클래식음악에 관련한 음악용어 해설

source: All Music Guide www.allmusic.com

(비고: 한글 번역은 아직 준비되지 못하였음을 양해하시기 바라며, 차후에 준비가 되면 한글 번역을 싣도록 하겠습니다.)

Nocturne | Sonata | Sonata Form | Serenade | Ballad | Opera | Operetta

Movement | Suite | Rondo | Requiem | Part | Round | Chase | Intro | Verse

Symphony | Concerto | Chamber Music | Overture | Finale | Encore | Duet | Cantata

Canon | Partita | Ballade | Theme and Variations | Rhapsody | Bridge | Oratorio

Comic Opera | Madrigal | Canzonetta | Cavatina | Etude

Characteristics of this predominantly piano centered musical form are lyric melodies supported by widely broken chords. The chords are usually pedaled in order to sustain the harmonies. Nocturnes are so named because of their intended implication of the night. Generally nocturnes were written mostly during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. John Field was the first to so name a set of pieces which he composed in 1812. He may have influenced Chopin in the development of the latter's twenty one Nocturnes. Chopin's twenty one works, of course, are the eminent examples of the nocturne. People force dreamy and meditative qualities on to the "form" of the nocturne but this is a mistaken impression. One needs to review the accompaniments of Chopin's works and even orchestral works named by composers to comprehend the numerous nocturnes which are quick in tempo and lacking any misty qualities.

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The sonata is a musical form generally composed for solo instruments or duets. Sonatas are written in several movements, usually three or four, with fast-slow-fast tempos as one distinguishing characteristic between the movements. A number of sonatas have been scored for solo keyboard performance (harpsichord, clavichord, piano) and a number have also been set for violins or other instruments up to and including sextets (plus). The number of instruments is not a distinctive quality defining the sonata; however, sonatas are not composed for orchestras, but symphonies are and there are parallels between the two compositional forms. Sonatas do not exceed chamber strengths and are more properly suited for solo or small combinations of instruments.

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The sonata form, which has been used for piano works, solo instrumental works, ensemble compositions and first and third movements of symphonies, et cetera, is a standard classical binary (now ternary) formula. A theme is presented in an expository fashion. Sometimes it is repeated. The theme is then developed through modulations, inversions, unrelated phrases and returns. In binary form the development is then repeated. Prior to the return the development has possibly gone through a number of different modulations to return to the original tonic key (ternary from). At this point the first theme from the first part is repeated. This gives the typical sonata pattern as ABA. It was formerly AABB when the first section and second sections were both repeated, i.e. binary form. Now the sonata is often cast in the ternary form with the third part resulting from a repetition of the first part. Sonata forms do vary throughout the history of music but the standard form includes the pattern ABA and descriptively is rendered as the exposition, development and recapitulation. The form can be used in completely separate movements to yield surprisingly extensive works (e.g. ABA, CDC, EFE, GHG, et cetera. Note all movements are in sonata form).

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The tradition of the serenade began during the Renaissance. They are songs or instrumental music for the evening usually written for a lover, friend or aficionado. "Singing" under the window scenarios date back to the Renaissance but these are not the most recognized form of serenades. The most important were composed during the eighteenth century for instrumentalists and they were commissioned for specific and important occasions. Mozart's and Beethoven's serenades are perhaps the most noted. They took form with three movements, fast-slow-fast. Serenade became synonymous with notturno and cassation. During the Romantic period, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky and Brahms all continued to compose instrumental serenades.

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Etymologically this term is derived from the Latin "ballare" to dance. As a musical form that is not always definitive, the ballad yields a unique perspective into a cultural mind-set. This is because the ballad, like many types of folk music, present the listener with tales of love, fantasy, tragedy, comedy, adventure and slanted history (who won the battle?) in the content of the lyric. Ballads are most often arranged in common time with four beats to the measure though this is not always the case. Definitive characteristics, besides the content of the story-line, are the rhythmic strophes in various rhyme schemes and meters, and alternations between eight and six syllable lines, or, four and three accents. Though some variation does exist the ballad was formulated with the common conventions of narrative, strophic meters, and strong accents so that the songs could easily be remembered. Ballads served as the illiterate individual's newspaper and literature. Consistent rhythms and narrative devices -- nonsense syllables and repetitious refrains -- were understood as useful mnemonic devices. The most celebrated ballads are found in England and Denmark as the merits of the musical ballads of England and Denmark took on artistic fashion and were composed with a great deal of seriousness and self-conscious discipline.

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Opera, which is the plural of "opus" or work, is still considered by many the most complete artistic form. (Combinations of holography and virtual reality "may" influence this assessment of opera at a later date, but not yet.) Opera is a complete theatrical production including the plastic arts, sonorous arts and performing arts; painting, scenery and adaptive architecture; musical scores; dramatic presentation of the story. Operas are staged musical dramas in which the dialogue is primarily sung, accompanied by an ensemble of instruments or full orchestra and performed for the audience with complete theatrical components. Operas can and usually do include solos for primary characters, arias, duets, ensembles and choral works as well as ballets and other dance forms. The study of opera can easily contend with history, social mores and musical innovations, as well as production values, art production and theatrical (special) effects.

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Operetta literally means "little work" but should not necessarily be considered diminutive in length. Operettas, composed more for the entertainment of the public than anything else, usually lasted from one to two hours and therefore may be considered shorter than many operas which lasted four hours; however, most major operas do not last that long. (On the average, however, operettas are shorter than grand operas.) Most operettas are light regarding story lines focusing on the sentimental, comic, or farcical. Most have elements of humor within their content. Operettas became prevalent during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and contain spoken dialogue, choruses and "aria"-like pieces as well as dances and a great deal less formality than opera seria or grand opera. Musical theatre and film musicals can be understood as a continuation of the operetta tradition.

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Extensive compositions, like symphonies, are often divided into smaller sections or movements. Each movement can be played independently of the larger work to which they belong because of their separate key signatures, structures, and tempos. In the course of playing symphonies, oratorios, cantatas, sonatas, concertos, et cetera, each movment is separated by a pause before the piece continues. (Exception "attacca" when the composer intends for one movement to meld into another.)

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Though a suite is a set of related musical compositions designed to be performed together there is little that actually holds the disparate pieces together. Descriptively suites are often declared to be related by key or theme which rarely occurs but most suites, fortunately or not, do not have this characteristic. They can be written for a single instrument, an instrument with accompaniment, ensemble and even full orchestral suites. Suites have been composed by Bach, Handel, Telemann, Mozart, Holst, Debussy et alia. Historically, the most common element of suites is the pattern of three or four specific dances that are intended to be performed in sequence. The strictest form was the allemande, followed by a courante, sarabande and gigue. Other variations occur but this pattern lasted throughout the Baroque era and influenced the composition of future suites. The term suite is also used to refer to a collection of pieces taken from the corpus of a larger work. The body from which the pieces are taken may be an opera or ballet. Many people have heard versions of the "Nutcracker Suite" by Tchaikovsky but have failed to realize that they are not listening to the entire ballet. This is one of the problems involved in this understanding of the suite; it is rarely clarified.

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Rondos are compositions that occur with many sections or movements based on a recurring theme or section that is always in the tonic key. The primary section alternates with the subsidiary sections which are often composed in relative keys and referred to as couplets. The standard serial rondo was composed in the form ABACABA where A represents the "rondo" theme and B and C represent the couplets. Other structures include ABACAD and ABACBA.

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A "Requiem" is a mass for the dead. Musically this is a specific mass that has been set to music. Most Requiem masses were written to commemorate a specific person's death but requiems were composed by a number of persons who were coming to terms with their own maturity and finitude. Included in the Requiem mass are the following sections of both the Ordinary and Propers of the Mass: "Introit," "Kyrie," "Gradual," "Sequence (Dies irae)," "Offertory," "Sanctus," "Benedictus," "Agnus Dei," "Communion," and occasionally the "Absolution." During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the sequential "Dies irae" became a prominent part of the mass. Important Requiem composers included Mozart, Berlioz, Verdi, and Brahms.

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"Part" can refer to a smaller section of any given larger work. For example, a symphony is often written in three or more movements. Each movement can be discerned as a "part" of the symphony. "Part" also refers to any given voice in a composition whether it be vocal or instrumental. Mixed choruses are often composed for Sopranos, Altos, Tenors and Basses (SATB). In this case each different vocal register can be understood as a part. In an ensemble vocal work the solo voices (SATB) are also considered parts. Scoring a full orchestra results in a number of different staffs devoted to single instrument groupings and their family members. Strings, for example, in an orchestral score include first violins, second violins, violas, violoncellos, and double basses. Each individual staff and scored instrument section is considered a "part" -- the "part" for the first violins. Likewise throughout the score. In an orchestral score, including instruments and chorus, there may be twenty to thirty different "parts" or levels of involvement. Each separate "voice" is a part of the integral whole.

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A perpetual canon for three or more voices is a round. It is written in a unison as distinguished from a harmonized work or polyphonic composition. The melody begins with one voice and when it has reached a certain point, the next voice joins in beginning at the beginning while the first voice continues. Likewise with the third voice in relation to the second voice and the fourth voice in relation to the third voice. If the first voice returns to the beginning at a point in which another voice is joining, they are singing the same part and the round will contain no more voicings. It is difficult to write a round that will include more successive voicings beyond the third or fourth entrance for all voices must enter before the first voice is ready to being again. Rounds can continue as long as the people participating in it wish it to continue. Ordinarily there is an agreed number of times that the round is sung (three to five). Endings can vary from everyone singing (or playing) the round in unison from the beginning to stopping each part as they reach their respective final measure. The round then gives an impression of gradually fading out. "Row, row, row your boat" and "Three blind mice" are familiar rounds.

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Chases are most often associated with blues and jazz performances. Ordinarily they occur during improvisations where a melodic riff is played and other members in the band take up the theme. In playing the theme, however, the second, third and or fourth player will add additional phrases and try to outplay the other performers. Sometimes they will play the same line as if alternating choruses between the various instrumentalists and on other occasions they will be motivated and inspired by their partner's playing and make an attempt to keep the chase going. Session players will often trade such chases during jams, et alia.

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"Intro" is used as an abbreviation and as slang for introduction. It generally refers to the opening bars of a piece of music setting up the rest of the song. Intros do not indicate anything about the theme or main melodic line and often are set-up in contrast to the rest of the work. In popular music, good intros also act as hooks to stir people's interest in a song before they know what the rest of the song is about.

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In popular songs a verse is the section of the song in which different sets of words are sung to the same repeated melody. This is in contrast to a chorus in which the words and melody are both repeated.

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Meaning "sounding together," these extended compositions for orchestra are most often arranged in many movements, three to five, or in one extensive movement with many partitions. There is no definitive symphonic form even though many of the movements in symphonies take on an extended sonata form. Inspired by the Baroque concerto ripieno the first symphony, even closely so named, was Alessandro Scarlatti's sinfonia. The initial important composer of the symphony was Giovanni Sammartini (c. 1700-1775). Most symphonies are for orchestras alone but to this also has been added the voice, chorus and solo instrumentalists.

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This instrumental piece involves musical passages played by the featured solo instrument, such as a piano or violin, set in contrast to passages played by either the accompanying ensemble alone, or, by the accompanying ensemble in combination with the soloist. The standard concerto form contains three movements, fast-slow-fast, and features one or more virtuoso cadenzas for the soloist.

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Music that is intended to be played in a room or small restricted concert area (as opposed to a large concert hall) and accordingly scored for a small ensemble of instruments or voices, is referred to as chamber music. It is much more intimate both in texture and in performance than orchestral pieces and does not even require a listening audience. The music is not written for critical acclaim but is usually written for its owns sake (similar to the sentiment expressed in the phrase "ars gratia artis"). Examples of chamber music include the piano trio, string quartet, piano quartet, piano quintet, string trio, string quintet, and the trio sonata. Chamber music is also referred to as parlor music as it was often played in people's homes and was often played among family members.

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Overtures are musical introductions to operas, acts of operas, ballets and other dramatic works. In the historical development of overtures, simple introductions were composed for each act of an opera. Eventually the process became more formalized and overtures were composed with movements, usually three, with varying tempos (fast-slow-fast, slow-fast-slow, et cetera). Though most overtures are composed free from formalized structures today, many were composed with the purpose and intention of familiarizing the audience with the music that was contained in the opera or ballet. Major musical themes from arias, choruses and duets would be promoted through the overture before the production began. Persons who are interested in discovering the themes to many different dramatic works may wish to listen to collections of overtures before experiencing an entire opera or ballet.

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Finale has been used since the mid-eighteenth century to refer to the last movement or section of a multi-movement symphony or any other piece of music with a multi-sectioned construct. Finales often brought pieces of music to a close including the finale of an opera which most often was the last scene. In less serious venues, finales have been given the name underture because they serve a similar function as an overture. Overtures are most often operatic opening movements in which a number of the themes in an opera are exposed. Finales, particularly in the nineteenth century, were used to summarize the themes of a particular work including etudes, symphonies and operas. Since the opening of an opera could be called "Over"ture the closing of the opera could fairly be called the "under"ture.

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"Bis" by the French, "Encore" by the English, using a French word, and "Bravo" by American audiences demanding that a piece be performed "again." It can be hailed immediately following a specific piece, but today is more often reserved for the end of a performance. The "encore" as a piece of music, is either a repeated number from the programmed music, the audience's favorite piece of music by a specific group, individual, orchestra, or operatic entourage, or the encore can be a prepared piece -- if the audience should demand an encore -- not scheduled on the program of music. It is easier for rock and roll bands to "fudge" on the encores as the concert tours rarely give an itinerary of songs to be performed before the audience.

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Music written for two voices or two pianos in which one part is not essentially subordinate to the other part are duets. When such music is written for two instruments without accompaniment the music is referred to as a duo. Ariosos in opera are often scored in duet fashion but true duets were present in operas, historically, since its inception. In operatic story-lines various duets can include the characters of the hero-heroine, hero-villain, heroine-villain, hero-companion, villain companion, et cetera. Interesting pairings and music has developed from the operatic duet. Mozart, Schubert, Spohr and Haydn made considerable contributions to the corpus of piano duets in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It must be understood that piano duets and "piano music for four hands" do differ considerably despite the characteristic of four hands playing at the same time.

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Cantatas are a vocal musical form developed during the Baroque period. The term cantata was first used in Italy to distinguish music that was intended to be sung from sonatas or instrumental music. Cantatas are occasionally intimate -- meant to be sung by a few soloists with a chamber ensemble as accompaniment -- but most often are large scale works with choruses, soloists, duets and orchestral accompaniment. Cantatas are a musical combination of arias, duets and choruses. Primarily written for sacred services the most familiar cantatas are those written by Bach. These were performed during the Lutheran worship service and the texts were usually written in German. Though most often dealing with sacred texts cantatas were scored for commemorative events outside of the church as well.

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This is a musical composition formula in which the melody, started by one voice or instrument, is then duplicated by an additional voice or instrument. The canon can continue with the addition of a number of different voices or parts but the more voices that are added the more complex the canon can become. It is possible, however, to alleviate the complexities by following the formula. Assonant triads are most often the resulting harmony and additional direct voice duplication occurs as more voices are added to the canon form. The triad simply has duplications of its notes provided every voice starts on the same initial tone. It is much more difficult when entrances are on relative harmonics. Generally when a new voice enters, it comes in singing (or playing) the same music and words one or two measures behind the original voice. Most of the time the entry pitch is the same. The canon is familiarily known as a "round" and is typified in the children's song, throughout the states at least, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat."

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During the late sixteenth century and into the seventeenth century partitas were variations on conventional melodies. By the end of the Baroque era, c. 1750, partita was used to denote a musical suite. By the classical period partita had developed into mixtures of dances and movements; most of the movements were in no recognizable formal structure. Most partitas were composed for keyboard instruments or chamber groups.

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This term is not to be mistaken with ballad. It is derived from the French, "ballada" which means to dance as does the root for ballad. However, this term strictly refers to French music of the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Like the rondeaux and verilai it was a dominant form of French song and poetry characterized by three stanzas with identical metrical and rhyme schemes and ending with the exact refrain. Initially it was simply a song intended for dancing extending back into the early thirteenth century at least. The underlying form of the ballade, from the thirteenth century and extending into the fifteenth century, was I-I-II. By the end of the thirteenth century the ballade form placed the refrain only in the final position and polyphonies began to appear. Heretofore all ballades had been monophonic. By the fourteenth century polyphony included different melodies and different texts being sung by two different voices. The complexities of the ballade variations evolved in such a manner that the only distinguishing characteristic of the ballade was the placement of the verses and refrains which also took on different characteristics. By the fifteenth century the ballade as a popular form was being replaced by the rondeaux. Complexities of the fourteenth century -- polyphony, syncopation, melisma, et cetera --- were replaced by a return to the more simplistic form of the ballade with the exception of an instrumental introduction. Ballade also was used in the nineteenth century by composers such as Chopin to refer to piano pieces with compound meters, programmatic melodic lines, changes in thematic devices, and rich harmonies with powerful apexes in the music.

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Variations on a theme qualifies as a specific type of composition. Themes are often taken from melodic lines of short pieces of music as Beethoven did with a melody that is now identified as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Changes in the original structure of the piece of music are known as variations. Generally they are quite pronounced and can include changes in the bass, melodic revoicing -- putting the melody in another harmonic level, harmonic variations, expansions and contractions in the length of phrases within the melody, et cetera. In the process of writing variations on themes a number of different independent pieces of music result. They are often played together, however, as if they were one composition with little more than a full measured rest between each variation. The most familiar set of variations on a theme are probably Bach's "Goldberg Variations."

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The term rhapsody is derived from the Greek "rhapsoidos" -- a person who recited epic poetry. Most of the ancient Greeks who recited poetry sang their verses. Later it came to refer to specific sections of epics that were recited. The term was later borrowed by musicians of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to refer to instrumental works that had no specific structure, content or methodology associated with their composition. Common elements of rhapsodies include pieces composed for the piano, works indicative of strong moods, and reflections upon and assimilation's of musical folk elements and nationalistic themes.

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A musical link between two different sections of a piece of music. In the standard 32-bar song, for example, which contains four 8-bar sections, A-A-B-A, the B section of that song is called the bridge. A-A-B-A structures are common to certain sonata and symphonic forms as well and the bridge is often a passage of music from the tonic key into the dominant or subdominant, relative minor (or major) or distant minor (or major). The transitory musical passage, the bars of modulation, are referred to as a bridge in the music. Synonymous terms for the bridge are "channel" or "release."

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Oratorios, from the word for a prayer hall, oratory, are musical compositions written on the basis of a sacred text, story or religious subject. Oratorios are not dramatic performances and therefore do not include staging, scenery or costuming. There is no spoken dialogue in the content of an oratorio though monologues may occasionally be spoken. Oratorios are performed in concert with instrumental accompaniment ranging from a keyboard instrument to a full orchestra. The music is most often arranged for a combination of chorus, ensemble and soloists with an emphasis on narration rather than drama. The best known oratorio is Handel's "Messiah" and the first acknowledged oratorio as such was Carisimmi's "Jephta" in 1650 though lesser forms and compositions preceded it.

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There is little distinction, if any, found between comic opera and operetta. Comic operas contend with light and humorous subjects, in contrast to opera seria, and are referred to by the names opera comique (France), Singspiel (German), ballad opera (England), and tonadilla (Spain). The single most distinctive characteristic of comic opera is that this form includes spoken dialogue rather than recitatives. Opera Buffa, the Italian version of comic opera, employs the use of recitatives and is, accordingly, often not considered under the same rubric as comic opera. Other characteristics of comic opera include shorter stories than serious opera, the use of popular music, and people taken from different and diverse social strata. The work of Gilbert and Sullivan, arguably, is called operetta but could also be considered comic opera given the above characteristics.

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The etymology of madrigal is not distinct. It could mean "poem in the mother tongue" (matrigal) or "pastoral poem" (madrigal). As a musical term it was used initially to describe a fourteenth century Italian song that was scored in two or three parts. Examples of the first madrigals were composed by Mandini, da Bolgna and da Cascia. The verses themselves developed on a path that gave no indication concerning numbers but the standard lines were in alternating rhythms of seven and eleven. Italian madrigals, exemplified by the works of Arcadelt and Willaert, broadened the scope of this secular poetic song. Works now began to include polyphony in five parts, word painting and symbolism as well as chromatic effects particularly in the works of Monteverdi who traced the course of the madrigal in his seven volume work description. Madrigals had heretofore used imitative lines and forms but these developed into solo madrigals, duets, and trios accompanied by continuo. The English gave the idiom its own character (Weelkes, Wilbye, Morley, Byrd and Gibbons) by employing greater tonality and structural forms characteristic of English music. Other noted madrigalists included Palestrina and Gabrieli.

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Generally light in texture and varying in length between many stanzas and short songs, canzonettas were popular part-songs written during the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. Canzonettas were homophonically structured and very similar to the madrigal. In Germany and England the term was eventually applied to songs that were strophic in nature and solo pieces.

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This name for a short operatic aria was first used during the eighteenth century and carried over into nineteenth century operas as well. Originally the cavatina signified the first aria sung by a principal character in an opera. Later it was used to describe short arias with no da capo section. If the aria was a single strophe the song would end on a repetition of the first strophe. If the aria were built on a double strophe then it would repeat the first strophe and resolve on the tonic rather than the dominant chord.

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From the French for "study," designating a short solo instrumental piece written as a practice aid for certain techniques. Many etudes have been composed for the piano, guitar and flute. The pieces can demonstrate not only techniques but also performer's virtuosity. In some cases composers will use these studies to discover and ferret out a specific area of composition in which s/he has strengths to demonstrate -- or develop further -- or weaknesses to develop.

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