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Scan 143
A dictionary of musical terms, 1889
36 lines. Read by computer on 12 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Dolcissimo (It.) With the utmost degree of sweetness.
2Dolente, dolentemente, dolentissimo, con dolore, con duolo, doloroso (It.) In a plaintive, sorrowful style; with sadness.
3Dolzflöte (Ger.) The old German flute, with seven ventages and one key.
4Domchor (Ger.) The choir or body of singers in a cathedral church, usually consisting of boys and men.
5Dominant. (1) The fifth degree of the scale. [Harmony.] (2) The reciting note of Gregorian chants. [Chant.]
6Dominante (Fr.) Dominant.
7Donna, prima (It.) The principal female singer in an opera.
8Doppelbe (Ger.) A double flat, bb.
9Doppelflöte (Ger.) An organ stop, consisting of wood pipes having each two mouths.
10Doppelfuge (Ger.) A double fugue; a fugue with two subjects. [Fugue.]
11Doppelgeige (Ger.) One of the names by which the viol d’amour, q.v., is known in Germany.
12Doppelgriffe (Ger.) Double-stopping on a violin; playing on two strings at once.
13Doppelkreuz (Ger.) A double sharp x.
14Doppelschlag (Ger.) A double beat or grace note. [Beat.]
15Doppio (It.) Double, e.g., doppio movimento, at double the pace; doppio pedale, the pedal part in octaves.
16Dopo (It.) After.
17Dorian mode. [Greek Music.] [Plain Song.]
18Dorien (Fr.) Dorian.
19Dot. (1) A point added to a note, or rest, which lengthens its value by one-half, e.g.: is equal to ; is equal to . When a second dot follows the first (when the note or rest is doubly dotted), the second dot adds one-half of the value of the previous dot e.g.: . is equal to ; . is equal to . A dot was called the point of addition (punctus), hence a dotted note was called formerly a pricked note; this expression must not, however, be connected with prick-song, which signifies written music, as opposed to music sung by ear.
20(2) When placed over a note, the dot is a direction that the note is to be played or sung staccato.
21(3) When two or four dots are placed in the spaces of the stave, on either side of two double bars, they are a direction to repeat so much of the music as is enclosed between them.
22(4) When placed under a slur, dots are a direction to play spiccato, that is, in violin playing, played by the same bow, but the bow must remain stationary between each sound. From violin music the term has been transferred to that for the pianoforte, and sometimes for the voice.
23(5) A system of Tablature for wind instruments, the dot system; [Tablature.]
24(6) Dots were formerly placed over a note to show its subdivision into lesser repeated notes, e.g., would be equal to .
25Double (Fr.) A turn:
26Written. Performed.
27Double. (1) An old term for a variation. In some of Handel’s harpsichord lessons, the variations of a theme are marked Double 1, Double 2, &c. A variation on a dance tune is called a double. (2) The repetition of words in singing was also called the “doubles or ingeminations thereof.” (3) An artist who understudies a part in an opera, that is, who prepares a part on the chance of the accidental absence of the principal. (4) That which is an octave below the unison in pitch, e.g., double-bass, an instrument whose sounds are an octave below those of the violoncello; double-bassoon, an instrument similarly sounding an octave below the bassoon; double-diapason, an organ stop of 16-ft. pitch.
28Double action. [Harp.]
29Double backfall. An ornament in old music, e.g.:
30Written. Played.
31Double bar. A sign formed of two single bars showing (1) the end of a piece, (2) the end of a movement of a work, (3) the end of a portion to be repeated, (4) the commencement of a change of key, (5) the commencement of a change of time, (6) the end of a line of words set to music, as in a hymn tune. [Bar.]
32Double-bass. Violone (It.) Contre-basse (Fr.) The largest of the stringed instruments played with a bow. The strings are usually tuned a fourth apart to the following notes when three strings are employed:
33with the addition of the lower E:
34when there are four strings. The compass generally written for the instrument extends to the upper F:
35with every intermediate semitone from its lowest note. The actual sounds produced are an octave lower than written, hence the double
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