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Scan 113
The New Encyclopedia Of Music And Musicians, 1929
46 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Obbligato. In a concerted passage or piece, an indication that a part (usually for an instrument) is required for the intended effect; opposed to ad libitum. Also the part itself that is thus required. G.
3The term is most used for a part for a solo-instrument (like a violin or flute) or for a solo-voice (like a soprano) added to an ensemble that might be considered complete without it.
5Obertas. See Dances. G.
7Oblique Motion. See Motion.
9Oboe. A general name for those wind-instruments that are sounded by means of a double or paired reed, as distinct from the clarinets, which have a single reed. The class includes many Oriental forms, the obsolete groups known as krummhorns, bombard and shawms, and several modern forms, including the bassoons and sarrusophones. Specifically, the present orchestral instrument, which has an opposed pair of cane-reeds held in place at the top of the tube by a ring or staple, a conical wooden tube nearly two feet long, made in three sections, of which the lowest flares somewhat into a bell, and with a variable number of finger-holes, mostly controlled by means of levers. Its range is nearly three octaves upward from just below middle c. The tone is peculiarly keen and penetrating, susceptible of much variation in force and somewhat in quality, so that it lends itself to the expression of both jocularity and pathos. In early aggregations of instruments members of the oboe-class were always prominent, being largely depended on for melody and sustained tone, and in the early 18th century, when the modern form began to be approached, the oboes formed a large section in the orchestra, almost like that of the violins now. After 1750, however, they were subordinated to the strings and developed more as individual elements in the wind-division. G. one of two readings
10Oboe. A general name for those wind-instruments that are sounded by means of a double or paired reed, as distinct from the clarinets, which have a single reed. The class includes many Oriental forms, the obsolete groups known as krummhorn, bombard and shawms, and several modern forms, including the bassoons and sarrusophones. Specifically, the present orchestral instrument, which has an opposed pair of cane-reeds held in place at the top of the tube by a ring or staple, a conical wooden tube nearly two feet long, made in three sections, of which the lowest flares somewhat into a bell, and with a variable number of finger-holes, mostly controlled by means of levers. Its range is nearly three octaves upward from just below middle c. The tone is peculiarly keen and penetrating, susceptible of much variation in force and somewhat in quality, so that it lends itself to the expression of both jocularity and pathos. In early aggregations of instruments members of the oboe-class were always prominent, being largely depended on for melody and sustained tone, and in the early 18th century, when the modern form began to be approached, the oboes formed a large section in the orchestra, almost like that of the violins now. After 1750, however, they were subordinated to the strings and developed more as individual elements in the wind-division. G. one of two readings
12The name is derived from the French hautbois, the wood-instrument with a high tone, whence also the English hautboy and the German hoboë. one of two readings
13The name is derived from the French hautbois, the wood-instrument with a high tone, whence also the English hautboy and the German hobo. one of two readings
15The modern oboe has been gradually evolved from the treble shawm, which had much thicker and broader reeds and a more stocky tube. The placing and manipulation of the holes have been modified since 1850 by many improvements, largely devised by Adolphe Bandet.
17At present, the oboe is the treble of the group that also includes the tenor-oboe or English horn and the bassoon. The English horn seems to have acquired its name by a corruption of the French cor angle (read cor anglais), which was due to the fact that its tube is bent at a slight angle. It serves as the tenor of the group, while between it and the oboe proper falls the oboe d'amore (or d'amour), pitched a third lower than the oboe and with a globular bell that imparts a somewhat somber quality to the tone. The oboe d'amore was much used in the 18th century and is sometimes revived now. Occasionally a baritone-oboe has been introduced, pitched a fifth higher than the bassoon.
19The obsolete oboe di caccia, tenoroon or fagottino is essentially a small form of bassoon, though often regarded as a low-pitched oboe.
21It is customary in orchestras to have the pitch set by the tone of the oboe—a custom that is supposed to go back to the time when oboes formed the center of the band.
23Ocarina. A small instrument of terracotta, having a hollow body shaped somewhat like that of a bird, a projecting whistle-like mouthpiece and a varying number of finger-holes. It has been made in several sizes, so as to form a family. G.
25In its common form the instrument seems to have originated in the Tyrol and its name is supposed to come from the Italian oca, a goose. But somewhat similar forms occur in different parts of the world.
27Ochetto, Ochetus. See Hocket. G.
29Octachord, Octochord. Either an 8-stringed instrument or a series of eight tones, as in an ordinary octave-scale.
31Octave. In acoustics, the simplest and most primary of tone-relations, being that between a tone and its first upper partial and having the vibration-ratio 2/1. In that relation, each tone has the effect of being merely a repetition or replicate of the other at another level or register. It is within this interval that scales are usually laid out, and its name comes from the fact that since the time of Greek music scales have normally included eight degrees (including both upper and lower limits). Hence the interval between the first and the eighth degree of either the major or the minor scale, or any similar interval; also a tone or note at that interval from any starting-point. G.
33This standard interval is called a perfect octave (rarely major). Other intervals, larger or smaller, by a chromatic semitone, are the augmented octave (ratio, 135/64) and the diminished octave (ratio, 48/25).
35In counterpoint and harmony, the progression of two voice-parts from one chord to another by parallel or consecutive octaves is objectionable, not for the same reason as parallel fifths, but because the two parts merely duplicate each other and surrender their individuality. See Progression, Motion and Fifth.
37In a general system of tones adopted as standard, the term is also applied to a section or group of tones an octave long, the pitch and name of which is adjusted to some standard tone of reference.
39In Greek music, the so-called complete system comprised two octaves, united in the tone mese. The octaves were not named as such, but each was regarded as made up of two named tetrachords. Mese is usually assumed to be roughly equivalent to the a next below middle c.
41In the hexachord-system of the Middle Ages, though the main units were the overlapping hexachords, the several tones were also considered as belonging to three octaves, the lowest set being graves; the second set acute and the third set (defective at the top) superacute. The assumed pitch of gamma-at at the bottom was that of the second g below middle c.
43The modern system is reckoned from middle c. The most-used nomenclature calls the octave beginning two octaves below this the first or great octave, the next the second or small octave, that from middle c upward the third or once-accented octave and the next above that the fourth or twice-accented octave. Letters for tones in the great octave are written in capitals, in the small octave in small letters, in the third octave with a single accent or a superior 1, and in the fourth octave with a double accent or a superior 2. See Pitch.
45Short octave, in many old organs, is a defective lower octave in one or more of the keyboards, consisting of
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