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Scan 98
Harvard Dictionary Of Music, 1944
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1BEC
3effect such as illustrated in Example 2 (Beethoven, Piano Sonatas opp. 106 and 110; also op. 69, op. 59, no. 2, op. 133 for violin) is a (slow) *tremolo (ondulé), not a vibrato. See *Tie.
5Bec [F.]. The mouthpiece of the clarinet or recorder [see *Mouthpiece (b), (d)].
7Bécarre [F.]. See *Accidentals.
9Becken [G.]. *Cymbals.
11Bedächtig [G.]. Thoughtfully, with moderation.
13Bedeutend [G.]. With importance.
15Bedrohlich [G.]. Menacingly.
17Be fa, Befa. See *Hexachord III.
19Beggar's Opera, The. See under *Ballad opera.
21Begleitung [G.]. Accompaniment.
23Behaglich [G.]. Comfortably, agreeably.
25Behend [G.]. Nimbly, quickly.
27Beherzt [G.]. "With heart," courageously.
29Beisser [G., "biter"]. Eighteenth-century name for the *mordent [from L. mordere, to bite].
31Bel [from Alexander Graham Bell]. A scientific unit for the measurement of loudness, i.e., the subjective reaction to intensity of sound. Loudness varies with the logarithm of intensity; this means that 20 violins playing with equal individual intensities are only 1.3 times louder than 10, and 100 violins only twice as loud as 10 (log 20 = 1.301; log 100 = 2). One-tenth of a bel is called a decibel (db); this represents the smallest change in loudness that the ear can detect. The sounds used in practical music vary from c. 25 db (softest violin tone) to 100 db (fortissimo of the full orchestra). Cf. John Mills, A Fugue in Cycles and Bels (1935); Stevens and Davis, Hearing (1938), pp. 450ff.
33BELGIAN MUSIC
35Bel canto [It., beautiful singing]. The term denotes the Italian vocal technique of the 18th century with its emphasis on beauty of sound and brilliancy of performance, rather than dramatic expression or Romantic emotion. In spite of the repeated reactions against the bel canto (Gluck, Wagner) and in spite of the frequent exaggeration of its virtuoso element (coloraturas), it must be considered as a highly artistic technique and as the only proper one for Italian opera and for Mozart. Its early development is closely bound up with that of the Neapolitan opera (Al. Scarlatti, Porpora, Jommelli, Hasse, Piccinni). See *Singing I.
37Lit.: G. B. Lamperti, Technics of Bel Canto (New York); H. Klein, The Bel Canto (1923); H. Goldschmidt, Die Italienische Gesangsmethode des 17. Jahrhunderts (1892); B. Ulrich, Die altitalienische Gesangsmethode (1933); G. Silva, "The Beginnings of the Art of Bel Canto" (MQ viii).
39Belebend [G.]. Becoming animated.
41Belebt [G.]. Animated.
43Belgian music. The present article deals with the musical history of the Catholic (southern, Flemish) part of the Low Countries, as distinguished from that of the Protestant (northern, Dutch) part, the Netherlands. The highly important role which Belgium played in the earlier history of music is greatly obscured by the name "Netherlands School" which is widely used for a school of 15th- and 16th-century composers nearly all of whom came from Belgium [see *Flemish School]. This great period during which Belgian musicians held leading positions everywhere in Europe was followed, after 1600, by a long period of low ebb. Only in the field of organ music did Belgium produce composers of some historical significance, e.g., Charles Luython (c. 1550-1620), Pieter Cornet (fl. 1600-25), Giovanni de Macque (d. 1614; see *Neapolitan School II), Charles Guillet (d. 1654), Abraham Kerckhoven (c. 1627 — after 1673), Jean-Baptiste Loeillet (1680-1730), and Joseph-Hector Fiocco (1703-41)
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