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Scan 137
A dictionary of musical terms, 1889
51 lines. Read by computer on 12 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Thou know'st (O searcher of all hearts) how I,
2With right-downright-sincere-sincerity,
3Have longed long to do some little good
4(According to the best I understood),
5With Thy rich talent, though by me made poor;
6For which I grieve, and will do so no more,
7By Thy good grace assisting, which I do
8Most humbly beg for: Oh adjoin it to
9My longing ardent soul; and have respect
10To this my weak endeavour; and accept
11(In Thy great mercy) both of it, and me,
12Ev'n as we dedicate ourselves to Thee."
14This is followed by "An epistle to all divine readers, especially those of the discenting ministry, or clergy, who want not only skill, but good-will to this most excelling-part of divine service, viz., singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, to the praise of the Almighty, in the publick assemblies of His saints; and yet more particularly to all great and high persons, supervisors, masters, or governors of the Church (if any such should be) wanting skill, or good-will thereunto."
16In 1713 Mattheson published a sonata "dedicated to the person who will best perform it," and if it were necessary, many curious instances of remarkable dedications might be quoted to swell the list, but one only must suffice. There is extant a composition by Samuel Wesley, containing a series of intended violations of musical grammar, all of which are duly pointed out, and the whole is dedicated "without permission to William Horsley, Esqre., Mus. Bac., fifth and eighth catcher in ordinary and extraordinary to the Royal Society of Musicians."
18Deductio (Lat.) The succession of notes as they appear in their proper places in the hexachords, which are in consequence called prima deductio, secunda, &c., up to septima. [Notation.]
20Deficiendo (It.) Gradually dying away.
21Dégré (Fr.) Degree of a scale.
22Degree of a scale. A step in the tone-ladder; it may consist of a semitone, a tone, or (in the minor scale) of an augmented tone.
23Degree in music. The rank or title conferred by an University on a candidate who has matriculated, and passed through the necessary examinations. They are of two kinds, Bachelor in (or of) Music, and Doctor of Music. The latter is generally taken by bachelors of several years standing, but in special cases candidates are allowed (by a grace) to accumulate, that is, take both degrees at the same time.
24Dehnung (Ger.) Expansion, extension.
25Dehnungstriche (Ger.) A long stroke with the bow.
26Délassement (Fr.) A light trifling entertainment.
27Deliberatamente (It.) Deliberately.
28Deliberato (It.) Deliberate.
30Del, della, delle, dello (It.) Of the; e.g., sopra il soggetto della fuga seguente, on the subject of the fugue which follows.
31Delicato, delicatamente (It.) Delicately; delicatissimo, very delicately; con delicatezza, with delicacy.
32Délicatesse (Fr.) Delicacy of performance.
33Delirio, con (It.) With excitement, with frenzy.
34Delyn (Welsh.) The harp.
35Démancher (Fr.) To cross hands, in pianoforte playing. To shift, in violin playing.
36Demande (Fr.) The subject, dux, or proposition of a fugue.
37Demi-baton (Fr.) A semi-breve rest.
38Demi-cadence (Fr.) A half cadence, or the cadence on the dominant. [Cadence.]
39Demi-jeu (Fr.) Half power. Mezzo forte, applied to organ or harmonium playing.
40Demi-mesure, demi-pause (Fr.) A minim rest.
41Demi-quart de soupir (Fr.) A demi-semiquaver rest.
42Demi-semiquaver. A note of the value of one-fourth of a quaver ♪
43Demi-soupir (Fr.) A quaver rest.
44Demi-ton (Fr.) A semitone.
45Demoiselle (Fr.) A coupler in the organ.
46Denis d'or. An instrument having a finger board like a piano, and pedals like an organ, capable of producing a vast number of different qualities of sound. It was invented in 1762 by Procopius Divis, in Moravia.
47Derivative. (1) The actual or supposed root or generator, from the harmonics of which a chord is derived. (2) A chord derived from another, that is, in an inverted state. An inversion.
48Des (Ger.) D flat.
49Descant, Discantus (Lat.) The addition of a part or parts to a tenor or subject. This art, the forerunner of modern counterpoint and harmony, grew out of the still earlier art of diaphony or the organum, of which it is necessary to give a slight sketch.
50Diaphony (διαφωνία) signified in Greek music discordant sounds or dissonance (voces discrepantes vel dissonae), as opposed to symphony (συμφωνία) consonance. But the term came afterwards to be applied to those first attempts at the harmonic combination of voices, and polyphony, which may be looked upon as the first life-pulse of modern harmony. It is indeed strange that the term diaphony should have been selected for these early efforts, for, crude and painful as they are to our ears, they gave undoubted pleasure to those who first listened to them, who speak of their "melodiæ suavitas" and "dulcis concentus;" moreover, diaphony was well known to signify dissonance, intervals being
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