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| Most popular during the Romantic era, an art song is a composition sung by a solo voice with accompaniment. An art song is not part of a larger composition, but is a standalone piece with artistic purpose. Art songs are characterized by expressive emotion and prominent, virtuostic accompaniment. |
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| Lied (German word for art song) |
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| Most popular during the Romantic era, a Lied (plural Lieder) is a composition sung by a solo voice with accompaniment. A Lied is not part of a larger composition, but is a standalone piece with artistic purpose. Lieder are characterized by expressive emotion and prominent, virtuostic accompaniment. |
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| A song (Lied) in which each verse (or each strophe) of text is set to the same music. |
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| modified strophic song form |
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| A song (Lied) in which earlier verses (strophes) of text are set to the same music, whilst the last verse, or later verses, are set to varied music. |
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through-composed (song) form
(German: durchkomponiert) |
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| A song (or lied) form where the music does not have any major repetitions; each verse has its own, unique melody. |
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| A polonaise (French) is a piano piece in triple meter (i.e. ? time) that is inspired by stately Polish dances of a similar character. Chopin’s polonaises are not meant for dancing, however. |
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| rubato (pronounced “roo-BAH-toe”) |
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| This Italian term refers to the technique, in Romantic era compositions, whereby the performer sometimes stretches, slows or hurries the tempo, giving flexibility and emotion to the performance. Rubato means “robbed” or “stolen” when translated directly. |
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| Another name for the interval of an augmented 4th/diminished 5th, which is three whole tones in size. Chopin used this interval in many of his compositions; it is also featured in several numbers from Leonard Bernstein’s musical West Side Story. |
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| ostinato (pronounced “oh-stee-NAH-toe”) |
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| Italian word for “unceasing”, an ostinato is a short melodic, rhythmic or harmonic pattern that is repeated throughout an entire composition or section of a composition. |
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| French for “cradle song”, a berceuse for solo piano usually includes an ostinato to suggest a steady rocking feel. Chopin, Debussy and Brahms have all written for this genre. |
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| Italian for “carrying”, portamento is a technique of gliding smoothly from one note to another. The technique is commonly called for from singers and string players. |
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| An Italian term which describes a rapidly ascending or descending scale, most often associated with the harp, but also used on the piano, string and wind instruments. Popular during the Romantic era and 20th century.An Italian term which describes a rapidly ascending or descending scale, most often associated with the harp, but also used on the piano, string and wind instruments. Popular during the Romantic era and 20th century. |
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| A multi-movement composition with a non-musical inspiration such as a book or a painting. Parts of the music or even the entire form of the composition may be guided by the nature or content of the non-musical material. |
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| A compositional technique in which a single theme, or group of themes, return in each subsequent movement of a large-scale work, often transformed in various ways. |
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| French for “fixed idea”, this refers to a recurring theme that appears in many movements of the same composition (creating a cyclical structure). Berlioz made the technique famous in his Symphonie fantastique in 1830. |
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| Dies irae (pronounced “DEE-as EAR-ray”) |
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| Means “Day of Wrath” in Latin. Originally a 13th-century hymn, it later became a movement in the Mass for the Dead, a religious funeral service of the Catholic Church. The text describes the Last Judgement, found in Zephaniah, a book of the biblical Old Testament. |
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| Italian for “with the wood” of the bow. Instructs string players to strike the strings with the wood of their bows rather than as usual (with the hair). |
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| French for “bells”, composers such as Berlioz used bells or chimes as part of the orchestra in works such as Symphonie fantastique. |
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| symphonic poem or tone poem |
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| The tone poem or symphonic poem was invented during the Romantic era. It is a one-movement orchestral genre that develops a poetic idea, suggests a scene, or creates a mood. |
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| A drama set to music, usually sung throughout, originating in 17th-century Italy. Opera strives to create a complete art form by combining music, drama, scenery, costumes, and dance. |
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| A form of opera that combines both grand opera and opera comique. Lyric opera reached perfection in some of Bizet’s 19th century operas such as Carmen. |
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| A popular device during the Romantic era in which composers imitated the rhythms, melodies, and/or instrumentation of music from other countries to evoke the atmosphere of far-off lands. |
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| Italian for “little book”, the term libretto refers to the text (the actual words) of an opera, to which the composer sets music. A printed copy of the opera’s text is also called the libretto. |
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| Meaning “true” in Italian, verismo refers to a type of Romantic era opera developed by composers such as Puccini. They tried to use realistic plots about contemporary, everyday life for normal characters (versus heroic or upper-class ones). |
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| The representation of dance steps by symbols written in the music. Choreography can be found in any work that combines dance and music, such as an opera or musical. |
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