an independent composition
PASTORALE - a composition suggesting shepherds and grazing flocks
PRELUDE - short section to be played at the beginning of a composition; may be short piece suggesting a modd or picture
PROGRAM or DESCRIPTIVE MUSIC - music which suggests to the mind certain objects or events; often a short poem at the beginning gives the composer's ideas
RHAPSODY - a brilliant composition having a string of melodies
RONDO - a cheerful, lively composition; the first strain is repeated
SCHERZO - a gay happy composition; from Italian word, jest; a mUSical joke
SERENADE - an evening song; may be vocal
SONATA - an instumental composition of three or four movements in different rhythms; each movement is a separate composition; if a sonata has four movements, they are usually arranged as:
quick movement (allegro, presto, etc.)
slower movement (largo, adagio, andante)
minuet(dance in 3/4 measure) or scherzo
quick movement
SONATINA - a little sonata
SUITE - a group of short pieces; originally a series of dances all in same key or in nearly related keys
SYMPHONY - sonata for full orchestra; the highest type of instrumental music
SYMPHONIC POEM or TONE POEM - a large composition for orchestra similar to program music
DANCES
BOLERO - a lively Spanish dance in 3/4 measure, originally accompanied by castanets
BOUREE - a lively old French or Spanish dance in 2/4 or 4/4 measure beginning on an upbeat; the second and fourth beats of the measure are divided
CZARDAS (SSARDAS) - a Hungarian national dance in 2/4 or 4/4 measure beginning with a slow, sad, Lassen, followed by a fiercely radip Friska
FANDANGO - a lively popular Spanish dance for two dancers, in 3/4 measure, originally accompanied by guitar and castanets
GAVOTTE - a lively old French peasant dance in 4/4 measure strongly accented; it begins on the third beat of a measure and ends on the second beat; no notes smaller than eighth notes are used
GIGUE (jig) - a lively old Italian dance for one dancer, in fast 6/8 or 12/8 measure
HABANERA - a Cuban national dance in 2 beat measure withthe first eighth note dotted; ther is much syncopation
HEY (HAY) - a figure of a dance; the word may come from the French word for hedge; the dancers stand in two rows facing each other like a hedge
HORNPIPE - a very lively dance in 3/4 or 4/4 measure
JOTA - one of the most popular of the north Spanish dances; it is like a waltz in rapid 3/8 measure
MAZURKA - a stately national dance of Poland in 3/4 or 3/8 measure; much slower than a waltz; the third beat is generally accented
MINUTE - a slow, dainty, and stately French dance in 3/4 measure; the third beat is slightly accented
POLKA - a playful, delicate, light Bohemian round dance in fast 2/4
POLONAISE - a stately Polish dance in moderate 3/4 measure; the word means, a march past; it begins with a sharply accented eighth note and ends on the last beat
SARABANDE - a stately old Spanish dance originally accompanied with castenets; it is a slow 3/4 or 3/2 measure with the second note usually heard through the second and third beats of the measure
TARANTELLA - a wild Italian folk dance in fast 6/8 measure, changing from major to minor
WALTZ - a popular modern round dance in 3/4 measure
Violin
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