Entertainment / Music Glossary

Alto: Lowest of the female voices. Also contralto.

Andante: Moderately slow or walking pace.

Answer: Second entry of the subject in a fugue, usually pitched a fourth below or a fifth above the subject.

Anthem: A religious choral composition in English: performed liturgically, the Protestant equivalent of the motet.

Antiphonal: Performance style in which an ensemble is divided into two or more groups, performing in alternation and then together.

Antique Cymbals: Small disks of brass, held by the player one in each hand, that are struck together gently and allowed to vibrate.

Arabesque: Decorative musical material or a composition based on florid embellishment.

Aria: Lyric song for solo voice with orchestral accompaniment, generally expressing intense emotion: found in opera, cantata, and oratorio.

Arioso: Short, aria-like passage.

Arpeggio: Broken chord in which the individual tones are sounded one after another instead of simultaneously.

Ars Antiqua: French sacred polyphonic musical style from the period c.1160-1320.

Ars Nova: Fourteenth century French polyphonic musical style whose themes moved increasingly from religious to secular.

Art Rock: Genre of rock that uses larger forms and more complex harmonies than other popular styles: occasionally quotes examples from classical music. Also progressive rock.

Atonal: Music that is written and performed without regard to any specific key.

Atonality: Total abandonment of tonality (centering in a key). Atonal music moves from one level of dissonance to another, without areas of relaxation.

Attaca: Attack, proceed without a pause between movements.

Augmentation: Statement of a melody in longer note values, often twice as slow as the original.

Aulot: Double-reed pipe: played for public and religious functions in ancient Greece.

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