Books › Pronouncing dictionary of musical terms, giving the meaning, derivation, and pronunciation … of Italian, German, French, and other words; the names with date of birth and death and nationality of the leading musicians of the last two centuries; English vocabulary, with equivalents in Italian, Germ, 1896 › scan 30
Scan 30
Pronouncing dictionary of musical terms, giving the meaning, derivation, and pronunciation … of Italian, German, French, and other words; the names with date of birth and death and nationality of the leading musicians of the last two centuries; English vocabulary, with equivalents in Italian, Germ, 1896
64 lines. Read by computer on 24 September 2026. Printed page 26. See the scan on archive.org.
1Circulus (Lat.). A circle; the old sign for what was called perfect time, three beats in the measure; for imperfect time, two beats in the measure, the circle was broken in half, thus, C. It is from this the sign for common time is derived; it is not as is generally supposed the letter C.
3Cis (Ger.) (tsis). C sharp.
5Cithara (Gk.). An ancient lute.
7Citoli. Old name for the dulcimer.
9Civetteria (It.) (chee-vet-tee'-rea), con. With coquetry.
11Clairon (Fr.). Clarion.
13Clangtint. A term introduced by Tyndal to designate the quality of sounds (translation of Ger. Klangfarbe); means much the same thing as the French word timbre.
15Claque bois (Fr.) (clack boa). The xylophone; in German, Strohfiedel; straw fiddle. Italian, Organo di legno. Graduated strips of hard wood laid on supports made of straw, played by striking with small hammers held in the hands.
17Clarabella. An eight-foot soft organ-stop.
19Clarabel Flute. The same stop when of four-foot tone.
21Clarichord. An old variety of the harpsichord.
23Clarinet or Clarionet (a little clarion). A wind instrument with a beating reed, invented in 1654 by Denner. The compass of the clarinet is from E third space bass to the second C above the treble (the highest octave is rarely used). Clarinets are made in several keys; those used in the orchestra are in C, B♭ and A; the B♭ clarinet sounds a whole tone lower than the written notes, the A clarinet a minor third lower; alto and bass clarinets are also used, the former in F and Eb, the latter an octave below the ordinary clarinet. The clarinet has four well-marked registers: the first, or chalumeau, extends from the lowest note to the octave above; second to B♭ in treble staff; third to C above treble staff; fourth the rest of the compass.
25Clarinetto (It.), Klarinette (Ger.), Clarinette (Fr.). The clarinet.
27Clarino (It.) (clah-ree-no). Clarion or trumpet; an organ-stop; four-foot reed.
29Claviatur or Klaviatur (Ger.) (kla-fee-a-toor'). Keyboard.
31Clavicembalo (It.) (cla-vee-chem'-ba-lo). keyed dulcimer; the harpsichord.
33Clavichord. An instrument resembling a square piano. The strings were vibrated by forcing wedge-shaped pieces of brass called tangents against them. By depressing the keys, the tangent acted both as a means of vibrating the string and as a bridge. When the finger was raised, the string was damped by a piece of woolen cloth wrapped round it, between the tangent and the pin-block. The chief interest in this obsolete instrument is the fact that it was the favorite of J. S. Bach.
35Claviçon (Fr.) (cla-vee-soong) [from Lat. clavis, a key]. The harpsichord.
37Clavicytherium. A variety of harpsichord.
39Clavier or Klavier (Ger.) (klah-feer'). (1) Keyboard. (2) Used as a name for the piano-forte.
41Clavier (Fr.) (klah-vee-eh). An organ manual.
43Clavierauszug (Ger.) (klah-feer-ows-tsoog). A pianoforte score or edition.
45Clef [from Lat. clavis, a key]. A sign placed on the staff to indicate the names and pitch of the sounds. Three clefs are used in modern music: (1) The treble or G clef, also called violin clef; this is now always placed on the second line. (2) The C clef:—
47this clef, when on first line, is called soprano clef; on second line, mezzo-soprano clef; on third line, alto clef, also viola or alto trombone clef; on fourth line, tenor clef; used also for upper notes of violoncello and bassoon. The C clef always signifies middle C; that is, C that lies between the fifth line bass staff and first line treble staff. Bass or F clef, placed on the fourth line, occasionally on the third, when it is called the baritone clef; used for bass voices and all bass instruments.
49Cloche (Fr.) (closh). A bell.
51Clochette (Fr.) (closhet'). A small bell.
53Close Harmony. When the sounds forming the chords are drawn together as much as possible.
55No. 1, close harmony; No. 2, open harmony.
57Cimarosa, Dominico (chee-mah-ro-sah). Composer; Italy. B. 1749; d. 1801.
59Clapisson, Antonie L. (clah-pee-song). Composer and pianist; Italy. B. 1808; d. 1866.
61Clarke, Hugh A. Theorist and composer; Canada. B. 1839.
63Clay, Frederick. Composer; England. B. 1840; d. 1889.
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