Six suites for harpsichord by Bach, BWV 806-11, usually considered to date from the Cöthen years (1717-23), but perhaps composed in Weimar ca. 1715. Each suite opens with an extended prelude. The title English Suites was not used by Bach himself, so far as is known, and its origins remain obscure.
Monthly Archives: February 2014
funebre [It.]
angelica [It.]
(Fr. angélique; Eng. angel lute) An archlute of the 17th and 18th centuries with 16 or 17 single gut strings tuned diatonically, D to e’. Played like a harp, it was popular with amateurs because of the full, clear, sustained tone of the open plucked strings.
amore, con; amorevole; amoroso [It.]
With love, lovingly. Instruments with names including the phrase d’amore are usually thought to have an especially mellow tone; in the case of stringed instruments this is usually attributable to the presence of *sympathetic strings in addition to the strings actually played upon.
dynamics
That aspect of music relating to degrees of loudness.
maestoso [It.]
Majestic.
medley
A succession of well-known melodies loosely connected to one another; sometimes synonymous with *potpourri. The term was used in the 16th century, especially by the *virginalists. It is now applied principally to popular music, especially to a selection of tunes from a musical or made popular by a particular performer. The overtures of light operas and musicals are often medleys of the most prominent melodies in the associated work.
cheville [Fr.]
In stringed instruments, a tuning peg; in the piano, a tuning or wrest pin.
alla breve [It.]
Cut time (2/2).
Shreya's Musical Term of the Day 