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Scan 18
Pronouncing dictionary and condensed encyclopedia of musical terms, instruments, composers and important works, 1880
74 lines. Read by computer on 15 September 2026. Printed page 14. See the scan on archive.org.
1Con (Ital. kŏn), with. Con Brio, with spirit.
3Concert, a musical entertainment deriving its name from the concert of the musicians.
5Concerto (Ital. kon-tshār-tō. Ger. Concert, kŏn-saïrt). A solo piece for some instrument, with orchestral accompaniment. Classical concertos are written in sonata form.
7Concertante (Ital.) In style of a concerto.
9Concertini (kon-sur-tee-nä). A portable instrument of the accordion family. Is hexagonal in shape, a key-board at each end, and an expansive bellows between the two. Compass of three octaves, capable of great variety of effect.
11Concerted Music, music in which several instruments take important parts.
13Concert Meister (Ger. kon-sārt mīs-tēr). The leader of the first violins in an orchestra.
15Concert Spirituelle (Gr. kon-sair śpĪr-itoo-ēll'). Sacred concerts. A famous institution in France, consisting of "sacred" concerts on Sunday evenings in the opera house. From 1725 to 1791.
17Concert Pitch, the pitch usual at concerts—slightly higher than the ordinary pitch. See "diapason."
19Concone, Guiseppe (gwē sēp'-pē kon-kō'-nē), a well-known Italian composer of songs and exercises; best known by these and his duets. Born at Turin, 1810. D. 1861.
21Concord, see consonance.
23Conductor, director of a concert. It is the conductor's duty to study the score, correct the parts and see that they are clearly marked, beat time for the orchestra and chorus at rehearsal and performance, and generally be responsible for the due interpretation of the composer's intentions.
25Consecutive Fifths, parallel progression of two voices at the interval of a fifth. Universally forbidden, except an imperfect fifth following a perfect.
27Consecutive Octaves, parallel motion of two voices at the interval of an octave. Admissible when intended for strengthening a melodic phrase. The doublings which occur in the performance of a full score are unobjectionable if the four-part harmony is pure.
29Consequent, the more or less exact imitation of an antecedent. The second or concluding section in a period. (See Lessons x, xi and xii.)
31Con Sordini (Ital. kŏn sōr-dee-nee). With mutes. See Sordino.
33Conservatory, an institution for preserving and fostering musical culture. The principal conservatories in Europe are those at Leipsic, Stuttgart, Frankfort-on-the-Main, Paris, Berlin, etc.
35Consonance, the agreeable relation of sounds. Consonance depends on the frequency of coincident vibrations in the consonant tones. The most perfect consonances are the octave 2-1, the fifth 3-2, the fourth 4-3, the maj. third 5-4, the minor third 6-5, etc.
37Contra Bass, the double bass, the largest of the violin family. Also the name of a 16 ft. organ stop of metal pipes.
39Contra Dance, country dance. An English dance, in 2-4 or 6-8 time, consisting uniformly of eight measure phrases. Derives its name from the dancers being arranged over against one another (contre). A series of five or six contredances form a QUADRILLE.
41Contra Fagott (Ger.) The double bassoon.
43Contralto (Ital.) The lowest female voice, distinguished by depth and fullness of the chest registers. The head register is commonly difficult of use.
45Contrary Motion, a contrapuntal term signifying the movement of two voices in opposite directions, up and down.
47Cor, or Corno (Ital. kor-nō). A horn.
49Cor Anglais (Fr. kōr än-glā). English horn, a tenor oboe. It has a wailing and melancholy tone.
51Corda (Ital. kor-dā), a string, or chord. Una Corda, one string; i.e., with the soft pedal.
53Corelli, Arcangelo (ar-kăn'-gel-ō kōr-ell'-ee), an Italian violinist and composer, born 1653, died 1713. Author of many pleasing and melodic pieces for violin and string quartettes.
55Cornet, a brass instrument of the sax-horn family, with three valves. Also an organ stop of the "mixture" family, which see.
57Coro (Ital. kō'-rō). A chorus.
59Cosi Fan Tutti (kō'-see fān toot-ee). An opera buffa in two acts, libretto by Da Ponte, music by Mozart. 1790.
61Costa, Sir Michael (mik-ell kōs'-tā), the celebrated English conductor, born at Naples in 1810. The composer of a number of operas. Costa became director of the Italian opera in London in 1833. Author of two oratorios, "Eli" and "Naaman," etc., etc.
63Cotillon (Fr. ko-tīl'-yōn). A country dance.
65Cottage Piano, an upright piano-forte.
67Counterpoint, the "art of combining melodies," or of composing one or more independent melodies capable of serving as accompaniment to a given subject called the cantus firmus. See Lesson v. Double counterpoint is one which may be inverted in the octave, tenth, twelfth, etc., without giving rise to faulty progressions. The interval of the inversion gives the name to the counterpoint, as "of the octave," "of the 10th," "the 12th," etc. The best practical treatises on C. are those of Ritcher, Lobe, and Dr. Bridges.
69Counter subject, the principal counterpoint to the "subject" in fugue. Each voice on completing the subject takes up the counter-subject, while the answering voice takes the subject (or answer).
71Couperin, François, called "Le Grande," a French composer of clavecin music, who exercised important influence on his successors. 1668-1733.
73Coupler, a mechanical device for connecting the keys of two key-boards on an organ so that they may be played as one. The usual couplers are "swell to great," "choir to great" (played from "great"), "swell to choir" (played from "choir"), "swell," "great," and "choir to pedals" (played from pedals). There are also super-octave and sub-octave couplers acting on another octave of the attached key-board.
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