| MB | abbreviation of 'Bachelor of Music', 'Manitoba' (Canada) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mbaire | (Uganda) a large xylophone from Busoga. It is comprised of twenty large keys arranged in a pentatonic scale and was played by six people | |||||||||||||||||||||
| M'bal | (Senegal) a shorter version of the n'der drum of the Wolof | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mbalax | modernised Senegalese (Wolof) percussion music, characterized by a combination of Afro-Cuban rhythms, Wolof drumming and American pop music | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mbaqanga | or 'township jive', a popular dance music style from the South African townships, its roots dating back to the 1930s, when Zulu and Sotho music were combined with African-American styles. It became very popular in the 1960s and 1970s | |||||||||||||||||||||
| M-Base | (Macro-Basic Array of Structured Extemporization) a New York-based music movement that pioneered a a concept of how to create modern music. The movement reached its peak in the mid-to-late-80s and early 90s. The word was applied also to the collective of musicians, poets and dancers who espoused the M-base philosophy | |||||||||||||||||||||
| MBE | abbreviation of 'Member of the Order of the British Empire' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mbela | (Central African Republic) a musical bow composed of an arched branch and a string cut from a vine. The string is stretched between the two ends of the branch and held in front of the half-open mouth. When struck with a thin stick, the string produces a fairly faint single note to bring out another note, the player then touches it with a blade. The mouth cavity, acting as a natural resonator of varying shape and volume, amplifies and modulates the tones | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mbende | a celebration dance, coming from the Eastern part of Zimbabwe, with 'talking drum' sounds, performed mostly when a daughter of a chief is about to be wedded. The dance itself is a 'sexual dance'; a man and a woman are paired to suggest the daughter's impending experiences. The dance is to aid movement beyond the age of innocence by emphasizing commitment to new ways of doing things | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mbila | plural form timbila, an African xylophone | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mbira | also known as sanza, sansa, lukembe, kalimbe or thumb piano, the mbira is a unique kind of tuned percussion instrument, found primarily in the Shona culture of Zimbabwe, on which one produces sound by plucking thin strips or tongues of metal, wood or cane with the thumbs and fingers. The strips are attached to a gourd resonator or wooden box, often with sound holes and, sometimes, jingles or beads are added to the keys to create a rich, buzzing tone. The pitch of each key may be altered by fixing wax to its free end, or by increasing or decreasing its length | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mbira dzavadzimu | (Shona, literally 'voice of the ancestors') a musical instrument that has been played by the Shona people of Zimbabwe for thousands of years. The mbira dzavadzimu is frequently played at religious ceremonies and social gatherings | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mbuat | a free-reed mouth organ of the Meo (Hmong) people of Vietnam | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mbube | (literally 'lion') an a cappella choral singing style of South African Zulus, featuring call and response patterns, close-knit harmonies and syncopation | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mbumba | (Malawi) songs that were used to praise the leader of the country, and which were regularly sung at meetings and political events, in which he appeared. These songs were then called nyimbo za mbumba (= the songs of mbumba). But the songs themselves came from many different performance groups; for example there were songs that had been borrowed from mbotosyg, a genre of song from northern Malawi, or from chintali, a dance with songs by women, men playing drums, from southern Malawi, etc. All these sources were borrowed and integrated Into the mbumba style, with their original words replaced by words of praise for the achievments of the president. From the moment the name of the president appeared in those songs, they were no longer referred to the original genres, but called mbumba songs. With the change of government in Malawi, in 1994, the genre nyimbo za mbumba has disappeared from the public; but recordings are still available on cassettes | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| M'bung m'bung bal | (Senegal) or m'bung m'bung tungoné, a shorter bass version of the n'der, used to play the accompanying rhythm in a sabar drum set | |||||||||||||||||||||
| M'bung m'bung tungoné | see m'bung m'bung bal | |||||||||||||||||||||
| MC | also spelled "emcee", a rapper who performs for crowds | |||||||||||||||||||||
| MCA, M.C.A. | abbreviation of 'Master of Creative Arts' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| MCh | abbreviation of Männerchor (German: men's choir - choeur d'hommes (French)) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| M-CL | abbreviation of 'Mechanical-Copyright Licenses Co., a body formed in England in 1910 to administer mechanical rights. It merged with MCPS in 1924 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| MCPS | abbreviation of 'Mechanical Copyright Protection Society Ltd., formed in 1924, to administer mechanical rights. It merged with M-CL in 1924 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| M.D., m.d. | abbreviation of main droite (French), mano destra or mano dritta (Italian) (right hand on the piano) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| MD | MD-numbers refer to the standard MacDonald Verzeichnis of the Beatles' songs | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Md | abbreviation of Mandoline (German: mandolin - mandoline French)) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Me | the lowered third degree of a major scale; in 'fixed do' solfeggio, me is always the note 'E-flat' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| ¿me acompañas? | (Spanish) will you come with me? | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mea culpa | (Latin, literally 'my fault') originally part of the Confession of the Mass, now used more generally to admit responsibility for some blunder | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mead | a wine made from fermented honey | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mead hall | a structure built by an Anglo-Saxon lord (hlaford or cyning) as a social centre for his immediate community, especially his thegns and warriors | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me agarré el dedo en ... | (Spanish) I caught my finger in ... (something) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me agradaría mucho verlos allí | (Spanish) I would be very pleased to see you there | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me alegra que me haga esa pregunta | (Spanish) I'm glad you asked that | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me alegra saberlo | (Spanish) I'm pleased to hear it | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me alegro | (Spanish) I'm glad (to hear that) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me alegro de verte it's good to see you | (Spanish) it's nice to see you | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me alegro de que todo haya salido bien | (Spanish) I'm glad that, I am very pleased that | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me alegro mucho por ti | (Spanish) I'm really happy for you | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mea maxima culpa | (Latin, literally 'my most grievous fault') originally part of the Confession of the Mass, now used more generally to admit responsibility for some blunder (entry corrected by Mary O'Grady) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mean | obsolete term for the middle part (usually the tenor) or a middle string | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meane | in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England, the middle voice of a composition, between the treble and tenor | |||||||||||||||||||||
| the middle voice of a three voice keyboard composition | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| me anestesiaron | (Spanish) they gave me an anesthetic | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meantone scale | or mean-tone scale, the most common form of meantone temperament tunes all the major thirds to the just ratio of 5:4 (so, for instance, if A is tuned to 440 Hz, C#' is tuned to 550 Hz). This is achieved by tuning the perfect fifth a quarter of a syntonic comma flatter than the just ratio of 3:2. It is this that gives the system its name of quarter-comma meantone or 1/4-comma meantone. Another way of describing quarter comma meantone is to notice that the Pythagorean 3-limit scale has been tempered to fit the 5-limit meantone scale by removing the fourth root of the Pythagorean comma from each interval in a chain of four fifths. So in this case 'meantone' is really 'quarter-comma meantone', i.e. (81/80)(1/4) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Meantone temperament | see 'meantone scale' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me armé una confusión | (Spanish) I got into a mess (colloquial) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me armé un lío | (Spanish) I got into a mess (colloquial) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Measurable music | mensurable music | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Measure | misura (Italian), Takt (German), mesure (French) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| in American usage, what in the UK we call a bar, the portion of music lying between two consecutive bar-lines (in American usage, bars). The pural, i.e. 'measures', is sometimes abbreviated mm. (entry amended by Susan Mielke) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| time, the rhythmical division of the portion of music between two consecutive bar-lines | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| English term of the Renaissance and Baroque eras signifying a group of dance steps that could be performed to one strain of dance music | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Measured music | music comprised of durations with proportional values, as for example in cantus mensuratu (measured chant) and music marked tempo giusto | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Measured performance | a descriptive term suggesting a performance that is neither too fast nor too slow, although it might also suggest a performance that is considered 'safe', that is, lacking in verve or vigour | |||||||||||||||||||||
| the term is also used to describe music that observes the note lengths indicated by the proportional notation (for example, cantus mensuratu), as opposed to music that is 'unmeasured', for example, plainchant | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Measure motive | a motive whose accent coincides with the first beat of the bar (or measure) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Measure note | the note indicated by the lower number in the standard time signature, thus for the time signature 3/4 the measure note is the crotchet (quarter note), and a bar (or measure) comprises 3 crotchets | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Measure rest | the rest that is equivalent to the note indicated by the lower number in the standard time signature, thus for the time signature 3/4 the measure note is the crotchet (quarter note), therefore the measure rest is a crotchet rest (quarter rest) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me aventuraría a decir que ... | (Spanish) I would go so far as to say that ... | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me avergüenza decírselo | (Spanish) I'm embarrassed to tell him | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mécanique | (French f.) action | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mécanisme des clefs | (French m.) key work, meccanismo delle chiavi (Italian m.) Klappenmechanik (German f.), mecanismo de llaves (Spanish m.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mécanisme du piston | (French m.) valve (mechanism found on some brass instruments), Ventilmaschine (German f.), mecanismo del pistón (Spanish m.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mecanismo de llaves | (Spanish m.) key work, key mechanism, meccanismo delle chiavi (Italian m.) Klappenmechanik (German f.), m&eacuate;canisme des clefs (French m.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mecanismo del pistón | (Spanish m.) valve (mechanism found on some brass instruments), macchina (Italian f.), Ventilmaschine (German f.), mécanisme du piston (French m.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meccanica | (Italian f.) process, action, mechanism. mechanics (science) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meccanica analitica | (Italian f.) analytical mechanics | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meccanica applicata | (Italian f.) applied mechanics | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meccanica celeste | (Italian f.) celestial mechanics | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meccanica classica | (Italian f.) classical mechanics | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meccanica dei liquidi | (Italian f.) fluid mechanics | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meccanica dei quanti | (Italian f.) quantum mechanics | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meccanica ondulatoria | (Italian f.) wave mechanics | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meccanica quantistica | (Italian f.) quantum mechanics | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meccanica teorica | (Italian f.) theoretical mechanics | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meccanismo | (Italian m.) mechanism | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meccanismo delle chiavi | (Italian m.) key work, key mechanism, Klappenmechanik (German f.), m&eacuate;canisme des clefs (French m.), mecanismo de llaves (Spanish m.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meccanismo di controllo | (Italian m.) control mechanism | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mecenate | (Italian m.) patron | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mécène | (French m.) patron | |||||||||||||||||||||
| méchanceté | (French) spitefulness, malicious ill-will | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mechanical action | on an organ, the keys are connected to trackers which eventually connect to the valves that control the movement of air from the wind chest into the pipe. By pressing the key, the player is opening the valve in the wind chest. In a mechanical action, there is one valve for each note on the keyboard. So, if the organ has 10 stops, there is one valve for all ten pipes which correspond to that note on the keyboard | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mechanical gusli | see gusli | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mechanical instrument | a musical instrument that is operated mechanically without a human performer, for example, a music box | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mechanical organ | a term that is applied to a large family of instruments where the music to be played is provided via a cylinder on which the individual notes have been 'pegged-out'. The earliest members included belly organs (strapped around the waists of travelling musicians who used a crank to turn the cylinder), peg organs (belly organs which when played were supported by a single leg), bird-organs, street-organs, church barrel-organs (that played chorales, etc.), dance organs, band organs, theatre organs and fairground organs. The majority of these had pipes but a variant of the smaller instruments was produced employing reeds rather than pipes called the Meloton. A term commonly used to cover this family is 'barrel-organ' although from the invention by Anselme Gavioli in 1892 of the pneumatic reader, the 'barrel' or cylinder was gradually replaced and these new instruments were called book-organs. Organs that are bigger are usually 'cranked' not manually, but with a motor. These larger instruments are usually fairground organs, band organs, carousel organs, calliopes or orchestrions | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mechanical paper | paper made from wood that is ground down into a pulp. This type of fibre forms weak bonds and is used in paper made for temporary use such as newsprint. It is high in lignin, a substance within the cellulose, that attracts mould and insects, and raises the paper's acid content | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mechanik | (German f.) action (on a piano) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mechanikbogen | (German m.) harmonic curve (pertaining to the shape of the bridge on a stringed keyboard instrument) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mécanique | (French f.) action (on a piano) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mécanique à action directe | (French f.) upright action (on a piano) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mécanique à double échappement | (French f.) double-escapement action (on a piano) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mécanique à lame | (French f.) underdampers (on a piano) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mécanique SMR SEILER | (French f.) SEILER's Super Magnet Repetition Action (on a piano) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mechanische Piano | (Dutch) player piano | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mechanische Musik | (German f.) mechanical music | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mechanisches Instrument | (German n.) mechanical instrument | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mechanism | deriving from the French mécanisme, meaning 'technical skill' or 'manual dexterity' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| that portion of an instrument which connects the act of the performer with the sound producing medium | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mechanisme | (Dutch) action | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mechanoreceptors | sensory organs in the body that respond to mechanical stimulation, such as pressure or touch | |||||||||||||||||||||
| méchant (m.), méchante (f.) | (French) spiteful, malicious, ill-natured | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mèche | (French f.) that part of the bow consisting of the bowhair | |||||||||||||||||||||
| MECOLICO | abbreviation of 'Mechanical-Copyright Licenses Co.', found for many years on stamps affixed to records to show that royalties had been paid | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me consta que | (Spanish) I'm sure that | |||||||||||||||||||||
| MEd | abbreviation of 'Master of Education' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me da asco el ajo | (Spanish) I can't stand garlic | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meddelande | (Swedish) communication | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meddelelser | (Norwegian) proceedings | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mededeling | (Dutch) communication | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medeltonstemperatur | (Swedish) meantone temperament | |||||||||||||||||||||
| medesimo | (Italian) the same | |||||||||||||||||||||
| medesimo moto | (Italian) the same time | |||||||||||||||||||||
| medesimo movimento | (Italian) the same speed | |||||||||||||||||||||
| medesimo tempo | (Italian) the same pace | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medewerker | (Dutch) contributor, collaborator | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medewerking | (Dutch) collaboration | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Media (s.), Mediae (pl.) | (Latin) in linguistics, one of the voiced stops, b, d, g, considered as intermediates between the voiceless stops, tenuis, and the aspirates | |||||||||||||||||||||
| media aspirata (Latin) the aspirated voiced stops bh, dh gh found in Sanskrit and the Dravidian languages | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Media C | (Spanish f.) the note 'middle C' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mediaeval | or 'mediæval', see 'medieval' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medial cadence | see 'cadence (harmonic)' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medial sound | (in phonetics) within a word or syllable, neither initial nor final, as the t, a, and n in stand | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Médiane | (French f.) median (statistics), medial sound (linguistics), mid-vowel (linguistics) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| medianamente | (Spanish) fairly | |||||||||||||||||||||
| medianamente débil | (Spanish) fairly weak | |||||||||||||||||||||
| medianamente forte | (Spanish) fairly strong | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mediant | (English, Danish, Swedish, Dutch from the Latin) médiante (French), mediante (Italian), modale (Italian), caratteristica (Italian), Mediante (German), mediante (Spanish), the third degree of the scale, called mediant because it is midway between the first degree of the scale (the tonic) and the fifth degree of the scale (the dominant) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mediant also refers to a relationship between musical keys. For example, relative to the key of C minor, the key of E flat major is the mediant, and often serves as a mid-way point between I and V (hence the name). Tonicization or modulation to the mediant is quite common in pieces written in the minor mode, and usually serves as the second theme group in sonata forms, since it is very easy to tonicize III in the minor (for there is no need to use alternate notes). Tonicization of III in the major is quite rare in classical harmony, at least when compared with, for example, modulation to the V in the major, but mediant tonicization in the major is an important feature of late romantic music | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mediante | (German f., Italian f., Spanish f.) mediant | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Médiante | (French f.) mediant | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mediant relationship | two chords whose roots are the interval of a third apart are said to be in mediant relationship one with the other | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mediant seventh chord | a seventh chord built on the third degree of the scale, III | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Media pausa | (Spanish f.) also silencio de blanca or pausa de blanca, minim rest, half rest, pausa di minima (Italian), halbe Pause (German), demi-pause (French) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Media player | a piece of application software for playing back multimedia files. Most media players support an array of media formats, including both audio and video files | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| médiat (m.), médiate (f.) | (French) mediate | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mediate | in-between, being neither at the beginning nor at the end in a series, occupy an intermediate or middle position or form a connecting link or stage between two others, acting through or dependent on an intervening agency | |||||||||||||||||||||
| to intercede, to act between parties with a view to reconciling differences | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mediate inference | (in logic) an inference is said to be mediate when at least two other propositions are required in order to advance a third proposition, while it is said to be immediate when a proposition is inferred from a single other proposition | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Médiateur (m.), Médiatrice (f.) | (French) mediator, arbitrator, Ombudsman (UK Parliamentary Commissioner) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| médiateur (m.), médiatrice (f.) | (French) mediating, arbitrating | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mediatio | (Latin, literally 'mediation') a semi- or subordinate cadence that occurs midway through a verse in a psalm tone | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Médiation | (French f.) mediation, arbitration, mediate inference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| médiatique | (French) media | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Médiatisation | (French f.) mediatisation, promotion through the media (on TV, etc.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| médiatiser | (French) to mediatise, to promote through the media (on TV, etc.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Médiator | (French m.) pick, plectrum | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Médiatrice | (French f.) median (goemetry) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Media Ventures | a film music company ran by Hans Zimmer and Jay Rifkin, which was known for housing yonug composers and pushing such collaborations between them as conducting, writing additional music, or even co-composing with Zimmer himself | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| media voz | (Spanish) mezza voce | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina | (Spanish f.) medicine | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina alopática | (Spanish f.) allopatic medicine, a derogatory term coined by alternative medicine practioners to describe what most people call 'conventional' (i.e. non-alternative) medicine | |||||||||||||||||||||
| the term 'allopathic' is rarely used by practioners of conventional medicine who indeed might not use the descriptor 'conventional' either. More recently, the terms 'evidence-based' and 'science-based' have been applied in place of 'conventional'. The mechanisms advanced for the way that alternative medicines (of which there are a great many) operate are in general not supported by any current understanding of human physiology, nor is their efficacy demonstrable using science-based evidence of outcome. Indeed, where they can be shown to produce any effect, that appears to be only what might be expected from the well-understood 'placebo-effect' | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina alternativa | (Spanish f.) alternative medicine | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina antiqua | (Spanish f.) ancient medicine (usually that of the ancient Greeks and Romans) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina bucal | (Spanish f.) oral medicine | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina clínica | (Spanish f.) clinical medicine | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina comunitaria | (Spanish f.) community medicine | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina convencional | (Spanish f.) conventional medicine(now termed 'science-based medicine') | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina de urgencias | (Spanish f.) emergency medicine | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina familiar | (Spanish f.) family medicine | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina fetal | (Spanish f.) foetal medicine, fetal medicine | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina general | (Spanish f.) general practice | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina geriátrica | (Spanish f.) geriatric medicine | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina holistica | (Spanish f.) holistic medicine | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina obstétrica | (Spanish f.) obstetric medicine | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina preventiva | (Spanish f.) preventative medicine | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina privada | (Spanish f.) private medicine | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina pública | (Spanish f.) public medicine | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina respiratoria | (Spanish f.) respiratory medicine | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina tropical | (Spanish f.) tropical medicine | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medicina veterinaria | (Spanish f.) veterinary medicine (medicine as applied to non-human animals) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medico interno | (Italian m.) house surgeon, house physician | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medieval | (from Latin medium aevum, 'the Middle Age' or 'the in-between age') pertaining to the Middle Ages, which for music is generally taken to be the period c.500-1430. While there are no universally accepted demarcations, it is common in older European histories to divide the medieval period into an early period of 'the Dark Ages' and a later period of 'the High Middle Ages'. On the other hand, linguists divide the medieval period in England into the Anglo-Saxon period (about 450-1066) and the Middle English period (about 1066-1450). Some scholars prefer to mark the years 1100-1350 as the "Anglo-Norman" period, since most courtly literature in England was written in Norman-French rather than English. Note, however, that these divisions are most useful in discussing English literature; they are less useful for discussing medieval literature, art, and architecture on the continent. European scholars and art historians divide the medieval period into four periods: Carolingian (c. 750-900), Ottonian (c. 900-1056), Romanesque (c. 1057-1150), and Gothic (1150-1475). The early medieval centuries (often misleadingly called 'the Dark Ages') are marked by the disintegration of classical Greco-Roman culture and the Volkerwanderung of Germanic tribes into western Europe, followed by gradual conversions to Christianity. Its later stages (often called 'the High Middle Ages') are marked by innovative technology, economic growth, and original theology and philosophy | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Medieval dance | the Middle Ages are a period for which there are no known extant choreographies. There is, however, ample music that clearly is for dance. Several researchers and practitioners have made credible new choreographies to suit this music | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Medieval estates | satire a medieval genre common among French poets in which the speaker lists various occupations among the three estates of feudalism (nobles, peasants, and clergy) and depicts them in a manner that shows how short they fall from the ideal of that occupation. In the late medieval period, the genre expanded to discuss the failings of bourgeois individuals as well | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Medievalism | in western Europe, a term linked with feudalism in government, guildhouses in economics, monasticism and Catholicism in religion, and castles and knights in chivalrous military custom | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medieval music | the term 'Medieval music' encompasses European music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire (476AD) and ends in approximately the middle of the fifteenth century. Establishing the end of the Medieval era and the beginning of the Renaissance is admittedly arbitrary | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Medieval music history | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medieval music of Cyprus | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medieval rock | a musical genre derived from folk rock. While medieval rock usually mixes traditional rock instruments (e.g. electrical guitars) with instruments commonly found in celtic folk music (e.g. bagpipes), it often also uses more classical instruments, such as harps or violins. Some bands use medieval instruments exclusively, other bands even use synthesizers | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Medieval romance | see 'romance, medieval' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me dijo sin ambages que no quería volver a verme | (Spanish) he told me straight out that he didn't want to see me again | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medio | (Spanish m.) middle | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medio ambiente | (Spanish m.) environment | |||||||||||||||||||||
| medio fuerte | (Spanish) mf, mezzo forte | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medio Oriente, el | (Spanish m.) or el Oriente Medio (Spanish m.), the Middle East (geographic region) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medio registro | (Spanish f.) a term applied to organs, which refers to a stop which functions over only half of the keyboard | |||||||||||||||||||||
| médios | (Portuguese) middle | |||||||||||||||||||||
| medio suave | (Spanish) mp, mezzo piano | |||||||||||||||||||||
| medio tono | (Spanish) semitone, half-step | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medism | a specific form of hypnotism that mixes hypnosis and meditation | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meditation | a thoughtful or contemplative essay, sermon, discussion, or treatise | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medium | one of the standard jazz tempos, neither 'up' (quicker) nor 'ballad' (slower) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Médium | (French m.) the middle register (of an instrument's range) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| in French, the three parts of an instrument's range are l'aigu, le médium and le grave | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| médium | (French) middle | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medium (s.), Media (pl.) | any liquid with which pigments are mixed to render them suitable for painting with | |||||||||||||||||||||
| a channel of communication, a system for the dissemination of information, etc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medium (s.), Medien (pl.) | (German n.) any liquid with which pigments are mixed to render them suitable for painting with | |||||||||||||||||||||
| a channel of communication, a system for the dissemination of information, etc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medius | (Latin) the name of one of the accentus ecclesiastici | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medlar | a small, brown, applelike fruit, hard and bitter when ripe and eaten only when partly decayed | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medlem | (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish) member | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Medley | (English, German n.) a potpourri of melodies taken from other compositions and strung together. Since the end of the nineteenth century some distinction has been made between potpourri and 'medley', the latter usually denoting pieces that are more closely connected | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me duele un montón | (Spanish) it hurts a lot | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meend | a term from Hindustani classical music, a glissando where the player glides from one note to another at the same time faintly sounding the intermediate notes | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me encuentro algo cansado | (Spanish) I'm feeling rather tired | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meerabai | Rajput princess of the 16th century A.D., who was a great devotee of Sri Krishna and who composed and sang innumerable songs in the praise of Sri Krishna which have since become popular all over India | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meerduidigheid | (Dutch) ambiguity | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meerenge | (German f.) a sound | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meerhorn | (German n.) tromba marina | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meermaats Rust | (Dutch) multibar rest | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meerschaum | (German m., from Persian) or écume de mer (French), hydrous silicate of magnesium, a soft white clay used for the manufacture of pipes and cigarette holders | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meerstemmig | (Dutch) arrangement for several voices | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meerstemmiger Gesang | (German m.) a glee or part-song | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meerstemmig lied | (Dutch) part-song | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meerstimmig | (German) in many or several parts | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meertrompete | (German f.) tromba marina | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me estaba quedando atrás | (Spanish) I was getting left behind | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Megáfono | (Spanish m.) bullhorn, loudhailer, megaphone, megafono (Italian m.), Megaphon (German n.), porte-voix (French), mégaphone (French m.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Megalomania | (Greek) an illusion of greatness, the mistaken belief that one is an important person, a mania of surrounding oneself with magnificent objects and objects of large size | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Megaphon | (German n.) bullhorn, loudhailer, megaphone, megafono (Italian m.), porte-voix (French), mégaphone (French m.), megáfono (Spanish m.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mégaphone | (French m.) or porte-voix, bullhorn, loudhailer, megaphone, megafono (Italian m.), Megaphon (German n.), porte-voix (French), megáfono (Spanish m.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Megaplex | a movie theatre or cinema complex with more than 16 screens | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Megaron (s.), Megara (pl.) | (Greek) the oldest form of Greek house, consisting of a single rectangular room with an anteroom | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me gusta un montón | (Spanish) I like her a lot, I like him a lot, I like it a lot | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mehr | (German) more, many | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mehr als die Summe seiner Teile | (German) more than the sum of its parts | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mehrchörig | (German) polychoral | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mehrchörigkeit | (German f.) antiphony | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mehrere | (German) several | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mehrfach | (German) multiple, manifold | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mehrfach bestezt | (German) doubled by several players | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mehrfache Intervalle | (German n. pl.) compound intervals | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mehrfacher Kanon | (German m.) a canon with more than two subjects | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mehrfache Stimme | (German f.) an organ stop with several sets of pipes | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mehr oder minder | (German) more or less | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mehrsätzig | (German) with several movements | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mehrspurverfahren | (German n.) multi-track recording | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mehrstimmig | (German) multivoice, polyphonic, in several parts, concerted (music) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (German) for several voices, di piu voci (Italian), à plusieurs voix (French), a varias voces (Spanish) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| mehrstimmige Gesang | (German m.) partsinging | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mehrstimmige Lied | (German n.) a part-song | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mehrstimmigkeit | (German f.) polyphony, plurivocality | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mehrtaktige Pause | (German f.) multibar rest | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mehrteilig | (German) in several parts | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mehter | the Ottoman form of military band, it contained wind instruments such as the zurna (similar to the oboe), the boru (bugle), the kurrenay and the mehter whistle. It also contained percussion instruments such as the kös (the large drum), the nakkare (a small kettledrum), the zil (cymbals) and the çevgan. The number of instruments in each 'section' was the same, which determined the total number of instruments used. For example, the largest and most important, the Sultan's mehter or Tabl ü alem-i hassa, consisted of nine of each instrument. In later periods, the number of instruments could be as high as 12 or even 16. As well as the sultan's mehter band, the grand vizier (equivalent to the prime minister), ordinary viziers (equivalent to cabinet minister rank), the defterdar (head of the Treasury) and the reisü'l küttab (in charge of the state's foreign relations) would also have their own, and other bands were to be foundd in various provinces and castles. The structure and organisation of the mehter influenced the make-up of European military bands | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meia | see meio | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meia ponta | (Portuguese) demi pointe (French) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mei, Girolamo (1519-1594) | an Italian historian and humanist, famous in music history for providing the intellectual impetus to the Florentine Camerata, which attempted to revive ancient Greek music drama. He was born Florence, and died in Rome. Mei was the first European after Boethius to do a detailed study of ancient Greek music theory. He compiled his findings in a major treatise, De modis musicis antiquorum (not formally published, but written 1568 to 1573) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Meihua dagu | (China) originated in Beijing and popular in North China, the performer tells stories while beating a drum, accompanied by two or three people who play three-stringed instruments, the pipa, and the sihu | |||||||||||||||||||||
| dagu and gushu are terms that denote the same category of qu under the heading of quyi. They consist chiefly of jingyun dagu, xihe dagu and meihua dagu | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| (le) meilleur des deux | (French) (the) better of the two | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meilleur marché | (French) cheaper | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meilleurs voeux | (French) best wishes | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me importa un bledo | (Spanish) I couldn't care less | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meine ganze Barschaft | (German) all I have on me, all I had on me | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meinungsumfrage | (German f.) or Umfrage (German f.), opinion poll | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meio (m.), Meia (f.) | (Portuguese) half, demi (French), demie (French) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meio da sala | (Portuguese) or centro, the centre of a ballet studio used for exercises and work not requiring the barre | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meiosis | understatement, the opposite of exaggeration | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meio-tom | (Portuguese) or semitom, semitone, half tone | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meiosis | (Greek) in linguistics, a figure of speech in which emphasis is achieved by deliberate understatement, one form of which is termed litotes | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meisenbach process | the first commercial lithographic process used to reproduce photographs by employing halftones. George Meisenbach of Munich and Karel Klietsch of Vienna copyrighted this method in 1883 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meister | (German m.) master, teacher | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meisterfuge | (German f.) synonymous with fuga ricercata | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meistergesang | (German m.) a songwriting and performance tradition found in the Germany of the Middle Ages and early Renaissance | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meisterlieder | (German n. pl.) the principal songs of the Meistersinger, featuring melismatic decoration (called Blumen), usually of sacred verse, the early examples, particularly, following closely the Minnelied Bar form - two identical phrases (Stollen) coupled to a contrasting concluding phrase (Abgesang) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meistersänger | (German m., literally 'master singer') a guild (Zünfte) of German amateur musicians of the Medieval and Renaissance (active from the late thirteenth to the seventeenth century) who saw themselves as heirs to an earlier aristocratic Minnesinger tradition then in decline, and who relied on the guild for their professional status, which was maintained by adherence to strict rules (set down in the Tablatur). The most important guild was based at Nuremberg, and its most famous member was Hans Sachs (1494-1576), the shoemaker whose has left us more than 6000 works | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mejorado | (Spanish) improved | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mejoranera | (Panama) similar to a guitar but slightly smaller and with a shorter neck, this instrument, made of cedar, has five strings which were originally made of the dry fibres of Bejuco, horse hair, gut, and now nylon. It is used to accompany singers and trovadores vernaculares in songs called mejoranas | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| mejor dicho | (Spanish) rather | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me judice | (Latin) in my opinion | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meke | (Fiji, Pacific Islands) a traditional folk dance, in which the dancers bodies are said to be possessed by spirits. Meke tell legends and stories of the past - achievements, tragedies and victories. Wars, deaths, marriages and births are all re enacted through Mekes | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mel | abbreviation of 'melodramma', mélodrame (French) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mel | unit of subjectively estimated pitch. A sine wave with a frequency of 1000 hertz, 40 decibels above the listener's threshold of hearing, has by definition a pitch of 1000 mels. A sound that a listener judges to be 2 times the pitch of a sound with a pitch of 1000 mels has a pitch of 2000 mels; a pitch judged half of a 1000-mel tone would be 500 mels | |||||||||||||||||||||
| the table below shows the pitch in mels of a pure sine wave at a few frequencies. Do not conclude from this table that there is a one-to-one mapping between the dominant frequency of a musical tone and its pitch. Although frequency is the most important factor in determining pitch, the sensation of pitch is also influenced by other factors | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| [taken from IEEE Society on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| mel. | abbreviation of 'melody' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melakarta | the collection of ragas in Carnatic music. Melakarta ragas are the fundamental ragas from which other ragas may be generated. For this reason the melakarta ragas are also known as janaka (parent) ragas. Melakarta ragas are also known as sampoorna ragas as they contain all seven swaras (notes) of the octave in both the ascending and the descending mode. There are 72 melakarta ragas | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melam | see pandi melam | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melancholia | (Latin, from the Greek) a morbid condition of the mind characterised by groundless fears and acute depression | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melancolia | (Italian f.) melancholy | |||||||||||||||||||||
| melancolico | (Italian) melancholic | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mélancolie | (French f.) melancholy | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mélange | (French m.) medley, pot-pourri, mixture | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mélanger | (French) to mix | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mélangeur de son | (French f.) sound mixer | |||||||||||||||||||||
| ¡me las pagarás! | (Spanish) you'll pay for this! (figurative) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| ¡me las vas a pagar! | (Spanish) you'll pay for this! (figurative) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melaza | see reggaeton | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melbourne Shuffle | a style of dance, originating in the late 1980s in the Melbourne (Australia) underground dance party scene | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Meldeschluß | (German m.) closing date | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mêlée | (French f.) a confused encounter, a free-for-all, a heated argument or debate | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meleket | a long Ethiopian trumpet without finger holes | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mêler à | (French) to mingle with, to join in | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melic | (Greek) of or pertaining to song | |||||||||||||||||||||
| lyric | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| tuneful | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Melic composition | a musical composition relating to song | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Méli-mélo | (French m.) jumble | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melism | (English) melisma | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melisma (s.), Melismata (pl.) | (Greek) in vocal music, where one syllable is set over more than one note, in practise, six or more notes | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (Greek) a vocal grace or embellishment | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Melisma (s.), Melismas (pl.) | (German n.) melisma | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mélisme | (French) melisma | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melismatic | the characteristic of a work containing a number of melismas and where the setting uses several notes on most, if not all, the syllables of the text | |||||||||||||||||||||
| melismático | (Spanish) melismatic | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melismatic organum | florid or Acquitainian organum | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melismatic song | as opposed to syllabic song where each syllable is set to a different note, melismatic song allows a single syllable to be set to more than one note. Many commentators reserve the term 'melismatic melody' to cases where there are seven or more notes to a syllable. When the number of notes lies between two and six, these commentators apply the term 'neumatic' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melismatik | (Greek) florid vocalisation | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mélismatique | (French) melismatic | |||||||||||||||||||||
| melismatisch | (German) melismatic | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me llamó la atención que estuviera sola | (Spanish) I was surprised she was alone | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meller | melodrama (colloquial) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mellofon | (German n.) mellophone | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mellophon | (German n.) mellophone | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mellophone | (English, French m.) a hybrid family of brass-instruments. The original 1880s Kohler & Son mellophone was a 'look-alike' of the 1868 Distin/Boosey & Co. ballad horn, which in turn was a 'look-alike' of the original Courtois Koenig horn of 1855. The Koenig horn itself was not an original instrument in internal design, and is very similar in bore-profile to Germanic instruments made in the Leipzig area by such instrument builders as Johann Joseph Schneider from 1846-1850, and earlier. This family includes the Antoniophone, made by Antoine Courtois, the tenor cors of Besson and Rudall Carte, the Altophone made by Henry Distin, early mellophones that bear Distin's name, though it is doubtful that he had a hand in their manufacture, the mellophone that appeared on various imports to the US between c. 1890 and c. 1910 that was no doubt purely phonetic in origin, the hatbox mellophone with detachable bell, the mellowphone that appeared on early King instruments, the Mellophonium manufactured by C. G. Conn in the 1950s in collaboration with Stan Kenton, the nineteenth-century cavalry models with bell-up and bell-forward designs, the frumpet and finally the marching mellophone. Professor Monks points out that these instruments are not flugel horns in the truest sense, but rather represent a divergence from a common ancestor- the keyed bugle, which essentially is a flugelhorn wrapped into bell-forward configuration and given keys. The direct line from there was the valved flugelhorn, which became extinct circa 1900. The best information thus far is that this later branch dates from the 1820s | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mellophonium | mellophone manufactured by C. G. Conn in the 1950s in collaboration with Stan Kenton | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mellotron | (Italian m., English, German n.) arguably the original multi-sampler, each key on the Mellotron had recordings of real instruments on a piece of magnetic tape under each note of the 3-octave keyboard and each key had its own pinch roller and playhead. When a key was pressed, the pinch roller enaged with a master capstan wheel and dragged the key's tape over a playhead | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mélomane | (French m./f.) music lover | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mélotron | (French m.) mellotron | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mellowphone | early King mellophones | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mellow rock | see 'soft rock' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodeclamation | (from Greek melos, 'song', and Latin declamatio, 'declamation') a music genre, kind of a concert piece using the principles of melodrama, a kind of extended technique, a type of rhythmic vocal writing that bears a resemblance to Sprechstimme. It is a rhythmical speech with musical accompaniment | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Melodeon | (English, German n.) small reed organs manufactured in the United States in the early 1800s, known also as 'lap' or 'elbow organs'. These usually have a single keyboard, one or two sets of free reeds (that is, tuned reeds, one for each note), and bellows operated by your elbow or hand. Larger melodeons, also called seraphines, were fitted with pedals so that the player could operate the bellows with his or her feet | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (English, German n.) button keyed accordion with ten keys, giving a twenty-note diatonic range. In England this term includes all button-keyed accordions. In Ireland and Scotland it is more specific to the one row 10-keyed variety. Though now out of favour among musicians and listeners, the melodeon has had a huge influence on the playing of Irish music. The one row melodeon gained popularity in Britain from 1850 onwards and was a cheap and efficient adaptation of earlier French and English designs. By the early 1900s nearly all melodeons played in Britain were of German origin. It held popularity among French, Scottish, English, Irish and Italian musicians, who in turn brought it to the United States. Breton musicians brought it first to Canada and then to the south where the one-row model has a central role in Cajun music | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Melodestik | (Greek) the rules or science of melody | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodia | an organ stop resembling the clarabella | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (Italian f., Portuguese) melody, air, tune | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodía | (Spanish f.) melody, mélodie (French) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodía fija | (Spanish f.) cantus firmis, fixed melody (for example, in organum, the line of plainchant over which the other lines are constructed) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodía melismática | (Spanish f.) melismatic melody. As opposed to syllabic melody where each syllable is set to a different note, melismatic melody allows a single syllable to be set to more than one note. Many commentators reserve the term 'melismatic melody' to cases where there are seven or more notes to a syllable. When the number of notes lies between two and six, these commentators apply the term 'neumatic' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodía neumática | (Spanish f.) neumatic melody, a musical setting in which, in the main, there are two to six notes per syllable, although the occasional syllable may only contain a single note | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodian hyppivä liike | (Finnish) disjunct motion | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodía silábica | (Spanish f.) syllabic melody, a musical setting where one and only one note is related to one syllable in the text | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodic | vocal, singable | |||||||||||||||||||||
| in the style of a melody, the progression of a single part | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodica (s.), Melodicas (pl.) | (English, German f.) a free-reed instrument similar to the 'accordion' and 'harmonica'. It has either a musical keyboard or a set of buttons to select the different notes, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. Pressing a key or button opens a hole, allowing air to flow through a reed. In the case of those with keyboards the range is usually two or three octaves | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Melódica | (Portuguese f.) melodic | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodic black metal | it differs from traditional black metal, because the music is normally slower, and far more structured than its non-melodic counterpart. This genre draws its roots from black metal, melodic death metal and occasionally other forms of music depending on the band | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Melodic contrafact | see 'contrafact' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodic death metal | often referred to as melodeath, a subgenre of 'death metal'. It contains more melodic guitar riffs and solos, which are sometimes acoustic, and also occasional 'clean' singing as opposed to traditional death grunt vocals | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Melodic interval | the interval between two notes played one in succession to the other, i.e. not played simultaneously | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodic major scale |  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| so named because it is a mirror of the (ascending) melodic minor scale. In the melodic minor scale the 6th and 7th degrees of the diatonic aeolian mode are sharpened; in the melodic major scale the 6th and 7th degrees of the diatonic major scale are flattened | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodic minor | also called 'tonic minor' and widely used in jazz, a scale with a minor 3rd, a major 6th and 7th (which, unlike the melodic minor scale described below, in the same up and down). This scale and its modes (e.g. mode 3, the augmented major 7th; mode 4, the Lydian dominant; mode 6, the half-diminished; mode 7, the altered) form the basis of 'melodic minor harmony' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodic minor scale |  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| unusually in musical scales, the melodic minor scale differs when descending from when ascending. When descending, the seventh and sixth degrees are flattened so that the scale is the same as a descending natural minor scale. In the example above, in the descending scale B and A are flattened to Bb and Ab respectively | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodic motion | the quality of movement of a melody, including nearness or farness of successive pitches or notes in a melody. This may be described as conjunct or disjunct, stepwise or skipwise, respectively | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Melodic music | a term that covers various genres of non-classical music which are primarily characterised by the dominance of a single strong melody line. Rhythm, tempo and beat are subordinate to the melody line or tune, which is generally easily memorable, and followed without great difficulty. Melodic music is found in all parts of the world, overlapping many genres, and may be performed by a singer or orchestra, or a combination of the two | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| melodico | (Italian) melodic, tuneful | |||||||||||||||||||||
| melódico | (Portuguese, Spanish) melodic | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodicon | an instrument, invented by Peter Riffelsen of Copenhagen (1800), in which tuning forks are struck by means of keys | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodic ostinato | see ostinato | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodic sequence | the successive repetition of a melodic unit at a high or low pitch | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodie | (German f., Dutch) melody, song, tune, aria | |||||||||||||||||||||
| developed from simpler forms such as the romance, the bergerette and the scène, the mélodie is the French equivalent of the German Lied, 'art-song' rather than the lighter chanson | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mélodie | (French f.) melody, tune, air, melodía (Spanish f.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| in music, the term mélodie generally applies to French art songs of the mid-nineteenth century to the present; it is the French equivalent of the German Lied. It is distinguished from a chanson, which is a folk or popular song | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mélodie bien sentie | (French f.) the melody to be well expressed or accented | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mélodie harmonisée note par note | (French f.) chordal or block harmony | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodieinstrument | (German n.) melody instrument | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodiekoppel | (German n.) see Koppel | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodielehre | (German f.) a study of melody | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodiesaite | (German f.) treble string, corda melodica (Italian f.), corde mélodique (French f.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodiestem | (Dutch) principal part, leading melody | |||||||||||||||||||||
| melodieus | (Dutch) melodious, tuneful | |||||||||||||||||||||
| melodieusement | (French) melodiously, sweetly | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodik | (German f.) the science of melody | |||||||||||||||||||||
| melodik | (German) melodious, tuneful | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodiograph | a device for preserving a record of music, by recording the action of the keys of a musical instrument as it is being played upon | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodion | a keyboard instrument invented by J. C. Dietz of Emmerich in 1806 in which the sounds were produced by pressing graduated steel bars against a rotating cylinder | |||||||||||||||||||||
| a glass harmonica | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| melodiosamente | (Italian) melodiously | |||||||||||||||||||||
| melodioso | (Italian, Spanish) melodious, tuneful | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodious | music with a pleasing melody | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mélodique | (French) melodic | |||||||||||||||||||||
| melodisch | (German) melodious, melodiously | |||||||||||||||||||||
| melodische Lijn | (Dutch) melodic line | |||||||||||||||||||||
| melodische mineur-Toonladder | (Dutch) melodic minor scale | |||||||||||||||||||||
| melodische Molltonleiter | (German f.) melodic minor scale | |||||||||||||||||||||
| melodisches Moll | (German n.) melodic minor | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodisch Dur-Leiter | (German f.) melodic major scale | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodisch Moll-Leiter | (German f.) melodic minor scale | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mélodium | (French) a kind of harmonium | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodram | (German n.) melodrama | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodrama | (English, German n.) a dramatic work with music where the dialogue is spoken | |||||||||||||||||||||
| particularly in the nineteenth century, genres of opera that use spoken dialogue accompanied or unaccompanied by an orchestra rather than recitative (an early example is to be found in Mozart's unfinished German opera Zaide) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| often applied to scenes in opera, for example, opéra comique and Singspiel, characterised in this way | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| more generally, a dramatic form characterized by excessive sentiment, exaggerated emotion, sensational and thrilling action, and an artificially happy ending. Melodramas originally referred to romantic plays featuring music, singing, and dancing, but by the eighteenth century they connoted simplified and coincidental plots, bathos, and happy endings. These melodramatic traits are present in Gothic novels, western stories, popular films, and television crime shows, to name but a few more recent examples | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mélodrama | (French f.) melodrama | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mélodrame | (French m.) melodrama | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melodramma | (Italian m.) a nineteenth-century term for a musical dramma similar to opera | |||||||||||||||||||||
| melodrammatico | (Italian) melodramatic | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melody | melodia (Italian), Melodie (German), chant (French), mélodie (French) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (Middle English melodie, from Old French, from Late Latin melodia, from Greek meloidia, singing, choral song : melos, tune + aoide, song.) the horizontal dimension in music, a succession of organized pitches having a definite rhythm, where the vertical dimension arises from the harmony | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| an air or tune | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Melody dominated homophony | music in which the top line has a dominant melody in a different rhythm, and all the voices accompany it with homophonic chords. Most popular music can be described as melody dominated homophony. This type of music could be considered a monody, but this term is generally applied to Italian song of the early seventeenth century | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Melograph | a device which writes down in notes what is extemporised on the pianoforte | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melologo | (Italian) a musical melodrama in which the effect of declamation is enhanced by background music | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meloman | (German m./f.) one who has a 'mania' for music, a music lover | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mélomane | (French m./f.) one who has a 'mania' for music, a music lover | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mélomane | (French) music-mad | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mélomanie | (French f.) an extreme passion, or mania, for music | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meloneras | Spanish dance from Daimiel. They are variation of the seguidillas manchegas and are danced by two or four couples at a slow pace, accompanied by castanets | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melopea | (Italian f., Spanish f.) melopoeia [Spanish entry provided by Donald Skoog] | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mélopée | (French f.) melopoeia | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melopoeia | the art of creating melody | |||||||||||||||||||||
| melody, now often used for a melodic passage, rather than a complete melody | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| words and music combined | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| vocal declamation of a drama | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Melopeya | (Spanish f.) melopoeia [entry provided by Donald Skoog] | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melophare | a lantern, inside of which music paper, previously soaked in oil, is placed, so that the notes can be read when a light is placed inside (used for serenades at night) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mélophone | an experimental accordion | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melopiano | a keyboard instrument invented by Caldara of Turin (1870) the unusual hammer action allowing the player to produced sustained sounds and a crescendo and decrescendo | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melopeo y maestro (1613) | written by Pietro Cerone (1566-1625), an Italian music theorist, singer and priest, an enormous music treatise which is useful in the study of compositional practices of the sixteenth century | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Méloplaste | (French) a piece of equipment from which the méthode de méloplaste invented by Pierre Galin in 1817, takes its name, a board with staves of five lines and some auxiliary lines, on which the teacher shows the notes he wishes the class to sing by means of a pointer, one end of which bears a small ball that represents a note head | |||||||||||||||||||||
| ¿me lo podría envolver aparte? | (Spanish) could you wrap it separately? | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melopoeïa | (Greek) the art of writing melody | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melorhythm | the melody/rhythm complex that arising in certain genres of African drumming, those using drums that can produce a number of tones at different pitches | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melos | (Greek, literally 'tune, song, melody') melos (song) falls into two divisions - the personal song of the poet, and the choric song of his band of trained dancers. There are remains of old popular songs with no alleged author, in various styles: the Mill Song - a mere singing to while away time - the Spinning Song, the Wine-Press Song, and the Swallow Song, with which the Rhodian boys went round begging in early spring. Rather higher than these were the Skolia, songs sung at banquets or wine-parties | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (Greek) a term used by Richard Wagner (1813-83) to denote vocal progressions in the recitatives in some of his operas that do not have the form or unity of regular melodies | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Melothesia | (Greek) the invention of melody | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melotheta | (Greek) composer, musician | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meloton | a small cylinder belly organ that had no pipes but instead used reeds | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Melotypie | (German) the art of printing notes by type | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mels | abbreviation of melodramma serio (Italian) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| melss | abbreviation of melodramma semiserio (Italian) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Membrana | (Italian f.) membrane, drumhead, vellum | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Membranofon | (German n.) membranophone | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Membranofoon | (Dutch) membranophone | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Membranophon | (German n.) membranophone | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Membranophone | from the Sachs-Hornbostel hierarchical scheme for classifying musical instruments, an instrument that produces sound through the vibration of a stretched membrane, one of two forms, the drum and the mirliton | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Membro | (Italian m.) member, limb | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meme | the term coined by Richard Dawkins that refers to any piece of information transferable from one mind to another. Examples might include thoughts, ideas, theories, practices, habits, songs, dances and moods. Different definitions of meme generally agree, very roughly, that a meme consists of some sort of a self-propagating unit of cultural evolution having a resemblance to the gene (the unit of genetics) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| même | (French) same | |||||||||||||||||||||
| même mouvement | (French) in the same time, at the same speed | |||||||||||||||||||||
| même mouvement que précédemment | (French) in the same time as that which precedes (it/them) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memento | (Latin, literally 'remember!') the commemoration of the living or the commemoration of the dead in the Canon of the Mass | |||||||||||||||||||||
| anything that serves to remind one of past events or of absent persons (for example, some object kept for that purpose) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Memento mori | (Latin, literally 'remember that you must die') an object (most commonly a skull) reminding one of the inevitability of death and the need for penitence. Other symbols of mortality include clocks and candles. A danse macabre with only one pair of dancers is also a known as a memento mori | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me miró de arriba abajo | (Spanish) he looked me up and down | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memoir (s.), Memoirs (pl.) | (from French mémoire, Latin memoria) a record or report of things done, usually within the personal knowledge of the author | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memoiren | (German pl.) memoirs, reminiscences | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memoir-novel | a novel purporting to be a factual or autobiographical account but which is completely or partially imaginary | |||||||||||||||||||||
| memorabile | (Italian) memorable | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memorabilia | (Latin pl., 'memorable things') things kept to remind the owner of events from his or her past | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memorandum (s.), Memoranda (pl.) | (Latin, 'a note of') a thing to be remembered (often a note that aids future recollection) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| memore | (Italian) mindful, grateful | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memoria | (Italian f., Spanish f.) memory, souvenir | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me la aprendí de memoria (Spanish: I learnt it by heart) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Memoria fiel | (Spanish f.) reliable memory | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memorial | (Spanish m.) notebook, memorial | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memoriale | (Italian m.) memorial | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memorial reconstruction | Renaissance actors, lacking access to promptbooks, reconstructed the text of a play from their own (sometimes faulty) memory, from which reconstruction defective versions of various plays found their way into print | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memorias | (Spanish f. pl.) memoirs (biographical) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memoria technica | (Latin) a system of mnemonics, a device or system of devices to assist the memory | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memorie | (Italian f. pl.) memoirs (biographical) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memorión | (Spanish m.) a very good memory | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memorión (m.), Memoriona (f.) | (Spanish) a person with a very good memory | |||||||||||||||||||||
| memorión (m.), memoriona (f.) | (Spanish) with a very good memory | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mémorisation | (French f.) storage (for example, on recording tape) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mémorisation du son | (French f.) sound storage (for example, on recording tape) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| memorístico (m.), memorística (f.) | (Spanish) acquired by memory | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memorización | (Spanish f.) memorizing, the act of committing to memory | |||||||||||||||||||||
| memorizar | (Spanish) to memorize, to committing to memory | |||||||||||||||||||||
| memorizzare | (Italian) memorize, commit to memory | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memorizzazione | (Italian f.) storage (for example, on recording tape) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memorizzazione del suono | (Italian f.) sound storage (for example, on recording tape) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memory play | the term coined by Tennessee Williams to describe non-realistic dramas, such as The Glass Menagerie, in which the audience experiences the past as remembered by a narrator, complete with music from the period remembered, and images representing the characters' thoughts, fears, emotions, and recollections projected on a scrim in the background | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Memphis blues | a type of blues music that was pioneering in the early part of the twentieth century by musicians associated with vaudeville and medicine shows. It was in the Memphis blues that groups of musicians first assigned one guitarist to play rhythm, and one to play lead and solos, which disposition has become standard in rock and roll and much of popular music | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Memphis soul | a stylish, funky, uptown soul music that is not as hard edged as Southern soul | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memra | (Aramaic) a Syrian preaching homily, in poetic form, that influenced the earliest Byzantine hymnography, the troparion and kontakion | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Memsahib | (Hindi from the Arabic) a European married woman (the form of address by which Indian servants address or refer to their European mistress) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| men | (Italian) less | |||||||||||||||||||||
| men. | abbreviation of meno (Italian: less) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menaaneim | (Hebrew, literally 'to shake') cymbals, probably the sistrum (2 Samuel 6:5) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ménage | (French m.) married couple, housework | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (English, from the French) a household (particularly, a man and a woman keeping house together) and the management of the same | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ménage à trois | (French m.) a household consisting of a woman, her husband and her lover, or of a man, his wife and his mistress | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ménagement | (French m.) care and consideration | |||||||||||||||||||||
| ménager | (French) to treat gently and with tact, to be sparing in the use of, to prepare (carefully) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| ménager (m.), ménagère (f.) | (French) household, domestic | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ménagère | (French f.) housewife | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ménagerie | (French f.) menagerie, a collection of animals | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mención | (Spanish f.) mention | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mención honorífica | (Spanish f.) honourable mention | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mendi | see di | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mendicanti | see Ospedaletto | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mendicant orders | term for the friars who engaged in begging because of their dependence on alms for their support | |||||||||||||||||||||
| see 'friars' | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| mener le branle | (French) to lead the dance | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mener l'enquête | (French) lead the inquiry | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ménesterel (m.), Ménesterelle (f.) | minstrel | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ménestral (m.), Ménestralle (f.) | minstrel | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ménestrel (m.), Ménestrelle (f.) | minstrel | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ménestrels | (French m. pl.) minstrels | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menestrello | (Italian m.) minstral | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ménétriers | (French m. pl.) originally a term meaning 'minstrels', but later used to describe rustic mjusicians and particularly 'bad fiddlers' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meneur | (French m.) leader | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meneur de jeu | (French m.) compère | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menge | (German f.) amount, quantity, crowd (people), set (mathematics) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mengen | (German) mix | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mengenabweichung | (German f.) discrepancy or variance in quantity | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menhir | (Breton) a tall upright monumental stone of a type found throughout Europe, but particularly in Brittany | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menicus (s.), Menisci (pl.) | (Latin, from the Greek) lens that is convex on one face and concave on the other, so that it has a crescent-shaped cross-section | |||||||||||||||||||||
| the convex or concave surface of a liquid in a tube, resulting from the capillary attraction or surface tension | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ménière's disease | a disease of the inner ear characterized by episodes of dizziness and tinnitus and progressive hearing loss (usually unilateral) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meñique | (Spanish m.) little finger, auricular (Spanish), auriculaire (French) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meno | (Italian) less, not so | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meno allegro | (Italian) not so fast | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meno andante | (Italian) slower | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meno forte | (Italian) not so loudly | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menologion (s.), Menologia (pl.) | readings from the Bible (usually) to be read at appointed times in the year | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meno mosso | (Italian) less quick, less movement, slower, not so fast | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meno moto | (Italian) less quick, less movement, slower | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meno piano | (Italian) not so softly | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meno presto | (Italian) less quick, last fast | |||||||||||||||||||||
| menor | (Spanish, Portuguese) minor (reference to key), mineur (French) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meno vivace | (Italian) less quick, slow down | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meno vivo | (Italian) not so quick | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mensa | (Latin, literally 'table') the top stone slab of an altar | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menschengeschlecht | (German n.) mankind | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menschenstimme | (German f.) human voice | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menschlichestimme | (German f.) human voice | |||||||||||||||||||||
| menselijke Stem | (Dutch) human voice | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mensile | (Italian m.) monthly | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mensile | (Italian) monthly | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mens rea | (Latin) guilty mind, criminal intention | |||||||||||||||||||||
| the intention to commit an offence whilst knowing it to be wrong | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mens sana in corpore sano | (Latin) a sound mind in a healthy body | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menstruum | (Latin) a solvent, a liquid in which a solid can be dissolved | |||||||||||||||||||||
| menstruus | (Latin) monthly | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mensual | (Spanish) monthly | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mensuel | (French m.) monthly | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mensuel | (French) monthly | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mensuellement | (French) monthly | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mensur | (German f.) mensura | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (German f.) a fencing-match or duel between two German students | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mensura | (Latin) measure | |||||||||||||||||||||
| correct measurement of intervals | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| in mensurable music, the word had the meaning of 'time' | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| when speaking of organ pipes the term is the equivalent of 'scale' (i.e. the diameter of a pipe) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mensuraalschrift | (Dutch) mensural notation | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mensurable music | measured music, music written with notes having proportionate time-values as distinguished from Plainsong in which the rhythm is free | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mensural | (German) mensurable | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mensuralgesang | measured music, music written with notes having proportionate time-values as distinguished from Plainsong in which the rhythm is free | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (German m.) florid vocalisation | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mensuralmusik | (German f.) mensural music | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mensural notation | (English, Mensuralnotation (German f.)) also called 'proportional notation', musical notation that prescribes specific relative durations of notes. In modern notation this is done with crotchets (quarter notes), minims (half notes), etc., assembled into units called bars (measures). Medieval chant notation does not specify such rhythmic values for notes | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mensural music | a term applied to fifteenth- and sixteenth-century unbarred music where the proportional relationship between the note symbols might be duple (as they are today) or triple, depending on the time signature | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mensuralmusik | (German f.) mensural music | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mensuralnotation | (German) mensural notation | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mensuralnoten | (German) mensural notation | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mensuration | (English, French f.) in general, the act, process, or art, of measuring or, collectively, the measurements themselves | |||||||||||||||||||||
| in music of the Renaissance, the relationships (particularly the proportional relationships) between the time values or durations of the various note signs | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mensuration canon | also called a prolation canon. Mensuration is an early musical term which is analogous to our notion of time signature. A mensuration canon can be described as a mathematical dilation, where each "voice" carries the same melodic line but at a different speed. In some of the early examples of mensuration canons from the 15th and 16th centuries, the melody line is denoted once, along with several time signatures and each musician is expected to perform the line at one of the time signatures. The faster performers might be instructed to repeat their line several times or else the piece might stop short of the slower performers completing the entire melody line | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mensurstrich | (German m.) the barring of modern editions of early music by placing the barline between the staves rather than across the staff, so that the original notation is unaffected by it and the performer can imagine that they are using an unbarred part | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mentalement | (French) mentally | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mentalité | (French f.) mental attitude | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mente, alla | see alla mente | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menterie | (French f.) untruth, falsehood, lie | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menteur (m.), Menteuse (f.) | (French) liar, fibber | |||||||||||||||||||||
| menteur (m.), menteuse (f.) | (French) fallacious, false, illusory (dreams), untruthful (person), lying (person) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menthe à l'eau | (French f.) a glass of peppermint cordial | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mentholé | (French) mentholated (for example, a cough sweet) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mention | (French f.) a note, a comment | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mention assez bien | (French f.) one grade above a pass (examination result C, lower second class degree) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mention bien | (French f.) two grades above a pass (examination result B, upper second class degree) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mention passable | (French f.) pass grade (examination result D, third class degree) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mention très bien | (French f.) top grade (examination result A, first class degree) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mention très honorable | (French f.) (doctorate) [with] distinction | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mentir | (French) to lie | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mentir à | (French) to betray, to belie | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mento | the most popular native dance of Jamaica, which resembles a Cuban rumba, played in slow tempo | |||||||||||||||||||||
| in a more general sense Mento is the original folk music created by Jamaicans using instruments that range from saxophones, flutes, bamboo fifes, PVC pipes, banjos, violins, bamboo fiddles, guitars, rhumba boxes, double basses, rhythm sticks, shakkas and drums played with both sticks and hands | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mentonera | (Spanish f.) chin-rest (for example, on a violin), mentoniera (Italian f.), Kinnhalter (German m.), mentonnière (French f.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mentoniera | (Italian f.) chin-rest (for example, on a violin), mentonera (Spanish f.), Kinnhalter (German m.), mentonnière (French f.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mentonnière | (French f.) chin-strap (helmet) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (French f.) chin-rest (for example, on a violin), mentoniera (Italian f.), Kinnhalter (German m.), mentonera (Spanish f.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Menu | (French m.) bill of fare | |||||||||||||||||||||
| menu (f.), menue (f.) | (French) slender, slim, slight (figure, finger, person, etc.), thin (voice), tiny (hand-writing), fine (cutting) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menuet | (French m., Dutch) minuet | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menuett | (German n., Swedish) minuet [corrected by Lars Hellvig] | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menuetto | (supposedly Italian) minuet | |||||||||||||||||||||
| German composers used menuetto believing it to be the Italian word for minuet - in fact the correct word is minuetto | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Menuiserie | (French f.) joinery, carpentry, a joiner's workshop, piece of joinery | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menuiserie d'art | (French f.) cabinetwork | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menuisier | (French m.) a joiner, a carpenter | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menuisier d'art | (French m.) a cabinet-maker | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menu peuple | (French m.) humble folk | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menus frais | (French m. pl.) incidental expenses, minor expenses | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menus monnaie | (French m. pl.) small change (money) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Menus plaisirs | (French m. pl.) the minor pleasures of life (as measured in terms of money spent) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| historically the term was used generally for entertainments organised for French royalty | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Menus propos | (French m. pl.) small talk | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me pagan poco, pero algo es algo | (Spanish) they don't pay me much, but it's better than nothing | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mephistopheles | also Mephistophilus, Mephistophilis, Mephostopheles, Mephisto and variants, a name often given to one representation of the devil or Satan. It is also the name used for the demon in the Faust legend | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mephisto Polka (S217) | a piece of program music written in folk-dance style for solo piano by Franz Liszt in 1882-3. The work's program is the same as that of the same composer's four Mephisto Waltzes | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mephisto Waltzes | four waltzes composed by Franz Liszt in 1859-62, 1880-81, 1883 and 1885. Nos. 1-2 were composed for orchestra, later arranged for piano, piano duet and two pianos, whereas 3 and 4 were written for piano only. Of the four, the first is the most popular and has been frequently performed in concert and recorded | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mépris | (French m.) contempt, scorn | |||||||||||||||||||||
| méprisable | (French) despicable | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Méprise | (French f.) mistake | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mépriser | (French) to scorn, to despise | |||||||||||||||||||||
| méprisant (m.), méprisante (f.) | (French) scornful | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me provocó arcadas | (Spanish) it made me retch | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me queda muy ajustado | (Spanish) it's too tight (for me) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meraviglioso | (Italian) marvellous | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercado | (Spanish m.) market | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercado Común, el | (Spanish) the Common Market | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercado de abastos | (Spanish m.) wholesale food market, market (selling fresh food) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercado de artesanías | (Spanish m.) craft market | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercado de divisas | (Spanish m.) foreign exchange market | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercado de las pulgas | (Spanish m.) flea market | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercado de trabajo | (Spanish m.) job market, labour market | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercado nacional | (Spanish m.) domestic market | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercado negro | (Spanish m.) black market | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercado paralelo | (Spanish m.) parallel market | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercado persa | (Spanish m.) bazaar, street market | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercador's comma | an interval defined by the frequency ratio of 53 pure fifths and 31 octaves, equivalant to 3.6 cents | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercian | the dialect of Old English spoken in the region of Mercia | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Merci beaucoup | (French) Thank you very much | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Merci bien | (French) Thanks a lot (sincere and sarcastic) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| merci d'avance | (French) thanks in advance | |||||||||||||||||||||
| merci de | (French) thank you for (your kindness. etc.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Merci mille fois | (French) Thanks a million | |||||||||||||||||||||
| merci pour | (French) thank you for (the book, etc.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercy | see Gottschalk | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mereng | the Haitian version of the merengue | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Merengue | (English, German f.) a spirited dance style from the Dominican Republic, with a syncopated duple rhythm. that is normally accompanied by a small accordion, a two headed drum called the tambora, and a singer who plays the güiro (scraper). It was introduced into Puerto Rico and then the United States during the 1930s, then typically performed by larger ensembles including alto saxophones, trumpets, congas and drums. The same music is called méringue or mereng in Haiti where it is guitar, not accordion based | |||||||||||||||||||||
| tempos vary a great deal and the Dominicans enjoy a sharp quickening in pace towards the latter part of the dance. The most favoured routine at the clubs and restaurants that run a dance floor is a slow bolero, breaking into a merengue, which becomes akin to a bright, fast jive in its closing stages. The ballroom merengue is slower and has a modified hip action. However, whatever the tempo, it is the rhythm that dominates the music, unsyncopated and including an strong beat on 1 and 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| a style of vallenato music from Colombia | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Merengue de salón | the ballroom version of merengue | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Merengue típico cibaeño | (Dominican Republic) the name given in the early twentieth century to the original form of the merengue | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Merenhouse | see Merenrap | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Merenrap | or Merenhouse, which from the mid-1990s which added 'house' and 'hip hop' elements to merengue | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Merensongo | an Afro-Cuban rhythm | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meretrix (s.), Meretices (pl.) | (French f.) a prostitute | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Merging | see 'levelling' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Méride | 1/43 part of an octave. This name was chosen by Joseph Sauveur (1653-1716) in 1696. The méride and eptaméride were the first logarithmic interval measures proposed. Sauveur favoured 43-tone equal temperament because the small intervals are well represented in it. He had set the comma to one step, then found a range of 2, 3 or 4 steps for the chromatic semitone, corresponding to 31, 43 and 55 tones per octave. He found 43 to be optimal because 4 steps is almost exactly a 16:15 minor second and 7 steps almost exactly the geometric mean of three 9:8 and two 10:9 whole tones. The chromatic scale contained in 43-tET is virtually identical to 1/5-comma meantone tuning | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Meridians | (in a bell) vertical nodal lines resulting from the bell's geometric form which are associated with vibratory movement | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Méridional (s.), Méridionale (f.) | (French) a native of the South of France | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meringue | a confection made of icing-sugar and white of egg, made into small cakes or speared over a pudding | |||||||||||||||||||||
| or merengue, a spirited dance style from the Dominican Republic, with a syncopated duple rhythm. that is normally accompanied by a small accordion, a two headed drum called the tambora, and a singer who plays the güiro (scraper). It was introduced into Puerto Rico and then the United States during the 1930s, then typically performed by larger ensembles including alto saxophones, trumpets, congas and drums. The same music is called méringue or mereng in Haiti where it is guitar, not accordion based | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Merino wool | very fine woollen cloth made from the merino sheep, popular for outdoor garments such as jackets and sweaters | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mériter de | (French) to deserve to | |||||||||||||||||||||
| merklich etwas einhaltend | (German) noticeably somewhat restrained [entry suggested by Robert Lustrea: this marking is found in Mahler 5th Symphony, mvt. 3, 2nd trombone part 13 bars/measures after 23 - translation suggested by Douglas Nasrawi] | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Merline | see serinette | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Merlon | a solid portion between two crenels (openings) in a battlement or crenelated wall | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Merodi | (Japan) a serrated, flexible plastic pipe, both ends of which are open. The player holds one end and swings the pipe in a circle over his head. If the speed of swinging is increased, higher overtones are heard, so that a kind of melody can be played | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Merry | happy, joyful, giocoso (Italian), lustig (German), gai (French) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Merry-andrew | slang for a clown or a mountebank's assistant at a fair | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mersenne, Marin (1588-1648) | also Marin Mersennus or le Père Mersenne, he was a French theologian, philosopher, mathematician and music theorist. Of his works in this connection the best known is Traité de l'harmonie universelle (also referred to as simply Harmonie universelle) of 1636, dealing with the theory of music and musical instruments. It is regarded as a source of information on seventeenth-century music, especially French music and musicians, to rival even the works of Pietro Cerone (1566-1625) whose El melopeo y maestro: tractado de música theorica y pratica; en que se pone por extenso; lo que uno para hazerse perfecto musico ha menester saber, consisting of 22 volumes, 849 chapters, and 1160 pages in the original Spanish, is useful in the studying compositional practices of the sixteenth century | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mersey beat | see 'Mersey sound' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mersey Sound | also known as the 'Liverpool Sound' and 'Mersey Beat', the name the media gave to the music created by Merseyside groups between 1958 and 1964. The most popular line-up comprised lead, rhythm and bass guitars plus drums as popularised by The Beatles and The Searchers | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Merton Abbey | collection of buildings set in some 7acres of grounds on the banks of the river Wandle 7 miles from the centre of London where William Morris set up the workshops for Morris & Co | |||||||||||||||||||||
| merveilleux | (French) marvellous | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesa | (Spanish f.) table, desk, a high table-land or plateau | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mésalliance | (French) an unsuitable marriage (the term is applied particularly to marriage with a person of inferior social position) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mesarse | (Spanish) tear at one's hair | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mescolanza | (Italian f.) a medley, a quodlibet | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (Italian f.) a mixture of discordant sounds, bad harmony | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| mescolare con | (Italian) to mix with | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mescolarsi con | (Italian) to mingle with | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mescolatore | (Italian m.) mixer (electronics) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mescolatore di suono | (Italian m.) sound mixer | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mese | (Greek) the middle string on the lyre | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesemba | or 'Angolan semba', a traditional ritual music from Angola in Southern Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me senté atrás | (Spanish) I sat in the back, I sat at the back | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meseta | (Spanish f.) plateau, landing (staircase) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mesiánico | (Spanish) Messianic | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesias | (Spanish m.) Messiah | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesilla | (Spanish f.) small table | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesilla de noche | (Spanish f.) bedside table | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesne | (old French) the holding of an estate of a superior lord (by a feudal lord), occurring at a time intermediate between two dates (as a legal term) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesodiplosis | the repetition of a word or phrase at the middle of every clause | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesolabium | a device attributed to Archimedes or Eratosthenes and described by Vitruvius (c. 90-20 BC) in Book IX of his De architectura a textbook written for Roman architects. The mesolabium is a measuring tool for finding two mean proportionals. In 1558, Gioseffo Zarlino published instructions on how to tune a lute using such a device (Part 2 of Zarlino's Le institutione harmoniche) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesón | (Spanish m.) inn | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesonera | (Spanish f.) landlady | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesonero | (Spanish m.) landlord | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesopic vision | vision at light levels at which both retinal cones (receptors for colour vision) and retinal rods (receptors for black and white vision) are stimulated | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesotónico | (Spanish) mean-tuned | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesozeugma | see 'zeugma' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mesquin (m.), mesquine (f.) | (French) sordid, shabby | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesquinerie | (French f.) shabbiness, little-mindedness | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messa | (Italian f.) the Mass | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messa bassa | (Italian f.) a silent Mass, whispered by the priest during a musical performance | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messa concertata | (Italian f.) a Mass consisting of concerted music | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messa di voce | (Italian f., literally 'placing the voice') a crescendo (i.e. swelling) and a diminuendo (i.e. diminishing) on a single sustained note (particular in singing) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messa in scena | (Italian f.) production, staging | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messanzo | (Italian) mesolanza | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messa per i defunti | (Italian f., literally 'mass for the dead') requiem mass | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messe | (French f., German f.) mass, misa (Spanish) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messe basse | (French f., German f.) low mass, misa baja (Spanish) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messe basse solennelle | (French f., literally 'solemn low mass') the Abbé Perrin, in the preface to a collection of his own motet texts (1665), tells us that for Louis XIV's messe basse solennelle, the musical highpoint of daily worship at Versailles, "three [motets] are usually sung: a grand, a petit for the élévation, and a Domine salvum fac regem ('God save the king'). I have made the grands long enough that they can last a quarter of an hour ... and occupy the beginning of the Mass up to the élévation. Those of the élévation are shorter and can last up to the Post-Communion where the Domine [salvum] begins." | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messe chantée | (French f.) a sung Mass, misa cantada (Spanish) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messe concertante | (French f.) a Mass consisting of concerted music | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messe de fiançailles | (French f.) a betrothal Mass | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messe de funérailles | (French f.) a funeral Mass | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messe de Nostre Dame | (French, 'Mass of Our Lady') a polyphonic mass composed before 1365 by the French poet, composer and cleric Guillaume de Machaut (circa 1300-1377). One of the great masterpieces of medieval music and of all religious music, it is the earliest complete setting of the Ordinary of the Mass attributable to a single composer | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Messe de Requiem | (French f.) requiem mass | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messe des morts | (French f., literally 'mass for the dead') requiem mass | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messe des trépassés | (French f.) funeral mass | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messe en plein air | (French f.) outdoor mass, misa de campaña (Spanish) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messe grégorienne | (French f.) mass using the Gregorian rite | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messe noire | (French f.) black mass | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messe pontificale | (French f.) papal mass, misa pontifical (Spanish) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messe solennelle | (French f.) solemn mass | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messe votive | (French f.) votive mass (celebrated for a special intention) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meßlatte | (German f.) surveyor's rod | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messglöcken | (German f.) Sanctus bells | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messiah, The | oratorio composed by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) to a libretto written by poet and landowner, Charles Jennens, for which there is an almost unbroken performing tradition going back to the eighteenth century. Handel had reached a low point in his London career. Audiences had turned their back on his opera seria and he moved to Dublin. The Lord Lieutenant of Dublin wanted to present a work for charity and Handel began work on the Messiah on August 22 1741. Twenty-three days later it was finished and it received its first Dublin performance on 13 Apr. 1742. Unique among Handel's oratories, Messiah is more religious than his other work; the text is purely scriptural and does not tell a story in the conventional sense. Rather, it is a meditation on Christ's life and ultimate triumph, and a celebration of redemption. It was an immediate success despite some reservations about a work based on a religious theme being performed in a London theatre (Covent Garden). The work was revived 39 times before the composer's death | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messing | (German n.) brass (metal) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messingblæsere | (Danish) brass (e.g. orchestral section) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messingrohr | (German n.) brass tubing, brass pipe | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messingsaite | (German f.) brass string, corda d'ottone (Italian f.), corde de laiton (French f.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messingstreifen | (German m.) brass strip | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messinqo | (Ethiopia) a one-string fiddle played with a bow, associated particularly with the azmaris | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Messklingeln | (German m. pl.) Sanctus bells | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mestamente | (Italian) plaintively, grievingly | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mestee | a person with less than one-eighth black ancestry | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mester de Clerecía | (Castilan, 'ministry of Clergy') a Castilian literature genre that can be understood as an opposition and surpassing of Mester de Juglaría. It was cultivated in the thirteenth century by Spanish clergymen | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mester de juglaría | (Castilan, 'ministry of jongleury') a Castilian-language literature genre from the 12th and 13th centuries, transmited orally by "juglares" who made their living by telling and singing these stories in public places and palaces together with performing short theatral scenes, acrobacy or otherwise diverting the public | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mestizia | (Italian f.) sadness | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mestizaje | (Spanish m.) crossbreeding | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mestizo (m.), Mestiza (f.) | (Portuguese, mestiço; French, métis: from Late Latin mixticius, literally 'mixed') a term of Spanish origin used to designate the people of mixed European and indigenous non-European ancestry. The term has traditionally been applied mostly to those of mixed European and indigenous Amerindian ancestry who inhabit the region spanning the Americas; from the Canadian prairies in the north to Argentina and Chile's Patagonia in the south. In the other regions and countries previously under Spanish, Portuguese or French colonial rule, variants of the term may also be in usage for people of other colonial European and indigenous non-European (Asian, African, and Oceanianic, etc.) mixtures. In the Philippines, the term mestiso, or mistiso, is a broad reference to individuals of any non-specific foreign admixture to an ethnic Filipino base stock | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (Spanish) cross-breed (animal) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| mestizo (m.), mestiza (f.) | (Spanish) cross-bred, half-caste | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mestizo music | mestizo music, like the mestizo themselves, combines both European and indigenous musical forms and musical instruments | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mesto | (Italian) mournful, sad, melancholy, pensive | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mestoso | (Italian) mournful, sad, pensive | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mestre da capela | (Portuguese) maestro di cappella | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesura | (Spanish f.) moderation | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mesurado | (Spanish) moderate | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure | (French f.) measure (bar), misura (Italian f.), mesura (Spanish f.), Takt (German m.), mesure (French f.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| in French chivalric literature, the equivalent of Latin moderatio, the ability to follow a golden mean and not go to unreasonable extremes. This trait contrasts with the demesure (excessive actions or unconrolled passions) of figures like the knight Roland in the Chanson de Roland. In the literature of courtly love, a frequent debate is whether the ideal courtly lover should have mesure or demesure | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| (French f.) beat, time, tempo | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| (French) in fifteenth-century dance, a phrase or measure. The number of doubles (three-movement step pattern done the first step with body lowered, the other two with body raised, found in odd numbers) determines the size of the mesure - petite (1 double), moyenne (3), grande (5), while the presence or absence of simples (always done in sets of two; one short step with the body lowered and one longer step with the body raised) after the doubles determines the mesure's degree of perfection; simples after = mesure parfaite, absence of simples = mesure imparfaite | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| "Musical term: a certain regular movement that is made with the hand to guide the singer's voice according to the slow or fast beats of the music. There are various mesures [meters] in music, and they are shown by certain numbers at the beginning of the piece. All the beats of the mesure must be beaten equally. ... Dance term: a sort of cadence [rhythm] and regular movement." - Richelet (1681) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I find that we confuse mesure with what is called cadence or mouvement. Mesure refers to the length and equalness of the beats, and cadence is strictly speaking the esprit [spirit] and the soul that must be added to it. This cadence scarcely applies to Italian sonatas. But all our airs for the violin and our pieces for harpsichord, viols, etc., select and seem to wish to express some feeling. Thus, not having invented signs or symbols to communicate our individual ideas, we try to remedy this by marking a few words such as tendrement, vivement, etc., at the beginning of our pieces, to show approximately what we mean." - Couperin, Art de toucher, (1716) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| mesuré | (French) measured, moderate | |||||||||||||||||||||
| in strict time | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure à cinq-quatre | (French f.) 5/4 time | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure à deux-deux | (French f.) 2/2 time | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure à deux-quatre | (French f.) 2/4 time | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure à deux temps | (French f.) common time, two beats in a bar | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure à la clef | (French f.) time signature | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure à neuf-huit | (French f.) 9/8 time | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure à neuf-quatre | (French f.) 9/4 time | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure à quatre-deux | (French f.) 4/2 time | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure à quatre-huit | (French f.) 4/8 time | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure à quatre-quatre | (French f.) 4/4 time | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure à six-huit | (French f.) 6/8 time | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure à six-quatre | (French f.) 6/4 time | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure à temps inégaux | (French f.) irregular meter | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure à trois-deux | (French f.) 3/2 time | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure à trois-huit | (French f.) 3/8 time | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure à trois-quatre | (French f.) 3/4 time | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure à trois temps | (French f.) triple time, three beats in a bar | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure complexe | (French f.) irregular meter (for example, 5/4, 7/4) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure composée | (French f.) compound time, triple time, zusammengesetzte Taktart (German) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure composée binaire | (French f.) compound duple time | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure composée ternaire | (French f.) compound triple time | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure composite | (French f.) uneven meter | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure impaire | (French f.) odd meter, uneven meter | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mésurer | (French) to measure | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mésurer en (mètres) | (French) to measure in (metres) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure simple | (French f.) simple time, duple time, einfache Taktart (German) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure simple binaire | (French f.) simple duple time | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure simple ternaires | (French f.) simple triple time | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mesure ternaire | (French f.) triple meter | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Met | abbreviation of 'Metropolitan Opera House, New York' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| met. | abbreviation of 'metronome' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meta | (Spanish f.) goal, finish (of a race, course, career, etc.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metà | (Italian f.) half | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metabolismo | (Spanish m.) metabolism | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metacarpiano | (Spanish m.) metacarpal | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metadrama | drama in which the subject of the play is dramatic art itself, especially when such material breaks up the illusion of watching reality | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Metafiction | fiction in which the subject of the story is the act or art of storytelling of itself, especially when such material breaks up the illusion of "reality" in a work | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Metafísica | (Spanish f.) metaphysics | |||||||||||||||||||||
| metafísico | (Spanish) metaphysical | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metáfora | (Spanish f.) metaphor | |||||||||||||||||||||
| metafórico | (Spanish) metaphorical | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metais | (Portuguese) brass (instruments) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metal | as applied to metal organ pipes, usually a mixture of tin and lead. Pipes made of pure tin give a clear piercing tone, while those using tin with a small amount of lead give a softer tone. Too much lead produces poor sounding pipes | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (Spanish m.) metal, brass (instruments), timbre (of the voice) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Metal block | (Italian m., English, French m.) a percussion instrument made of a block of metal | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metal castanets | or 'cymbal tongs', castagnette di ferro or castagnette di metallo (Italian), castagnettes de fer or xastagnettes de métal (French), Metallkastagnetten (German), castañuelas de metal or castañuelas de hierro (Spanish) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| a percussion instrument with a pair of tiny cymbals attached to spring tongs | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Metal clarinet | clarinette métallique | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metalcore | a musical genre consisting of a mix between heavy metal and hardcore | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Metales | (Spanish) brass (section of an orchestra) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| metálico | (Spanish) metal (object), metallic (sound) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metaliterature | literary art focused on the subject of literary art itself | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| metalizare | (Spanish) to become mercenary (figurative) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| metalizzare il suono | (Italian) schmettern | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metallblock | (German m.) metal block | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metal leaf | (in gilding) also known as 'Dutch metal' and 'composition leaf'. Metal leaf is an alloy of gold-coloured base metals (copper, tin and zinc). It is produced in leaves that are thicker and larger than gold leaf. They can be manipulated by hand. Metal leaf will tarnish and will eventually disintegrate completely | |||||||||||||||||||||
| metallico | (Italian) metallic, of a metallic quality | |||||||||||||||||||||
| metallisch | (German) metallic, of a metallic quality | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metallkastagnetten | (German f. pl.) metal castanets | |||||||||||||||||||||
| metallo | (Italian) metallic, clear in tone (as with a voice described as bel metallo di voce (Italian: 'a voice that is clear, full and brilliant') | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metallofon | (German n.) metallophone | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metallophon | (German n.) metallophone | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metallophone | (English) metal idiophones are frequently called 'metallophones' or or 'metalophone', for example, an instrument like a pianoforte, where the strings have been replaced with metal bars, or an instrument like the xylophone, but with metallic instead of wooden bars | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Métallophone | (French m.) metallophone | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metallofono | (Italian m.) metallophone | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metalloid | a nonmetallic element, such as arsenic, that has some of the chemical properties of a metal | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metallsaite | (German f.) metal string | |||||||||||||||||||||
| metallverarbeitende Industrie | (German f.) metalworking industry | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metalófono | (Spanish m.) metallophone | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metalophone | (English) synonymous with 'metallophone' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Métalophone | (French m.) metallophone | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metalurgia | (Spanish f.) metallurgy | |||||||||||||||||||||
| metalúrgico | (Spanish) metallurgical | |||||||||||||||||||||
| metamórfico | (Spanish) metamorphic | |||||||||||||||||||||
| metamorfosear | (Spanish) to transform | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metamorfosis | (Spanish f.) metamorphosis | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metamorphosis (s.), Metamorphoses (pl.) | (Greek) a transformation, a complete change of appearance, form, condition or nature | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metamorphosis of themes | or 'thematic metamorphosis', the process of thematic modification so that it retains its essential characteristics, most closely associated with Franz Liszt (1811-1886) who used in a similar way to Richard Wagner's use of leitmotif | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metano | (Spanish m.) methane | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metaphor | a rhetorical trope, the application of a name or description to something to which it is not literally applicable (e.g. a glaring error), an instance of this. A particularly unusual metaphor that requires some explanation on the writer's part is often called a metaphysical conceit. The subject (first item) in a metaphoric statement is known as the tenor. The combination of two different metaphors into a single, awkward image is called a "mixed metaphor" or abusio | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metaphorik | (German f.) the study of metaphor | |||||||||||||||||||||
| metaphorisch | (German) metaphoric | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metaphysical conceit | see 'metaphor' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metaphysical poets | a loose group of British lyric poets of the seventeenth century, who shared an interest in metaphysical concerns and a common way of investigating them. The label "metaphysical" was given much later by Samuel Johnson in his Life of Cowley. These poets themselves did not form a school or start a movement; most of them did not even know or read each other. Their style was characterized by wit, subtle argumentations, "metaphysical conceits", and/or an unusual simile or metaphor such as in Andrew Marvell's comparison of the soul with a drop of dew. Several metaphysical poets, especially John Donne, were influenced by neo-Platonism. One of the primary Platonic concepts found in metaphysical poetry is the idea that the perfection of beauty in the beloved acted as a remembrance of perfect beauty in the eternal realm. In a famous definition Georg Lukács, the Hungarian Marxist aesthetist, described the school's common trait of "looking beyond the palpable" and "attempting to erase one's own image from the mirror in front so that it should reflect the not-now and not-here" as foreshadowing existentialism (as quoted in The Aesthetics of Georg Lukács by B. Királyfalvi (1975)) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Metaplasmus | a type of neologism in which misspelling a word creates a rhetorical effect | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Metapoetry | poetry about poetry, especially self-conscious poems that pun on objects or items associated with writing or creating poetry | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Metastasio | (Metastasio is the Greek equivalent of Trapassi) Italian librettist whose work formed the basis of opera seria. Born Pietro Antonio Domenico Bonaventura Trapassi (3 Jan. 1698, Rome), his early education was arranged by his godfather, Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni. In 1712, at the age of 14, Pietro wrote his first work, a tragedy, Giustino, conceived in imitation of ancient models. In 1720 he wrote his first stage work intended for a musical setting, Angelica e Medoro, for the birthday of the Habsburg emperor, Charles VI and in 1723 he wrote his first opera libretto, Siface re di Numidia, which was brought to the stage in a setting by Feo. The text was a reworking of Domenico David's La forza del virtù. His first original opera libretto was Didone abbandonata, written in 1724. It was set to music by Sarro and launched his career in Naples. His 27 opera seria librettos written between 1723 and 1771 were set by over 300 composers during a span of over 100 years that stretches well into the nineteenth century. Metastasio's librettos share several fundamental characteristics. The plots concern six or seven characters of royal or noble birth who are involved in complex relationships and dilemmas. The dramas are in three acts, each act an average of twelve scenes. A series of scenes is often linked by a character common to all of them (liaison de scène). Each of the first two acts end with a climactic, unresolved scene, and the following act begins where the action left off. He died in Vienna on 12 Apr. 1782 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metatarsiano | (Spanish m.) metatarsal | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metátesis | (Spanish f.) metathesis | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metathesis (s.), Metatheses (pl.) | (Greek) in linguistics, the transposition of two sounds or letters in a word. The process has shaped many English words historically. Bird in English was once bryd, run was once irnan, horse was hros | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| met de rechter hand te spelen | (Dutch) M.D., main droite, play with the right hand | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metedura de pata | (Spanish f.) blunder | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metempsychosis (s.), Metempsychoses (pl.) | (Latin, from the Greek) the transmigration of souls, the passage of a soul at death into a new body, either human or animal | |||||||||||||||||||||
| me tendré que aguantarse | (Spanish) I'll just have to put up with it | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meteórico | (Spanish) meteoric | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meteoro | (Spanish m.) meteorite | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meteorologia | (Spanish f.) meteorology (the study of the weather) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meteorológico | (Spanish) meteorological (pertaining to the weather) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meteorólogo | (Spanish m.) meteorologist | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Métèque | (French) a person living in a country not his own, a resident alien (always with a contemptuous connotation) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meter | or 'metre', the organisation of music or literary compositions into units of accented and unaccented beats. Literary compositions written in meter are said to be in verse. In music, duple time alternates accented and unaccented beats, while triple time, an accented beat is followed by two unaccented beats. Meter is actually what is heard and is not the same as a time signature, which is what is written. Although a 'time signature' is called a 'meter signature' it is not the meter itself | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| see 'Spanish poetic meter', 'French poetic meter', 'German poetic meter' | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| meter | (Spanish) to place, to deposit, to score (a goal), to involve, to make (to cause) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meter baza | (Spanish) to interfere | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meter bolas | (Spanish) to tell fibs | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meter en el mismo saco | (Spanish) to lump together | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meter la pata | (Spanish) to put one's foot in it (colloquial) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meter, odd | see 'odd meter' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meterse | (Spanish) to get, to meddle | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meterse con uno | (Spanish) to pick a fight with someone | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meter signature | also called 'time signature', an indication of the meter of a musical composition, usually presented in the form of a fraction - the lower number indicates the unit of measurement, and the upper number indicates the number of units that make up a bar (measure) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| met gedempte stem | (Dutch) sotto voce | |||||||||||||||||||||
| met halve stem | (Dutch) with half the power of the voice | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metheglin | spiced or medicated mead, popular in Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Method | in music, a method is a kind of textbook for a specified musical instrument or a selected problem of playing a certain instrument. A method usually contains fingering charts or tablatures, etc., scales and numerous different exercises, sometimes also simple etudes, in different keys, in ascending order as to difficulty (= in methodical progression) or with a focus on isolated aspects like fluency, rhythm, dynamics, articulation and the like. Sometimes there are even recital pieces, also with accompaniment | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Method acting | an acting style in which the ideal of a "true" (or "real") moment or impulse is valued most highly and in which the actors try to feel the emotions of the character so that the actors' choices and the characters' would be as one. This style was pioneered by Konstantin Stanislavski and is currently taught most formally at The Actor's Studio in Manhattan. Many if not most modern teachers have moved away from the original (Stanislavskian ) "method" as it is very difficult to teach well. It has been altered by many secondary and tertiary disciples in the 1960s and 1970s to suit individual agendas, and may produce seemingly uninteresting results in younger actors | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Methode | (German f.) method, course, system, school, treatise, manual | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Méthode | (French f.) method, course, system, school, treatise, manual | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Methwold Fruit Farm Colony [1889-1917] | founded by Robert Goodrich, a 160 acre Norfolk smallholding scheme. Plots averaged 4 acres each, with little brick-built or wooden cottages. Land was used intensively, with a wide variety of fruit, flowers and vegetables, together with chickens and bees. Diet was primarily vegetarian. Goods not consumed within the colony were sent directly to consumers in London. In 1912 a Post Office was set up and the colony's name was changed to Brookville. Goodrich died in 1917 and with him went the last vestigeof the colony's idealistic days | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meticulosidad | (Spanish f.) meticulousness | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meticuloso | (Spanish) meticulous | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metido | (Spanish m.) reprimand | |||||||||||||||||||||
| metido en años | (Spanish) getting on (in years) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Métier | (French) a profession, vocation or calling, an occupation in which a person has a special interest or skill | |||||||||||||||||||||
| in painting, the term is applied to a subject with which an artist has a special connection (for example, George Stubbs and horses) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Metilo | (Spanish m.) methyl | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Métis (m.), Métisse (f.) | (French) a person born to parents who belong to different groups defined by visible physical differences, regarded as racial. The term is of French origin, and also is a cognate of mestizo in Spanish. In the Western Hemisphere, this term usually is used to describe someone born or descended from the union of a European and an Amerindian. However, the term has been used by other groups around the world, mostly in countries which were under French influence such as Vietnam and is still commonly used by Francophones today | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| met linke hand te spelen | (Dutch) M.S., mano sinistra play with the left hand | |||||||||||||||||||||
| met nadruk | (Dutch) accented | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metobelus | in textual criticism, a mark that looks much like our modern colon : (two dots one above the other), used to indicate the end of a spurious reading or reading | |||||||||||||||||||||
| metódico | (Spanish) methodical | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metodismo | (Spanish m.) Methodism | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metodista | (Spanish m./f.) Methodist | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metodo | (Italian m.) method, course, system, school, treatise, manual | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Método | (Spanish m.) method, course, system, school, treatise, manual | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Método de construcción (s.), Métodos de construcción (pl.) | (Spanish m.) method of construction | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metodologia | (Spanish f.) methodology | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Método matemático | (Spanish m.) mathematical method, mathematical system | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Métodos anticonceptivos | (Spamish m.pl.) methods of contraception | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metomentodo | (Spanish m.) busybody | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metonimia | (Italian f.) metonymy | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metonomasia | (Italian f.) change of name | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metonym | any specific use or specific example of metonymy, or any symbol in which a specific physical object is used as a vague suggestive symbol for a more general idea | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metonymy | the rhetorical or metaphorical substitution of a one thing for another based on their association or proximity, for example the application of the word gamut, originally the lowest note of a music scale as defined by Guido d'Arezzo, to the whole scale or to the range of an instrument | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metraggio | (Italian m.) length (in metres) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metraje | (Spanish m.) length | |||||||||||||||||||||
| de largo metraje (Spanish: feature) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Metralla | (Spanish f.) shrapnel | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metralleta | (Spanish f.) sub-machine gun | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metre | see 'meter' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metre, English Hymn | see 'English hymn metre' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Métrica | (Spanish f.) meter, metrics | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Métrica irregular | (Spanish f.) irregular meter | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metrical | written in meter | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metrical accent | see 'accent' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metrical foot | see 'foot' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metrical psalm | a biblical psalm translated into (English) verse, either "close fitting" or loose, as, for example, All People That on Earth Do Dwell (Psalm 100, Isaac Watts) or The Lord's My Shepherd, I'll Not Want (Psalm 23, Scottish Psalter, 1650) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metrical psalmody | see 'metrical psalm' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metrical psalter | a kind of Bible translation: a paraphrase of all or part of the Book of Psalms in vernacular poetry, meant to be sung as hymns in a church. The composition of metrical psalters was a large enterprise of the Protestant Reformation, especially in its Calvinist manifestation | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Metrical substitution | a way of varying poetic meter by taking a single foot of the normal meter and replacing it with a foot of different meter | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Métrica regular | (Spanish f.) regular meter | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metri causa | (Latin) (an emendation in a text, made) for the sake of the metre, to correct a fault in the metre | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metric line | named according to the number of "feet" in it, so that it is tetrameter if it has four feet, a pentameter if it has five feet, a hexameter if it has six feet, and so on. English verse tends to be pentameter, French verse tetrameter, and Greek verse, hexameter. When scanning a line, we might, for instance, describe the line as "iambic pentameter" (having five feet, with each foot tending to be a light syllable followed by heavy syllable), or "trochaic tetrameter" (having four feet, with each foot tending to be a long syllable followed by a short syllable) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Metric modulation | also called 'tempo modulation', the method of changing tempos precisely by making some note value in the first tempo equal to a different note value (or at least a different proportion of the beat) in the second tempo, used first by Elliott Carter (b. 1908) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metrico | (Italian m.) metrics | |||||||||||||||||||||
| metrico | (Italian) metric, metrical (verse, etc.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| métrico | (Spanish) metric, metrical (verse, etc.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metrics | the description of text in terms of how it is spoken. When two sentences are metrically identical, they both have the same number of syllables. However, when we say that two stanzas are metrically identical, then both the sentences and the syllables of the stanzas pair up with one another, and a melody created for one also fits the other | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metric structure | metric structure includes metre, tempo, and all rhythmic aspects which produce temporal regularity or structure, against which the foreground details or durational patterns are projected | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Metrik | (German f.) meter, the study of meter | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Métrique | (French) time signature | |||||||||||||||||||||
| metrisch | (German) metrical | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metro | (Italian m.) meter, metre, tape measure | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (Spanish m.) metre, meter, underground, subway (US) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Metro cuadrado | (Spanish m.) cubic metre | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metro cubico | (Italian m.) cubic metre | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metronom | (German m., Danish, Swedish) metronome | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metronome | (English, Italian) Metronom (German), métronome (French), a mechanical or electronic device for establishing the tempo of a piece of music | |||||||||||||||||||||
| three metronomes set at speeds of 40, 100 and 232 beats per minutes (BpM) are used by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) at the beginning of his opera L'Heure Espagnole | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Metronome marking | exact tempo indication usually as beats per minute, also denoted M.M, Mälzels Metronom, named after Johann Nepomuk Mäzel (1772-1838) who introduced the first successful mechanical metronome in 1815 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Métronome | (French m.) metronome | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metronomi | (Finnish) metronome | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metrónomo | (Spanish m.) metronome | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metrônomo | (Portuguese) metronome | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metronomo | (Italian m.) metronome | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metronoom | (Dutch) metronome | |||||||||||||||||||||
| metronoom aanduiding | (Dutch) metronome marking | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metronomangabe | (German f.) metronome marking | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metronomangivelse | (Swedish) metronome marking | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metronomtal | (Danish) metronome marking | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metronomiosoitus | (Finnish) metronome marking | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metropolitan | a bishop with authority over a group of territorially contiguous dioceses and their bishops; also known as an archbishop | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metro quadrato | (Italian m.) square metre | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metrum | (Latin, Dutch, German n.) meter, time-signature | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (German n.) versification | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| met stemverheffing | (Dutch) raising the voice | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metallsaite | (German f.) metal string, corda di metallo (Italian f.), corde métallique (French f.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mette | (German) Matins, morning service | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettere | (Italian) to put, to place, to lay, to set, to stake, to put on, to cause, to compare, to charge, to draw, to thrust, to turn, to put forth, to lead, to suppose | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettere a picca | (Italian) to provoke, to irritate | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettere in atto | (Italian) to put into action | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettere in musica | (Italian) to set to music | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettere ... in musica | (Italian) to set ... to music | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettere la sordina | (Italian) to put on the mute | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettersi | (Italian) to put oneself, to get into, to enter, to enter into, to begin, to start, to set in, to set out | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettersi in comunicazione con | (Italian) to get in touch with | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettersi in contatto con ... | (Italian) to get through to ... | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metteur au point | (French m.) one who makes a problem clear, or who sheds new light upon it | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metteur en scène | (French m.) the designer of the staging and production of a play, the stage-manager of some dramatic event | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettez | (French, literally 'put!') in organ playing, an instruction to bring a stop into play | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettez sourd. | abbreviation of mettez la sourdine (French: insert mute) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mettibocca | (Italian m.) meddler, meddlesome talker | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mettilore | (Italian m.) a gilder | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mettimale | (Italian m.) mischief-maker, scandel-monger | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mettiscandali | (Italian m.) mischief-maker, scandel-monger | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mettitore | (Italian m.) putter, placer, gamester, punter | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mettons que ... | (French) Let's say that ... Suppose that... | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre | (French) to put | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre ... heures à faire | (French) to take ... hours to do something | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre à jour | (French) to update | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre à la casse | (French) to scrap | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre à l'épreuve | (French) to put to the test | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre ... à plat | (French) to lay ... down flat | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre à sac | (French) to ransack (a house), to sack (a city) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre au défi | (French) to challenge | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre au jour | (French) to uncover, to bring into the light | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre ... au pas | (French) to bring ... in line | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre ... au pied du mur | (French) to corner ... | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre aux enchères | (French) to sell by auction | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre bas | (French) to give birth, to give birth to | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre beaucoup de soin à faire | (French) to take great care in doing something | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre dans le bain | (French) to drop in it, to put in the picture (figurative) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre dans le même sac | (French) to to lump together | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre ... debout | (French) to stand ... up | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre dehors | (French) to put out | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre de l'ardeur à faire ... | (French) to do ... eagerly | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre de l'argent dans | (French) to put money into | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre de l'argent de côté | (French) to lay money aside | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre de l'argent pour | (French) to pay for | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre de l'argent sur | (French) to spend money on | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre des queues aux zéros | (French) to overcharge | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre ... droit | (French) to set ... straight | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre du temps (à faire ...) | (French) to take time (to do something) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre en branle | (French) to set in motion | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre en chantier | (French) to get under way, to start | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre en chômage technique | (French) to lay off | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre en commun | (French) to share | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre en danger | (French) to endanger | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre en demeure de | (French) to order to | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre en désordre | (French) to make untidy | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre en évidence | (French) to highlight | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre en gage | (French) to pawn | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre en musique | (French) to set to music, to put to music | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre en quarantaine | (French) to put in quarantine, to quarantine, to send to Coventry (figurative: to ostracise) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre en quartiers | (French) to tear to pieces | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre en relief | (French) to bring out, to enhance, to accentuate | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre ... en veilleuse | (French) to put ... on the back burner (to temporarily suspend work on a project) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre la radio | (French) to turn the radio on | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre la sourdine | (French) to to mute | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre la table | (French) to set the table | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre le cap sur | (French) to steer a course for | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre la table | (French) to set the table | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre le réveil | (French) to set the alarm | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre le verrou | (French) to bolt the door | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre l'eau à la bouche de ... | (French) to make ...'s mouth water | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre les bouts | (French) to skedaddle, to scarper (colloquial) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre les informations | (French) to turn the news on | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre les pieds dans le plat | (French) to make a blunder, to do something stupid | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre les voiles | (French) Get lost! (colloquial) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre ... parmi les grands | (French) to rank ... among the greats, to rate ... among the greats | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre son espoir dans | (French) to pin one's hopes on | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre tous ses oeufs dans le même panier | (French) to put all of one's eggs in one basket | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mettre un mot dans la bouche de ... | (French) to put a word into ...'s mouth | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Metzger, Heinz-Klaus (1932-) | a German music critic and theoretician | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Meunier (m.), Meunière (f.) | (French) miller, miller's wife (f.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meunière | (French f.) referring to a style of cooking whereby a food (usually fish) is sautéed simply in butter, white wine, and garlic | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meurtre | (French m.) murder | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meurtrier (m.), Meurtrière (f.) | (French) murderer, murderess (f.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| meurtrier (m.), meurtrière (f.) | (French) deadly | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meurtrière | (French f.) a small loophole in a castle wall so designed that defenders can fire on attackers from under cover | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meut | (French f.) (troup) pack | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mevlevis | a mystical order established in Konya, Turkey, in the thirteenth century who cultivated music and included famous composers and theorists. The order spread into parts of Syria, Iraq, and North Africa and transmitted various instrumental and possibly vocal and dance forms throughout the region | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mexicain (m.), Mexicaine (f.) | (French) Mexican | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mexicain (m.), mexicaine (f.) | (French) Mexican | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mexican bean | a dried bean, usually between 12 and 14 inches long, that, when shaken, produces a dry staccatro rattle | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mexican Hat dance | see jarábe tapatio | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mexican hip hop | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mexican marimba | see maderas que cantan, las | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mexican son | related to Cuban son montuno and Venezuelan joropo, Mexican son first appeared as rural music in the eighteenth century. Despite the similarity in name, it is historically and characteristically distinct from, Cuban son montuno. There are many popular styles including mariachi. Mexican son involves audience participation for zapateado, or foot-stamping performed as a counter-rhythm to the band | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mexican traditional music | Mexico has a great variety of musical traditions and styles. Mariachi music with its trumpets and violins is the most well-known internationally. There are also many regional folk styles which include: the son jarocho from coastal Veracruz, which usually features a harp. (La Bamba was originally a son jarocho); the son huasteco, a fiddle tradition from north-eastern Mexico; marimba music from southern Mexico; and the corridos and rancheras of northern Mexico | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mexican vihuela | a plucked instrument of the guitar family popular in parts of Spanish America, similar but unrelated to the Spanish Renaissance vihuela, that includes a belly for added resonance and five single courses of strings. Standard tuning: A-D-G-B-E, where the ADG are tuned one octave above a guitar | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mexican violin | see mariachi | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mey | the Turkish name for the Armenian duduk, a small oboe from eastern Anatolia | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meyer-Eppler, Werner (1913-1960) | physicist, experimental acoustician, phoneticist, and information theorist who after the second world war turned his attention increasingly to phonetics and speech synthesis. In 1947 he was recruited by Paul Menzerath to the faculty of the Phonetic Institute of the University of Bonn, where he became Scientific Assistant on 1 April 1949. During this time, Meyer-Eppler published essays on synthetic language production and presented American inventions like the Coder, the Vocoder, the Visible Speech Machine. He contributed to the development of the Electrolarynx, which is still used today for the speech-impaired. In 1949 Meyer-Eppler published a book promoting the idea of producing music by purely electronic means (Meyer-Eppler 1949), and in 1951 joined the sound engineer/composer Robert Beyer and the composer/musicologist/journalist Herbert Eimert in a successful proposal to the Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR) for the establishment of an electronic-music studio in Cologne | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Meyjana | a form of Palestinian popular song | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meykhana | (Azerbaijani: Meyxana) is a distinctive Azerbaijani literary and folk rap tradition, consisting of an unaccompanied song performed by one or more people improvising on a particular subject. Meykhana is distinct from spoken word poetry in that it is performed in time to a beat. The name of this genre comes from the traditional Persian meykhane (tavern, pub), which itself originated from the Persian words mey (wine) and khane (house). | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mez | abbreviation of Mezzosopran (German), mezzo-soprano, mezzosoprano (French) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mez. | abbreviation of mezzo (Italian: half) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezavolta | (Italian) in fifteenth-century dance, a half turn round. This term describes both a turn step that lasts one misura and a simple pivot step that could be attached to the end of another step and takes no counts | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezcolanza | (Spanish f.) hodgepodge, hotchpotch | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezé | (Modern Greek from Turkish) a titbit served as an appetizer with a drink | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezoved | North African bagpipe | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezozeugma | an alternative spelling of mesozeugma | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezrab | finger pick used to play the sitar | |||||||||||||||||||||
| shaped mallet used to play the santur | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezza | (Italian f.) half, half-hour, half share, short cue (billiards) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| see mezzo | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezza bravura | (Italian f.) a song of medium or moderate difficulty, as regards its execution | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzalana (s.), Mezzelane (pl.) | (Italian f.) linsey-wolsey, a material that is half wool and half cotton | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzaluna (s.), Mezzelune (pl.) | (Italian f.) crescent, half-moon, cleaver, curved knife, lunette (architecture) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (Italian f.) or cappello cinese, bell tree, chapeau chinoise | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezza manica | (Italian f.) half-shift (on a fingerboard) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezza misure | (Italian f.) half measures | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzana | (Italian f.) flat tile or flooring brick, side of bacon, mizzen (sail), go-between, procuress | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (Italian f.) the middle string of a lute | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzanino | (Italian m.) entresol, mezzanine (floor) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzano | (Italian m.) go-between, procurer | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mezzano | (Italian) mean, middle, middle-sized, middle-class | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzanotte | (Italian f.) midnight | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezza orchestra | (Italian f.) half the number of strings usually found in an orchestra | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzatinta | (Italian f.) half-tint | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezza verià | (Italian f.) half truth | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mezzavia | (Italian) half-way | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezza voce | (Italian f., literally 'half voice') or mezzo voce, sing in a quiet, restrained manner, the equivalent in French is à mi-voix, in German mit halber Stimme | |||||||||||||||||||||
| the French equivalent in the 18th century, à demi or à demi voix, also applied to both vocal and instrumental music | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| strictly, the correct form is a mezza voce (Italian: at half voice) but this is now never used | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzetino | (Italian) also Mezzetin (French) or Mezzettino (Italian), a character from the Commedia dell'Arte and is considered by Duchartre to be a variant on the stock character Brighella. His name means "half-measure (of liquor)" in Medieval Italian, and he is sometimes called in French and English plays Mezzetin. He first appeared in the sixteenth century | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzetta | (Italian f.) a vessel holding half a litre or half a pint | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzina | (Italian f.) jug, pitcher | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mezzo (m.), mezza (f.) | (Italian) half, medium, middle, for example, mezzo-soprano, a female voice lying between soprano and contralto that, in the nineteenth century, replaced the 'castrato voice' which had a very similar range | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzobusto | (Italian m.) bust, head & shoulders, half-length portrait | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mezzo carattere | (Italian) a moderate degree of expression and execution | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzocolore | (Italian m.) neutral colour | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzo-contralto | a voice with a range that lies slightly lower than a mezzo-soprano but not as low as a contralto | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzodi | (Italian m.) noon, midday, south | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mezzo forte | (Italian) or mezzoforte (Italian), moderately louder, between forte and piano (loud and soft) with mezzo forte being a little louder than mezzo piano, in German halblaut or mittelstark, in French mi-fort | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mezzoforte | (Spanish, Italian) mezzo forte | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mezzo forte piano | (Italian) rather loud then soft | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzogiorno | (Italian m.) noon, midday, south | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzogravure | an intaglio printing process, develped in 1910, designed for use with a rotary press that produces prints with a fine deep tonal range as in mezzotints | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mezzolano | (Italian) mediocre, middling | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mezzo legato | (Italian) less legato than legato itself | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzo lutto | (Italian f.) half mourning | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzo mando | (Italian m.) see 'mandolin, mandoline' | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzo manico | (Italian m.) the half-shift or second position, on a string instrument, for example, the violin or the viol (although the term was used by some commentators for position other than the first, in which case the term refers to a manner of playing out of first position, than to any position in particular) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzombra | (Italian f.) half-tone (painting) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzo morto | (Italian f.) half dead | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mezzo piano | (Italian) or mezzopiano (Italian), moderately soft, between forte (Italian: loud) and piano (Italian: soft) with mezzo piano being a little quieter than mezzo forte, the equivalent terms being halbleise or mittelleise in German, and mi-doux in French | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mezzopiano | (Spanish, Italian) mezzo piano | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mezzo punto | (Italian) a sixteenth/seventeenth-century Italian pitch (believed to lie between a'=465 and a'=460 Hz) used mainly as an instrumental pitch. The German equivalent, CammerThon, was associated with court entertainments including dinners | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezz'ora | (Italian) half an hour | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzo rilievo | (Italian m.) or mezzo relievo, half-relief, demi-relief (art), sculpture in which the figures project half their true proportion from the surface | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzosopraan | (Dutch) mezzo-soprano | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzosopraano | (Finnish) mezzo-soprano | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzosopran | (German m., Danish, Swedish) mezzo-sopraano | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzo-soprano | (Italian m., literally 'half soprano') a voice having a compass somewhere between soprano and contralto, a voice that differs from the soprano by missing some of the higher notes and with a darker tone quality, the normal range is from A below middle C (a) to the F an eleventh above middle C (f"). The terms Dugazon and Galli-Marié are sometimes used to refer to light mezzo sopranos, after the names of famous singers | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzo-soprano | (English, French m.) mezzo-soprano | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzosoprano | (Spanish) mezzo-soprano | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzo-soprano castrato | a castrato with a mezzo-soprano range | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzo-soprano clef | chiave di mezzosoprano (Italian f.), Mezzosopranschlüssel (German m.), clé d'ut 2e (French f.), clef d'ut 2e (French f.), clé de mezzo-soprano (French f.), clef de mezzo-soprano (French f.), clave de do en segunda (Spanish f.), clave de mezzosoprano (Spanish f.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mezzosopranschlüssel | (German m.) mezzo-soprano clef | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mezzo staccatissimo | (Italian) an effect less than staccatissimo, it is signified by a staccatissimo mark over or under the notehead which lies under a slur | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzo staccatissimo marking |
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| mezzo staccato |  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (Italian) an effect less than staccato, it is signified by a dot over or under the notehead which is placed under a slur | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzo staccato marking |
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| Mezzo tenore | (Italian m.) a male voice similar to a baritone | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzotermine | (Italian m.) expedient, make-shift, compromise, subterfuge, evasion | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzotint | an engraving in which A heavy curved blade with a serrated edge, known as a rocker, is worked across the plate by rocking and pushing. The fine indentations (lines of small incised dots) produce the velvety ground characteristic of mezzotint, which show no hard lines. When the entire surface of the plate is covered with near parallel lines a new set of lines are rocked onto the surface in another direction. This step is repeated to create at least six different directional sets of lines so when completed no discernible lines can be seen. The rest of the design is worked in by scraping and burnishing. This surface is very delicate and it cannot be used for commercial printing. Its textural surface however is alluded to in other look-a-like printing methodologies | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mezzo tuono | (Italian) a semitone, a half-tone | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzo vestito | (Italian f.) half dressed, half clad | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzovino | (Italian m.) thin wine, wine and water | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mezzo voce | or mezza voce, sing in a quiet, restrained manner, the equivalent in French is à mi-voix | |||||||||||||||||||||
| mezzovoce | (Spanish) mezzo voce | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mezzuccio | (Italian m.) make-shift, mean device | |||||||||||||||||||||
