Books › A dictionary of musical terms, 1891 › scan 31
Scan 31
A dictionary of musical terms, 1891
48 lines. Read by computer on 16 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Catena di trilli (I.) A chain, or succession, of short vocal or instrumental shakes.
2Catgut. The material of which the strings of many musical instruments are formed; it is made from the intestines of the sheep and the horse, but never from those of the cat.
3Cathedral music. Music which has been composed to suit the form of service used in our cathedrals since the Reformation. It includes settings of canticles and of anthems.
4Catlings. The smallest sized lute-strings.
5Cauda (L.) The tail of a note.
6Cavaletta (I.) [Cabaletta.]
7Cavaletto (I.) (1) A little bridge. (2) The break in the voice.
8Cavalquet (F.) A trumpet-signal to cavalry.
9Cavata (I.) [Cavatina.]
10Cavatina (I.) A melody of a more simple form than the aria. A song without a second part and a "Da capo."
11Cebell. An air or theme in common time of four-bar phrases, forming a subject upon which to execute "divisions" upon the lute or violin.
12Celere (I.) Quick, swift.
13Celerità, con (I.) With speed, haste. Quickly.
14Céleste (F.) A direction for the use of the soft pedal.
15—— voix (F.) A stop on the organ or harmonium. [Vox Angelica.]
16Celli. Abbreviation of violoncelli.
17Cello. Abbreviation of violoncello.
18Cembalista (I.) A pianoforte-player.
19Cembalo. A harpsichord.
20Cembanella} (I.) A pipe or flute.
21Cennamella} Cento (L.) Patchwork. A musical Centone (I.) work made up of extracts from an author's compositions, as a cento was from an author's poems: cf. Pasticcio.
22Cercar la nota (I.) To feel for a note, to reach it by slurring.
23Cervalet or Cervelat. An ancient reed wind instrument, in tone similar to the bassoon.
24Ces (G.) The note C flat.
25Ces dur (G.) The key of C flat major.
26Cetera (I.) A citara or guitar.
27Chacona (S.) A slow dance in 3/4 time, Chaconne (F.) frequently constructed Ciaccona (I.) upon a ground bass, and sometimes formerly introduced as a movement of a sonata. [Chica.]
28Chair organ. A name given to the prestant or choir-organ.
29Chalameau or Chalumeau (F.) Stem, or straw-pipe, from the Latin calamus, a reed. The lower register of the clarinet and the basset-horn is called the chalumeau tone.
30Chal. or Chalumeau, in clarinet music is used to show that the passage is to be played an octave lower than it is written. The music is restored to its proper pitch by the sign Clar. or Clarinet.
31Chalil. [Khalil.]
32Chamber music. Vocal or instrumental compositions suitable for performance in a chamber, as opposed to a concert-room.
33Chang. A Persian harp.
34Changeable chant. A single or double chant which can be sung either in the major or minor mode.
35Changer de jeu (F.) To alter the stops on an organ or harmonium.
36Change-ringing. [Changes.]
37Changes. The altered melodies produced by varying the order of a peal of bells.
38Changing notes. Passing notes or discords which occur on the accented parts of a bar.
39Chanson (F.) (1) A song. (2) A national melody. (3) A part-song.
40Chansonnette (F.) A little song.
41Chant. A short musical composition to which the Canticles and the prose version of the Psalms are sung, either in unison or in four-part harmony. There are two kinds of chant in common use—the Anglican and the Gregorian. Anglican chants are chiefly of two sorts, single and double. A single chant is in two strains, the first of three, and the second of four bars. A double chant has the length of two, a triple chant of three, and a quadruple chant of four, single ones. A Gregorian chant consists of five parts—the intonation, reciting-note, mediation, second reciting-note, and the ending. There are eight Gregorian tones used in chanting, each having various mediations or endings.
42Chant (F.) (1) Song, tune. (2) The voice part or melody.
43—— en ison, or Chant égal (F.) (1) A species of chant, consisting of two sounds only, which was adopted by many of the old religious orders. (2) Monotone.
44—— Grégorien (F.) Plain-song.
45—— pastoral (F.) A shepherd's song, or melody in imitation of one.
46—— sur le livre (F.) A system of descant by which the part sung by one voice could be accompanied by another voice in counterpoint more or less free, according to the movement of the canto fermo.
47Chantant (F.) Singing, musical, as café chantant, a musical coffee-house.
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