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Scan 26
Harvard Dictionary Of Music, 1944
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1of the lower parts, by the occasional introduction of fugal elements, by the occasional shift of the melody from the higher part into a lower part, etc. This style is particularly evident in the quartets written in this period. Because of these efforts Beethoven was able to say of himself: "Ich bin mit einem obligaten Accompaniment auf die Welt gekommen." What Haydn and Mozart did in the field of instrumental music, Schubert achieved in the field of song, by freeing the pianoforte accompaniment from the slavery of mere chord-filling and making it an independent, sometimes the most interesting, part of the composition. Composers such as Schumann, Brahms, and H. Wolf adopted his method, whereas others (e.g., Tchaikovsky) rarely went beyond a chordal accompaniment in lush harmonies of a rather ephemeral interest. More recent composers (Mahler, Strauss) have repeatedly used the whole orchestra as an instrumental background for a solo singer.
3V. The extraordinary growth of accompanied melody as it occurs in the songs of the 19th century has had a deplorable effect upon the minds of musical scholars and editors engaged in the study and publication of early monophonic music, such as Greek music, exotic melodies, Gregorian chant, the songs of the trouvères, Minnesinger, etc. Numerous volumes have been published in which the melodies of the pre-Christian era or of the Middle Ages are coupled with cheap accompaniments in the styles of Schumann, Brahms, or Debussy. Even well-known scholars have not withstood this temptation [cf., e.g., O. Fleischer, Reste der altgriechischen Tonkunst (1899)]. More recent attempts to give these accompaniments an "antique" air [see reference under *Quartal harmony] are only more dangerous and misleading. For literature on the 17th-century accompaniment see *Thorough-bass. See also *Additional accompaniment.
5Accord [F.]. (1) Chord.—(2) Manner of tuning, especially that of instruments such as the lute for which various systems of tuning were in use during the 17th century [cf. WoHN ii, 91; ApNPM, 71f]. See *Scordatura.
7Accordare [It.], accorder [F.]. To tune.
9Accordatura [It.]. See *Accord (2).
11Accordion. A portable musical instrument consisting of a rather large rectangular bellows with reeds in the two headboards. It has pushed-out and drawn-in reeds, the former sounding by expiration, the latter by inspiration. The modern accordion has a piano keyboard at the right side for the playing of melody notes, while buttons on the left side operate bass notes and full chords. The earliest instruments of this type were made by Buschmann (1822), Buffet (1827), and Damian (1829).
13A similar instrument, preferred to the accordion in England, is the concertina invented by Wheatstone in 1829. This is of hexagonal shape and is provided at each side with a number of studs. It possesses a full chromatic scale and produces the same note whether the bellows are pressed or drawn. Artistically, this instrument is superior to the accordion. A good deal of solo music has been written for it by virtuosos such as G. Regondi, W. B. Molique, G. A. Macfarren, and E. Solas, and it has occasionally been used in the orchestra (Tchaikovsky, Orchestral Suite op. 53). The bandoneon is an Argentine variety of the accordion with buttons on each side, each of them for a single tone.
15Accordo [It.]. Chord.
17Accusé [F.]. With emphasis.
19Achromatic. *Diatonic.
21Achtel, Achtelnote, Achtelpause [G. achtel, one-eighth]. See *Notes and rests.
23Achtfuss [G.]. Eight-foot (stop) [see *Foot (2)].
25Acoustic bass (also called resultant bass). On organs, a 32-foot stop which
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