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Scan 142
The New Encyclopedia Of Music And Musicians, 1929
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1Qanun. See Kanoon.
3Quadrate. In notation, same as breve or as natural (the latter being derived from B quadratum); see Notation.
5Quadricinium, Quatricinium. A composition for four parts; a quartet (usually contrapuntal).
7Quadrille. See Dances. G.
9Quadrivium Academicum. In early universities, the group of studies or disciplines constituting the higher arts, including arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy, as distinct from the trivium or lower arts, including grammar, dialectic and rhetoric. The tendency to regard music as a branch of mathematics persisted till the 18th century.
11Quadruple Counterpoint or Fugue. See Counterpoint and Fugue.
13Quadruple Rhythm or Time. See Rhythm and Time.
15Quadruplet, Quartole. A 4-note group occupying the time of 3 or 6; see Note-Groups.
17Quality. As a characteristic of tones, see Acoustics. Same as timbre or tone-color.
19Quantity. Same as duration; see Acoustics and Meter.
21Quart. The interval of the fourth or a tone at that interval.
23As a prefix (in German), denoting an instrument pitched a fourth higher (as quartflöte, quartgeige), or a fourth lower (as quartfagott, quartposaune), than the usual form.
25Quarter-note. Same as crotchet; see Notation.
27Quartet, Quatuor. A group of four performers or music for such an ensemble; cf. trio, quintet, etc. G.
29Since four-part writing offers the most compact medium for harmonic expression, quartets of either voices or instruments have always been numerous. The commonest vocal form is for soprano, alto, tenor and bass, for two tenors and two basses (male or men's quartet) or for two sopranos and two altos (female or women's quartet), but in the second form the first tenor is often replaced by an alto (either male or female). The majority of choral works or movements are written in quartet-distribution. In many choral works and also operas the principal soloists constitute a quartet and are used as such.
31The quartet is the chief type of chamber-ensemble, especially the string-quartet, which normally consists of two violins, viola and 'cello, but occasionally with two violas. The piano-quartet usually consists of piano, violin, viola and 'cello, but sometimes with two violins and no viola. Quartets are frequent in which one violin is replaced by a flute or an oboe. Wind-quartets may be made up in various ways, as for wood-wind (some combination of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, etc.), for brass-wind (some combination of horn, trumpet, trombone, etc.) or for wood-wind and horns. In each prominent family of instruments a quartet may be formed, so as to make, for example, a flute-, oboe-, clarinet-, horn-, trumpet-, trombone-quartet, etc.
33The term was once used collectively for the whole body of strings in the orchestra, especially when it was still customary to use but one part for both 'cellos and double-basses. It also occurs as the equivalent for a chest or set of viols.
35The members of a string-quartet that regularly play together are sometimes called a quartet-party. A church-choir composed of four soloists only is a quartet-choir. A work in eight parts or a combination of eight performers, vocal or instrumental, may be called a double quartet instead of an octet if the parts are paired or if the two sets of four are used in contrast.
37The string-quartet is held to be one of the finest types of modern composition. It did not begin to be fully developed until late in the 18th century (especially by Mozart). In the best examples such quartets present an almost equal distribution of thematic interest between all the parts. In form, quartets are usually laid out on the sonata-plan; see Sonata and Symphony.
39Quartole. See Quadruplet.
41Quaver. See Notation. G.
43Quickstep. See Dances (under March). G.
45Quint. The interval of the fifth or a tone at that interval. Also a viol with five strings (either a tenor or a high treble). Occasionally also the upper string on the lute or the violin; cf. quart. G.
47Quinta Falsa. See under Tritone. G.
49Quinterne. An intermediate form of instrument between the lute and the guitar, having a body somewhat like the latter and 3-5 pairs of strings, sounded by plucking with the fingers.
51The name is a corruption from one of the early terms whence gittern and guitar come.
53Quintet, Quintuor. A group of five performers or music for such an ensemble; cf. trio, quartet, etc. G.
55Vocal quintets are usually for two sopranos, alto, tenor and bass or for soprano, alto, tenor, baritone and bass. String-quintets are mostly for two violins, two violas and 'cello, but sometimes for two violins, viola, 'cello and double-bass. Piano-quintets are almost always for piano and the usual string-quartet. A great variety of other combinations have been used. For the usual form of composition, see Sonata and Symphony.
57Quinton. The high treble viol, so named because having 5 strings.
59Quintuple Rhythm or Time. See Rhythm and Time. G.
61Quintuplet, Quintole. A 5-note group occupying the time of 4 or 6; see Note-Groups.
63Quintus. In the a cappella music of the 16th century, a fifth part added to the usual four, having no fixed usage as to the species of voice and sometimes in a way wandering from one kind to another (whence the name quintus vagans). G.
65Quire, Quirister. Obsolete spellings for choir and chorister.
67Quodlibet. A facetious combination of incongruous melodies into a kind of polyphonic arrangement or a stringing of such melodies in succession, as in a pot-pourri, but without connecting passages; also called fricassée. G.
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