Music

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• Accent (ACCENTO) Vol. I, p. 134
  ACCENT. - Etymologically, accent comes from "ad cantus," as something pertaining to music. In fact, to accent a word tonically is…
• Anthem Vol. I, p. 866
  ANTHEM. - From the Greek ἀντιφανή = antiphon, an English term used to designate, in the liturgy of the Anglican Church, a religious…
• Antiphon (ANTIFONA) Vol. I, p. 873
  ANTIPHON. - From ἀντιφανή = alternating chant between two choirs. It is a brief formula, composed of one or more phrases that highlights…
• Aria Vol. I, p. 1109
  ARIA. - This name was given to various forms of composition that were continually renewed both in the field of sacred and religious music…
• Ars Antiqua Vol. II, p. 39
  ARS ANTIQUA. - This is the name given, in contrast to the Ars nova (v.) of the 14th century, to the sacred composition of the first era of…
• Ars Nova Vol. II, p. 42
  ARS NOVA. - This was the name given to the current of renewal in sacred composition that animated polyphonic music from the early years of…
• Byzantine, Music (BIZANTINA, MUSICA) Vol. II, p. 984
  BYZANTINE, MUSIC. - This is the name generally given to the musical system of the Churches of the Byzantine rite, which had Byzantium as…
• Cadence in Psalmody (CADENZA NELLA SALMODIA) Vol. III, p. 180
  CADENCE IN PSALMODY. - When the psalms are sung in their entirety in a single stretch, or are performed by alternating the two choirs, or…
• Cantata Vol. III, p. 382
  CANTATA. - The cantata in general has its origins in the 17th century. Accompanied monody, which succeeded the polyphony of the 16th…
• Carillon Vol. III, p. 474
  CARILLON. - Perhaps from Low Latin quadrilio (group of four bells). A set of bells, generally small, tuned to a scale; used from as early…
• Cecilian Movement (CECILIANO, MOVIMENTO) Vol. III, p. 717
  CECILIAN MOVEMENT. - An organization of devotees and supporters of church music; it took its name from St. Cecilia, commonly invoked and…
• Chant Accent (ACCENTO CANTORALE) Vol. I, p. 134
  CHANT ACCENT. - Under this heading are included: a) the elements that formed primitive musical notation; b) the signs used in the reading…
• Chapel Composition (CAPPELLA, COMPOSIZIONE A) Vol. III, p. 422
  CHAPEL COMPOSITION. - In the period of the greatest splendor of polyphonic music, when the most notable centers of musical life were the…
• Chapel Music (CAPPELLA MUSICALE) Vol. III, p. 422
  CHAPEL MUSIC. - A body of voices and sometimes also of instruments assigned to liturgical service at a court, a cathedral, a cardinal's…
• Conductus Vol. IV, p. 143
  CONDUCTUS. - It is one of the most interesting musical forms of the Middle Ages, in which the composer had freedom of choice as to text and…
• Crotalum (Κρόταλον, Crotalum) (CROTALO (ΚΡΌΤΑΛΟΙ, CROTALUM)) Vol. IV, p. 606
  CROTALUM (Κρόταλον, Crotalum). - A percussion instrument, corresponding to castanets, of Eastern origin, attested for Greece already before…
• Diaphony (DIAFONIA) Vol. IV, p. 897
  DIAPHONY. - A genre of composition in early polyphony (v. ARS ANTIQUA), whose name is used by medieval theorists (9th-12th centuries) as…
• Discant (DISCANTO) Vol. IV, p. 1000
  DISCANT. - By this term, which is meant to be regarded as a translation of the Greek term Sixquola, is indicated an ancient form of…
• Duet (DUETTO) Vol. IV, p. 1147
  DUET. - Il termine (diminutivo di duo) non indica propriamente un genere musicale, ma vari tipi di composizioni costituite da due voci o…
• Embellishment (ABBELLIMENTO) Vol. I, p. 49
  EMBELLISHMENT. - Abbellimenti, ornaments or musical embellishments (which the French call agréments, broderies, the Germans Verzierungen,…
• Falso Bordone Vol. V, p. 595
  FALSO BORDONE. - Name given to a primitive form of polyphony, characterized by the exclusive use of thirds and sixths as well as by…
• Farcitura Vol. V, p. 631
  FARCITURA. - From the French farce, it refers to a series of interpolations into a liturgical text that is sung or recited: "Kyrie…
• Ficta (False), Music (FICTA (FALSA), MUSICA) Vol. V, p. 748
  FICTA (FALSE), MUSIC. - The expression "musica falsa" certainly exists in the first half of the 13th century, since around 1250…
• Gallicano Chant (GALLICANO, CANTO) Vol. V, p. 1134
  GALLICANO CHANT. - In a broad sense the term Gallican chant extends to all forms of monodic liturgical music of the Western Church that are…
• Harmonium (ARMONIO) Vol. I, p. 1172
  HARMONIUM. - It is a keyboard instrument whose sound is produced by free reeds without resonators, placed horizontally beneath the…
• Harp (ARPA) Vol. II, p. 31
  HARP. - Legendary tales recount the obscure, very ancient origin of the h. Egyptian monuments depict h. variously ornamented, which over…
• Harpsichord (CEMBALO) Vol. III, p. 751
  HARPSICHORD. - From the Greek κόμβαλον, Latin cymbalum. A very ancient instrument, very probably of Eastern origin, consisting of 2 round…
• Hexachord (ESACORDO) Vol. V, p. 334
  HEXACHORD. - A system, or musical scale, of six sounds adopted around the 11th century in musical teaching, together with the monosyllables…
• Intabulation (INTAVOLATURA) Vol. VII, p. 62
  INTABULATION. - A system, no longer in use, of instrumental musical notation. When, in the second half of the 15th century, polyphonic…
• Intermezzo Vol. VII, p. 78
  INTERMEZZO. - Also called "intermedio," "rappresentazione intermediata," it is a short stage piece to be inserted between two acts of the…
• Lauda Vol. VII, p. 581
  LAUDA. - Spiritual laude, extra-liturgical religious songs in the vernacular, developed in the 13th century in Umbria and then in Tuscany,…
• Lied Vol. VII, p. 805
  LIED. - A song in the German vernacular that arose, in the first centuries after the year 1000, with the development of the individual…
• Madrigal (MADRIGALE) Vol. VII, p. 1072
  MADRIGAL. - From "matricale," with reference both to language and to maternal song; or from "mandriale," a shepherd's song. In its most…
• Melisma Vol. VIII, p. 392
  MELISMA. - Term generally reserved for ancient liturgical music, whether Eastern (Byzantine, Syriac, etc.) or Western (Gregorian,…
• Melody (MELODIA) Vol. VIII, p. 395
  MELODY. - It is the essence of music, its living substance, which organizes itself into discourse and within it unfolds a musical thought.…
• Mensuralism (MENSURALISMO) Vol. VIII, p. 422
  MENSURALISM. - The body of theories that favor a measured rhythm of Gregorian melodies, as opposed to the theories favoring a free rhythm.…
• Minnesang (MINNEGESANG) Vol. VIII, p. 632
  MINNESANG. - From the old German Minne = love, and Gesang = song; a monodic lyrical current that flourished in the German-speaking lands…
• Modes (MODI) Vol. VIII, p. 724
  MODES. - The word m. in music is used both in rhythmics and in harmony. 1) In the rhythmic sense it refers, in the music of the 12th and…
• Modulation (MODULAZIONE) Vol. VIII, p. 726
  MODULATION. - This term substantially indicates the passage from one key to another. The means by which such a passage can be effected are…
• Monochord (MONOCORDO) Vol. VIII, p. 779
  MONOCHORD. - The monochord was for music the instrument that had the most varied applications: at first an experimental instrument for…
• Monody (MONODIA) Vol. VIII, p. 779
  MONODY. - From the Greek μόνος = alone and ὠδή = song, today every form of singing, choral or soloistic, ancient or modern, with or without…
• Motet (MOTTETTO) Vol. VIII, p. 885
  MOTET. - In its first meaning the term m. (motetus, moctetus) designates the vocal part superimposed on the tenor in medieval polyphony. It…
• Music (MUSICA) Vol. VIII, p. 915
  MUSIC. - The philosophical concept of music, which among the ancients had a predominantly ethical character and among the moderns falls…
• Musical Confraternities (CONFRATERNITE MUSICALI) Vol. IV, p. 170
  MUSICAL CONFRATERNITIES. - Associations of music lovers and professionals (masters, singers, organists and organ builders, players and…
• Musical Instruments (STRUMENTI MUSICALI) Vol. XI, p. 875
  MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. - I. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. Among the Hebrews music was practiced principally in religious manifestations by the…
• Musical Paleography (PALEOGRAFIA MUSICALE) Vol. IX, p. 366
  MUSICAL PALEOGRAPHY. - It is the science of ancient notations, of the systems used to translate music into the visual field. In the…
• Ocheti (OCHETUS) Vol. IX, p. 60
  OCHETI. - Among the various genres of musical composition that arose in the Middle Ages, the O. is a particular technique, later elevated…
• Oratorio (Music) (ORATORIO (MUSICA)) Vol. IX, p. 144
  ORATORY (MUSIC). - The oratorio is distinguished from theatrical production by being absolutely devoid of the aid of scenery and of any…
• Orchestra in Liturgical Music (ORCHESTRA NELLA MUSICA LITURGICA) Vol. IX, p. 152
  ORCHESTRA IN LITURGICAL MUSIC. - The Church was always opposed to the use of musical instruments during the sacred rites, notwithstanding…
• Organ (ORGANO) Vol. IX, p. 196
  ORGAN. - A wind musical instrument with sounding pipes (from about ten in the primitive ones to several thousand in modern ones) of varying…
• Organum Vol. IX, p. 199
  ORGANUM. - The term, which denoted a special compositional technique of at least 2 voices, lies at the origins of polyphony (9th century)…
• Plain Chant Music (PLAIN CHANT MUSICAL) Vol. IX, p. 963
  PLAIN CHANT MUSIC. - In 1669 Henri Du Mont published five masses that have become universally famous. It seems that he was also the…
• Polyphony (POLIFONIA) Vol. IX, p. 1003
  POLYPHONY. - From the Greek πολός = much and φωνή = sound, voice, it is music based on the simultaneous association of two or more parts…
• Responsory (RESPONSORIO) Vol. X, p. 474
  RESPONSORY. - In the Mass, after the reading, and in the Office at the end of each lesson and in the Little Hours after the Chapter, the…
• Sacred Song (CANZONE SACRA) Vol. III, p. 399
  SACRED SONG (CANZONE SACRA). - In vocal music, it meant a composition, analogous to the motet, in a strictly imitative style, whose theme…
• Spiritual Dialogue (DIALOGO SPIRITUALE) Vol. IV, p. 898
  SPIRITUAL DIALOGUE. - A compositional technique of vocal music, in use from the Middle Ages to the 16th century and beyond. Toward the…