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In this episode I talk about Italian, and specifically about the Italian words used in Western classical music. I investigate why Italian is used, look at some of the words, and find out what they mean and how they are used in Italian.
Here are the words featured:
Words for musical compositions and parts of them
| Word | Musical meaning | Other meanings |
|---|---|---|
| opera | a drama set to music with singing and orchestral accompaniment | work, action, deed, piece of work |
| concerto | a work for one or more solo instruments accompanied by an orchestra | concert, performance, gig, show |
| cadenza | a florid solo at the end of a performance | cadence, rhythm, intonation, frequency |
| aria | an accompanied, elaborate melody sung by a single voice | air, look, manner |
Words for tempo (time)
| Word | Musical meaning | Other meanings |
|---|---|---|
| adagio | slow | slowly, with care, gently; adage, saying; easy does it |
| largo | slow and dignified | wide, broad, loose, big, large, open sea |
| andante | moderately slow, flowing along | current, cheap, second-rate |
| allegro | moderately fast | cheerful, bright, lively; merry, tipsy |
| presto | very fast | soon, quickly, fast, early |
Words for dynamics (volume)
| Word | Musical meaning | Other meanings |
|---|---|---|
| piano | soft | flat, level, smooth; straightforward, simple, clear, plain; slowly, carefully, softly, quietly; plane, top, surface |
| forte | loud | strong, bright, heavy, hard, large, big, considerable; amazing, great; fast |
| crescendo | becoming louder | growing up, raising |
| diminuendo | becoming softer | decreasing, falling |
Modifiers
| Word | Musical meaning | Other meanings |
|---|---|---|
| mezzo | moderately | means, way, half, middle |
| molto | very | a lot, much, many, a great deal, very |
| meno | less | less, least, minus, except |
| più | more | more, plus, several |
| ma non troppo | but not too much | but not too much |
More details of Italian musical terms
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Italian_musical_terms_used_in_English
https://www.quora.com/Why-are-all-the-composers-using-Italian-terminology-in-music
The other meanings come from Reverso.
Information about Italian
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/italian.htm
A discussion on why opera singers tend to be quite stout:
https://www.quora.com/Why-are-so-many-opera-singers-stout-or-heavy-set-Does-it-provide-some-sort-of-competitive-advantage
Tunes featured in this episode
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