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Scan 31
A dictionary of musical terms, 1889
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1ALTRA—AMBROSIAN TE DEUM.
3specimens of art in these two styles, the alto voice will always be cultivated in England until such time as the Glee and Anthem cease to exist. The cultivation of the Part-song has almost superseded the use of the alto voice in modern music, for the upper part in this class of composition is given to tenor voices, and the difficulty in producing the notes of the higher register so far influences the character of the music written, that many of the part-songs for male voices are of a bold, boisterous style, entirely different to that of the glee, which by reason of the peculiarity of the alto voice is of a more quiet character, depending in a great measure for its effect upon delicate and expressive singing. Many composers of eminence have completely ignored the alto voice, whether male or female, a quantity of music for Church use being written for treble, tenor, and bass, as by Cherubini and others.
5In quality and power of expression the female alto voice is peculiar, and unlike any other voice. Its character is grave, tender, spiritual, and moving, and is admirably adapted to express emotions of dignity, grandeur, and piety. The male alto being an artificial voice, its usefulness is of limited duration, for when the singer is past fifty years of age the voice becomes harsh, reedy, nasal, and the break is painfully apparent.
7Alt-Posaune (Ger.) The alto trombone.
8Altra, fem., Altri, pl., Altro, mas. (It.) Other, another, others.
9Altschlüssel (Ger.) Alto clef.
10Altviole (Ger.) [Alto Viola.]
11Alzamento di mano (It.) Raising the hand in conducting.
12Alzando (It.) Lifting up, raising, elevating.
14Altzeichen (Ger.) The alto clef,
16Amabile (It.) Lovely, gentle, tender.
17Amabilità, con (It.) With gentleness, tenderness.
18Amarevole (It.) Sad, bitter.
19Amarezza, con (It.) With sadness.
20Amarissimamente (It.) Very bitterly.
21Amarissimo (It.) Very bitterly.
22In a mournful, sorrowful style.
24Amateur (Fr.) A lover of music; one who pursues the practice of any art for pure love, in distinction to one who is engaged in its employment for pay.
26Ambira (Afr.) A kind of drum or pulsatile instrument, made of wood, in cylindrical form, upon which a series of tongues of iron, cane, or wood are so arranged that they may be made to vibrate upon pressure. The Ambira is used by the negroes of Senegambia and Guinea.
28Ambitus (Lat.) (lit. circuit.) The compass of an ancient church tone. The word is, however, used sometimes in a more extended sense than our word compass, as it is made to signify the proper steps which lie between the extreme limits of the tone—"Toni debitus ascensus et descensus." The rules (regulæ) which govern the ambitus depend upon the position of the final of the tone, and although much elaborated in mediæval treatises, their force seems to be that the proper ambitus should (regulariter) not exceed the octave (diapason) included between the highest note of the mode above the final and the lowest below it, except "by licence" (licentialiter). These dispensations only allow the introduction of three notes outside the ambitus in each direction, an authentic mode being allowed a descent to the lowest note of its corresponding plagal tone; a plagal tone being allowed to ascend to the highest note of its corresponding authentic. This fact, simple enough in itself, is cleverly put into a shape as unintelligible as possible in the following lines, framed for the supposed assistance of the student:
30"Undenis gradibus vult juste vadere prothus.
31Per sex et quinas claves vult deuterus ire.
32Octo tribus gradibus vult juste cepere tritus.
33Per sex quinque gradus juste capit ire tetrardus."
35Ambo or Ambon (Gk., ἀμβων from ἀναβαίνω.) A desk or pulpit. The raised platform in Eastern churches, on which the singers mounted when they sang. A canon of the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 360-370) decreed that no one should sing in the church besides the regular singers (πλην των κανονικων ψαλτων), who ascended the ambo and sang from the parchment (ἀπο διφθερας). This early attempt to bring about the separate performance of trained choir-singers did not obtain any favour in the Western churches of that period, and with the introduction of congregational song, the ambo became disused.
37Ambrosian Chant. The system of church-song introduced by Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, in the fourth century. It formed the basis of the Gregorian system. [Plain Song.]
39Ambrosian Hymn. The "Te Deum" so-called, because, by some, its authorship is attributed to Bishop Ambrose.
41Ambrosian Te Deum. A musical setting of the Te Deum in plain-song, called after Bishop Ambrose because of its antiquity and the possibility of its having been the first setting of the Hymn after the introduction of properly-regulated song into Christian worship. Marbecke, who adapted it to English words, chose a simple setting, and a comparison between his version and others will be found interesting. Meibomius (in his well-known work, Ant. Mus. Auct. Septem. 1652), published it with Greek notation, as an ex-
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