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L
after Alessandro Longo, the cataloguer of the music of Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
after François Lesure, the cataloguer of the music of Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
or LWV, after Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) whose music was catalogued by Herbert Schneider
after Douglas A. Lee, the cataloguer of music by Franz Benda (1709-1786)
L.
abbrevation for 'left' or links (German: left), indicating that specific notes are to be played by the left hand
abbreviation of no. of song in R.W. Linker: A Bibliography of Old French Lyrics (University, MS, 1979)
l'
(French) the
La
(Italian, French) the
the use of la before a woman's name usually indicates that this person is either famous or notorious and is to be admired or to some degree held in contempt
La
(French m., Italian m.) the name of the scale note, the sixth in the scale of C major (the submediant), commonly used to set the pitch of a musical instrument or of an orchestra (in particular, a', A4 or la3=440 Hz where Hz is the unit of frequency equivalent to one cycle per second) and which in 'fixed do' solfeggio is called la or lah
in 'fixed do' solfeggio, la or lah is always the note 'A'
Lá
(Portuguese m.) the note 'A'
la3
(French) the note called a' in England or A4 in the US, which is the note for which international pitch is defined (=440Hz)
laag
(Dutch) low
Laager
(Afrikaans) an encampment, a temporary defensive position formed of a circle of wagons
laag register
(Dutch) low register
Laavloe
a Sami song style with words or lyrics
Laba
Chinese trumpet
popular name for the Chinese folk shawm, the suona
a system introduced by Rudolf von Laban (1879-1958) in the 1920s, designed to annotate the movements of ballet and modern dance. von Laban was a Hungarian dancer, ballet master and movement theorist, the intellectual father of European modern dance. Born in Pozsony (now Bratislava, Slovakia), he established his choreographic institute in Zürich, Switzerland, during World War I (1914-1918). Branches of his school were soon established throughout Europe. His method of notating human movement, now called Labanotation, is one of the most widely used system of dance notation
the legend of La Befana is celebrated throughout Italy in countless variations. On the feast of the Epiphany (for which she is named) La Befana, the old witch, appears with her broom, a bag of presents for the good children, and a bag of coal for the bad. One song comes from the village of San Donato, near Monte Casino, and refers to La Befana "all beautifully powdered, with shoes of chocolate."
Label
(English, German n.) piece of paper etc. attached to an object to give information about it
short classifying phrase applied to a person, etc.
Zettel (German m.), étiquette (French f.), etichetta (Italian f.) - as found in a violin, etc., showing the date of completion, the name of the maker, the number of the instrument, and so on
Label stop
an ornamental boss at the base of a hood mould or arch
La bémol
(French m.) the note 'A flat', the flattened sixth note of the scale of C major, which in 'fixed do' solfeggio is called le
La bemolle
(Italian m.) the note 'A flat', the flattened sixth note of the scale of C major, which in 'fixed do' solfeggio is called le
La bemolle maggiore
(Italian m.) the key of 'A flat major'
the scale of 'A flat major'
La bemolle minore
(Italian m.) the key of 'A flat minor'
La bemoll major
(Catalan m.) the key of 'A flat major'
the scale of 'A flat major'
La bémol majeur
(French m.) the key of 'A flat major'
the scale of 'A flat major'
La bemol mayor
(Spanish m.) the key of 'A flat major'
the scale of 'A flat major'
La bemol menor
(Spanish m.) the key of 'A flat minor'
La bémol mineur
(French m.) the key of 'A flat minor'
Labial
(from labia (Latin: lips)) a category of speech sound in which the lips are completely or partially closed (for example, /p/, /m/, /v/, /b/)
organ pipes with lips, called also flue pipes
Labialpfeife
(German f.) or Lippenpfeifen (German, literally 'lipped pipes') in English termed 'labial' or 'flute' pipes, in the organ, these comprise the majority of organ pipes, and are made of metal or wood. The metal pipes are cylindrical, conical or funnel-shaped, and can be open or closed (gedackt) at the top, giving a number of different possible combinations. The wooden pipes have a square or rectangular (very rarely, triangular) cross-section
Labial reeds
labial (flue) stops are intended to produce the sound of reed stops, or to imitate orchestral tones which are usually approximated by reed stops. Some of these stops were developed in an attempt to find better imitations of orchestral instruments. Others were devised in order to stay in tune with the rest of the flue stops in an organ
(English, German) a term used for the wind-cutter or edge in a flue pipe, recorder, etc.
laborare est orare
(Latin, literally 'to work is to pray') God is best served through work
Laboratorio Nacional de Música Electroacústica
see 'LNME'
Laborlore
a neologism, created by the folklorist and musicologist Archie Green (1917-2009), for the folklore and folkways of workers and working-class communities
La Boulangere
the only dance mentioned by name in the writings of Jane Austen (1775-1817), a simple circle dance for a group of couples
LabWV
catalogue prepared by the composer Jiří Laburda (b.1931) of his own work
Lac
a resinous secretion of the lac insect deposited on trees and used in making shellac and ingredient in varnishes and sealing wax
L'accord de septième
(French) the chord of the seventh
La chasse
see à la chasse
lächelnd
(German) smiling
lachend
(German) laughing
lâcher
(French) to loosen (e.g. the snare of a drum)
Lachryma Christi
(Latin) tears of Christ
Lachrymae rerum
(Latin, literally 'tears of things') the tragedy of human destiny, the innate sadness of human existence
Lachrymose
Weeping or inclined to weep, causing or tending to cause tears
Lack
(German m.) vernis (French m.), vernice (Italian f.), varnish, resinous solution used to give a hard shiny transparent coating
Lackfolie
(German f.) PE film
lackieren
(German) to varnish
lackiert
(German) varnished
Lacrimando
(Italian) sadly, in a mournful style
Lacrimosa
(Latin) division of the Roman Requiem Mass, part of the sequence Dies irae
lacrimoso
(Italian) tearful, mournful, sad
Lacuna (s.), Lacunae (pl.)
(Latin) a gap. a blank, a hiatus (the term is applied particularly to material missing from a manuscript or from the text of an author)
laddereigen
(Dutch) belonging to a scale
Ladder of thirds
similar to the circle of fifths, though ladders of thirds differ in being composed of thirds, major or minor, and may or may not circle back to its starting note and thus may or may not be an interval cycle. Triadic chords may be considered as part of a ladder of thirds
(Spanish,, literally reveille) the opening section, usually wordless vocal flourish reminiscent of southern Spanish singing, to the the guaguancó the modern, urban form of rumba
Ladies Chain
in contradance, a basic figure, a 'half ladies chain', which is more common and usually what a caller means when they just say "ladies chain", has the ladies joining right hands in the center and pulling past each other to the opposite gent; the gents then give the ladies a courtesy turn. This causes the ladies to trade sides in the set. A full ladies chain is two half-chains in succession, with everyone winding up where they started
Ladies Chain from which this extract has been taken
La dièse
(French m.) the note 'A sharp', the raised sixth note of the scale of C major, which in 'fixed do' solfeggio is called li
La dièse mineur
(French m.) the key of 'A sharp minor'
Ladies in the Centre Back to Back
one of the figures unique to, or traditionally associated with, square dancing
one of the big circle figures danced by all couples in one large circle facing the centre which are traditionally associated with square dancing
(Italian m.) the note 'A sharp', the raised sixth note of the scale of C major, which in 'fixed do' solfeggio is called li
La diesis minore
(Italian m.) the key of 'A sharp minor'
Ladinha
(Portuguese, literally 'litany') the soulful songs that typically mark the beginning of the roda (or game) in capoeira. The ladinha is not 'call and response' but rather sung by a soloist, usually crouched at the foot of the berimbau. However at the end of the ladinha the singer will go into a cata entrada, where he praises capoeira mestres, places or famous capoeiristas (practitioners) and the chorus responds in acknowledgement by repeating what has just been praised. Ladinha is typical of capoeira Angola. When establishing capoeira regional, Mestre Bimba sang quadras and correidos
Ladino
one of the two main cultural branches of Judaism is Sephardic, derived from the Hebrew word for Spain. Sephardic Jews are called Sephardim. For several hundred years when Moors, North African Muslims, ruled Spain and Portugal, a thriving Jewish community developed. They spoke Ladino, a mixture of medieval Spanish and Hebrew, and produced a vibrant culture. Religiously, Sephardim did not separate into distinct movements as Ashkenazim did. Sephardic beliefs generally follow Orthodox Judaism. However, Sephardim were more integrated into their communities than Ashkenazim. Sephardic thought was heavily influenced by Greek and Arabic philosophy and science, and contained a strong mystical strain. One of the greatest Sephardic philosophers was Maimonides, who sought to reconcile Aristotle's teachings with Judaism. In 1492 Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand unified Spain as a Christian country. They expelled the Muslims and the Jews. The Sephardim settled in various countries, especially Italy, North Africa, the Middle East, the Balkans and formed the great Jewish communities of Turkey and Greece as well as in the Ottoman Empire in the east. Some went to Northern Europe. Often preserving their Ladino culture and its unique literature, poetry, music and folklore, Sephardim had great influence on Jewish philosophy. Until the 1800s, most Jews in the United States were of Sephardic origin. Ladino is a culture of emotional warmth and intellectual ferment, of commitment to Jewishness coupled with a keen sensitivity and openness to the surrounding cultures in which Ladino speaking communities found themselves
La doppio bemolle
(Italian m.) the note 'A double flat', the double flattened sixth note of the scale of C major
La doppio diesis
(Italian m.) the note 'A double sharp', the double sharpened sixth note of the scale of C major
La double bémol
(French m.) the note 'A double flat', the double flattened sixth note of the scale of C major
La double dièse
(French m.) the note 'A double sharp', the double sharpened sixth note of the scale of C major
Lady Chapel
a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary
Lady Mass
a Mass said in honour of the Virgin Mary
Lady's Glove
created by Laetitia Sonami in 1991, this 'glove' allows Sonami to perform music through natural and expressive finger, wrist, and arm movements, such as bending her fingers, raising and lowering her arm, and touching her fingers together. The device includes microswitches, magnets and magnetic sensors, a pressure pad, flex sensors, and ultrasound emitter
Lady's Glove from which this extract has been taken
¿la están atendiendo?
(Spanish) are you being served?
Laeva
(Latin) the left, the left hand
Lage
(German f.) in string playing, 'position' or 'shift'. Thus, erste Lage, 'first position', zweite Lage, 'second position'
of an instrument or of the voice, the 'register' or tessitura. Thus, hohe Lage, 'high', and tiefe Lage, 'low'
of a chord, the 'spacing of the notes'. Thus, enge Lage, 'close position', and weite Lage, 'open position' or 'wide position'
Lagenwechsel
(German m.) shift of position (on a string instrument), cambiamento di posizione (Italian m.), changement de position (French m.)
lagnevole
(Italian) doleful, mournful
lagnoso
(Italian) doleful
Lago dei Quattro Cantoni, il
(Italian m.) Lake Lucerne
La gong
(Chinese) on the erhu, the pull bow or down bow
Lagophthalmos
an abnormal condition in which an eye cannot close completely
eight-stringed instrument in the lute family, tuned in fifths, a folk instrument of the Kosovar Albanians
Lai (s.), Lais (pl.)
or lay, a trouvére song popular in the 13th- and 14th-centuries, a short narrative or lyrical poem, usually in octosyllabic couplets. The lai was often composed as an instrumental piece. Other terms for the lai, or for forms which were very similar to the lai, include the descort (Provençal) and the leich (German)
in the last 400 years, poets have used the term lay more generally as a loose term for any historical ballad or any narrative poem focusing on adventure and the supernatural
music played with the accent played slightly after the beat to convey a relaxed, casual feeling
Laid paper
a type of paper having a ribbed texture imparted by the manufacturing process. In the ninteenth century its use diminished as it was largely supplanted by wove paper. Laid paper is still commonly used by artists as a support for charcoal drawings
Laie
(German m.) layman, amateur (reference to theatre) [entry provided by Brian Jefferies]
Laienbühne
(German f.) amateur theatre
laienhaft
(German) amateurish
Laienmusiker
(German m.) amateur musician [entry provided by Brian Jefferies]
Laienprediger
(German m.) lay preacher
Laienspielgruppe
(German f.) amateur theatre group, amateur theatre company
Laïka
(Greek, literally 'popular' or 'folkish') a genre, that appeared in the early 1990s, and was very much like Serbia turbo-folk. In Greece, 'turbo-folk/laïka' is a peculiar mix of bouzouki strings, techno rhythms and low-level lyrics, often carrying at least a hint of patriotism
Laïkó
Greek urban music of the mid-twentieth century, criticized from all quarters for its apoliticism and decadence, and its unpure Turkish roots
(French) to allow, to leave, for example, laisser vibrer meaning 'let it sound on'
laisser à désirer
(French) to leave something to be desired
Laisser-aller
(French m.) absence of constraint, excessive ease of manner, casualness, carelessness, slovenliness
laisser ... dans l'ignorance
(French) to leave ... in the dark, to not enlighten ...
laisser dans son erreur
(French) to not tell someone his mistake, to not tell someone her mistake
laisser ... debout
(French) to leave ... standing (up), to keep someone standing (up)
laisser dire
(French) to let people talk
laisser du champ à ...
(French) to leave ... room to manoeuvre
laisser en blanc
(French) to leave blank
laisser en dépôt
(French) to give for safe keeping
laisser en plan
(French) to leave in the lurch, to abandon
laisser entrer
(French) to let in, to allow in
Laisser-faire
(English, from French m.) (in economics) the principle of non-interference, usually with regard to government and the affairs of an individual (non-interventionism)
laisser la porte ouverte
(French) to leave the door open
laisser la vie à ...
(French) to spare ...'s life
laisser le champ libre à ...
(French) to leave ... a clear field
laisser le meilleur pour la fin
(French) to leave the best for last
laisser ... mijoter dans son jus
(French) to let someone stew in his own juices
laisser pour (mort)
(French) to leave for (dead)
laisser une bonne impression
(French) to make a good impression
laisser une terre en jachère
(French) to leave a piece of land fallow, to let a piece of land lie fallow
laisser un message
(French) to leave a message
laisser vivre
(French) to live for the day, to take each day as it comes
laisser voir
(French) to show, to reveal
laisser voir ses sentiments
(French) to let one's feelings show
Laisse-toi faire!
(French) Come on, try it, it won't hurt you!
Laissez-passer
(French m.) a pass, a permit
laissez vibrer
(French) let them vibrate, (usually marked l.v. in the score), referring to cymbals which after they have been clashed are held up away from the player's body until the sound has died away, or until they are clashed together again. When the cymbals are to be immediately damped after sounding the indication sec will be marked in the score
Lait
(French m.) milk
Lait écrémé
(French m.) skimmed milk
Lait demi-écrémé
(French m.) semi-skimmed milk
Laiton
(French m.) brass (as for wire, etc.)
Laity
persons who are not members of the clergy
Lajas de piedra
chips of stone, used in popular Andalusian folk music
Lakalaka
(Tongan, literally 'walking briskly') a Tongan group dance where the performers are standing and make gestures with their arms only. It is considered the national dance of Tonga
one name given to Creole French music and dances before the term zydeco became prevalent in the 1960s. Today, la-la is rarely used; if so, it usually refers to old-time Creole French music
or 'full moon' genre, a term applied to certain types of music and dance, so-named because they used to be enjoyed on nights of the full moon
La Lirica
(Italian f.) opera
lallen
(German) to mumble, to babble (of a baby)
Lam
see lam saravane
Lama
(Tibetan) a Buddhist priest or monk in Tibet
La maggiore
(Italian) the key of 'A major'
the scale of 'A major'
Lá maior
(Portuguese) the key of 'A major'
the scale of 'A major'
La majeur
(French) the key of 'A major'
the scale of 'A major'
La major
(Catalan m.) the key of 'A major'
the scale of 'A major'
Lamak
(Madagascar) a pair of zebu jaws that are clapped together
La Marseilles
see Marseillaise, La
La mayor
(Spanish) the key of 'A major'
the scale of 'A major'
Lambada
dance from the northeast coast of Brazil. The word lambada refers both to the rhythm - a fusion of carimbó and merengue - and to the dance, which incorporates elements of forró, samba, the Caribbean merengue and maxixe (the nineteenth-century Brazilian dance which was a tremendous success in Europe)
a speech disorder involving faulty pronunciation or excessive use of the l-sound
Lambe
(Senegal) Wolof bass drum with closed bottom used in a sabar drum set
Lambeth Choirbook
one of three principal sources of Latin sacred music in England, from ca. 1490-1530. It includes eight works by Robert Fayrfax, two by Nicholas Ludford and one by Walter Lambe, many of these composers contributing also to the Caius Choirbook
Lambeth Walk
a dance, popular in 1930s Britain
Lambrequin
see 'mantling'
Lambris
(French m.) panelling
Lambris d'appui
(French m.) waist-high panelling
Lambris de hauteur
(French m.) panelling from floor to cornice
Lame
(French f.) blade, strip, wave, fine slice (of meat, etc.)
a luxurious and glamorous fabric made of interwoven threads of silk and silver or gold
lamé
(French) made of interwoven threads of silk and silver or gold
Lame de fond
(French f.) ground swell
Lamellae
African pygmy (Efé) thumb piano
Lamellaphon
(German n.) lamellaphone
Lamellaphone
(Latin, lamella, 'plate', and Greek phone, 'sound') a family of musical instruments whose name is derived from the way the sound is produced: the instrument has a series of thin plates, or "tongues", each of which is fixed at one end and has the other end free. When the musician depresses the free end of a plate with a finger, and then allows the finger to slip off, the released plate vibrates. A tongue may be plucked either from the top or from the bottom
Lamellaphone from which this extract has been taken
Lamelle
(French f.) (thin) strip
Lame musicale
(French f.) musical saw
La Me Nòna
(Italian, literally 'My Granny') a children's song from Trento, in Lombardy, originally associated with the rice harvest
La menor
(Spanish m.) the key of 'A minor'
Lament
a sad tune, particularly one played on the Scottish bagpipe at clan funerals
laments have been a part of our collective musical heritage for millennia. From examples in the Iliad, the Hindu Vedas, the Lament for Ur, the Old Testament, early requiem masses, to the madrigals and songs of Strozzi and Monteverdi, Elizabethan funeral music, and the phantastical style practiced in seventeenth-century Germany and France, humankind has given musical voice to its grief and sense of loss at the passing of life from our midst. The Italians of the seicento would say, música é il lamento dell'amore o la preghiera a gli dei (Music is the lament of love or a prayer to the gods). The affect of melancholy was much in evidence throughout the seventeenth century, in paintings, poetry and music. John Dowland captured the esprit of an age with his best known work Flow, my tears
(English, French f. pl.) verses from the Bible written by Jeremiah, that are used in the Lessons of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday of Holy Week in the Roman Church which, because they involve the gradual extinguishing of lights, came to be known as Tenebræ (Latin for 'shadows')
although most polyphonic lamentations of the sixteenth century are based on the Roman lamentation tone, we find a few examples (including some outside of Spain) that are based on the Spanish version. The latter is especially characterized by its initial formula for the Hebrew letter. This formula may be quoted literally, paraphrased in one or several voices, transposed, and even reused in the initium of the actual lamentation. There is even an example where both the Roman and Spanish tone are vertically combined
(German n., Spanish m.) lament (grief), lamentation
Lamento
(Italian m.) lament, a tragic aria often placed just before the climax of the plot, for example, Lamento di Federico in
L'Arlesiana by Francesco Cilea (1866-1950)
Lamento bass
a term from the eighteenth century to describe a bass line that falls successively by a semitone (half-step) to denote grief or sadness
lamentoso
(Italian) lamenting, mourning
Lámina
(Spanish f.) plate (in a book)
Lamina (s.), Laminae (pl.)
(Latin) a thin plate, usually of metal
Lamina metalica
(Spanish f.) thunder sheet
Laminated
in musical instrument making, a term applied to wood that is formed from the gluing together of several thinner layers of wood, where the direction of the grain in each layer is set at 90 degrees to its neighbour, relying on both the glue and the crossed grain, to improve significantly strength and stability. On guitars, the backs, sides and even tops and the neck can be made using laminated timber. The casework of most modern pianos is usually laminated, and piano soundboards designed to operate in extreme humidities and temperatures are 'tropicalized' using a laminated construction
Laminating
in printing, the application of transparent plastic film, usually with a high-gloss finish, to the surface of printing matter to enhance its appearance and to increase its durability
Lamination paper
a paper used for laminates. Normally on particle or fibreboards giving a good-looking and resistant surface for use as furniture, decoration panels and floors
a coarse or crude satire ridiculing the appearance or character of another person
Lamprey
or lamper eel, any of a group of eel-like water animals with a funnel-shaped, jawless, sucking mouth
Lam saravane
(Laotian) most popular genre of music in Laos, an improvised alternating song
Lana d'acciaio
(Italian f.) steel wool
Lana de alpaca
(Spanish f.) alpaca (wool)
Lancashire Sol-fa
a solmization system based on the use of only four syllables set out in the rising sequence fa - sol - la - fa - sol - la - mi - fa which was later known as Old English Sol-fa
Lance
(French f.) spear, lance (tournament), hose
Lance d'incendie
(French f.) fire hose
lancio
(Italian) gusto
Lancers
a type of square dance or quadrille, popular in the second half of the nineteenth century
(Dominica) a later quadrille which came via Britain in the 1830s, the Lancers contained familiar figures from the traditional English dances and Scottish and Irish reels. It was popular with the military and the steps of the male have a more stiff and formal pace
lancer un coup d'oeil à
(French) to glance at
Lancet
a simple narrow window with a pointed arch
lanciare con un razzo
(Italian) to rocket (to propel with a rocket)
l'andare d'accordo con
(Italian) going along with
Landini cadence
(also called 'Landino sixth', 'under-third cadence' or 'Burgundian cadence') a cadence named for the Italian composer Francesco Landini (1325-1397) but used by many other composers in the 14th- and 15th-centuries, a variant of the standard sixth-to-octave expanding cadential progression to which a third to the cadential pitch is added in the top line which resolves to the octave (it involves the melodic drop from the seventh to the sixth before going up again to the octave). This cadence neither originated with him, nor is unique to his music; it can be found in much polyphonic music of the period, and well into the fifteenth century (for example in the songs of Gilles Binchois). Gherardello da Firenze is the earliest composer to use the cadence whose works have survived. Yet Landini used the formula consistently throughout his music, so the eponym - which dates from after the medieval era - is appropriate
(German f.) or Landinoklausel (German f.), Landini cadence
Landinoklausel
(German f.) or Landino-Kadenz (German f.), Landini cadence
Landinosexte
(German f.) Landini sixth
Ländler
a rural dance or air popular in Austria, south Germany and German Switzerland, usually in 3/4 or 3/8 time, rather like a slow waltz, popular in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It was danced by couples, featured hopping and stamping, but sometimes it could be purely instrumental and occasionally had a vocal part, which might include yodelling. During the nineteenth century, at a time when dance halls began to flourished, the ändler became a quicker, more elegant dance. It is thought to have evolved into the waltz
many music reading teaching methods use some form of 'landmark notes', certain pitches that students will learn to identify at sight, which they can then use to discern other pitches, for example middle C, G, or F, alternatively they learn the notes associated with the lines or spaces using simple mnemonic phrases like "Every good boy does fine" or "All cows eat grass'
see 'guide notes, guide tones'
Landó
a Peruvian dance, a mix of both Spanish and African rhythms, with its origins from a dance in Angola called londu that came with the slaves when they arrived in Brazil from Angola and still today the londo exists in Brazil. The landó is slower and gentler than Caribbean rhythms such as those from Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Haití, but no less danceable, due no doubt to its complex syncopation, polyrhythms, and cross-accents. It is played on guitar and cajón, as well as bass and percussion, with choruses that respond to and alternate with the singer
Landscape
in printing, an oblong loose or folded printed sheet, or book, having its long sides at head and foot (if the short sides lie at head and foot the layout is denoted 'portrait')
Landsmal
(Norwegian) a variety of written Norwegian based on forms drawn from various spoken dialects, used by certain writers in preference to the official riksmål which differs little from Danish
Landu
see lundu
lang
(German) long
Langage
(French m.) language
langatmig
(German) long-winded
Långdans
(Swedish, literally 'long dance') before the advent of couple dances, people danced in a ring or line, often singing at the same time [corrected by Lars Hellvig]
(Javanese) a gamelan opera style developed at the end of the nineteenth century in Yogyakarta. It is innovative in that, as opposed to the ordinary theatre, the entire libretto is sung
lange Note
(German f.) longa
lange Pause
(German f.) a long pause
langer Vorschlag
(German m.) long appoggiatura
lange voorslag
(Dutch) long appoggiatura
lang geschlitzter Rock
(German m.) long-slit skirt, long slitted skirt
lang gestrichen
(German) long strokes (of the bow)
lang gezogen
(German) long strokes (of the bow)
Langitu'a
(Tongan) singers
Langlauf
(German m.) long-distance skiing, cross-country skiing
langlebig
(German) long-lived
länglich
(German) oblong [corrected by Brian Jefferies]
länglichrund
(German) oval [corrected by Brian Jefferies]
Langmaxie dance
(Tibet) it is known that langmaxie became popular in Lhasa at the end of the eighteenth century. Langmaxie incorporates song with dance. It has two parts: jiangxie (singing slowly) and juexie (singing and dancing in a quick tempo). There are more songs than dances in langmaxie and they are spread more widely
(German f.) long-playing recorder, LP [corrected by Brian Jefferies]
Langspil
a bowed stringed instrument from Iceland, consisting of an oblong box with two strings, one of which is a drone
langt forslag
(Danish) long appoggiatura
långt förslag
(Swedish) long appoggiatura
Language
a particular system of signs used by members of a group to communicate with each other. These signs can be verbal sounds, sign language gestures, or written markings like letters
the class of art forms, including novels, poetry, songs and others, that focus on the creation of art works which are primarily language based. The six strands of the Language arts are reading, writing, viewing, representing, listening, and speaking
Language arts from which this extract has been taken
Language interference
(also known as L1 interference, linguistic interference, cross-linguistic interference or transfer) the effect of language learners' first language on their production of the language they are learning. The effect can be on any aspect of language: grammar, vocabulary, accent, spelling and so on. It is most often discussed as a source of errors (negative transfer), although where the relevant feature of both languages is the same, it results in correct language production (positive transfer). The greater the differences between the two languages, the more negative the effects of interference are likely to be. Interference is most commonly discussed in the context of EAL teaching, but it will inevitably occur in any situation where someone has an imperfect command of a second language
People who like the wretched stuff claim that (music's) appeal is universal because, unlike poetry, it requires no translation from one language to another. What no one ever mentions is that it is universally difficult to understand. If shown a painting, even an ignoramus can say, "It's nice but I never really liked blue." Such a comment may provoke scorn, but at least it can be understood. If, after being forced to listen to a symphony, someone were to remark, "It's nice but I never really liked the key of C major," he, too, might be ridiculed, but to me it would show he was a genius [extract from Turtle Diary/Ornette Coleman from How to Go to the Movies by Quentin Crisp]
Quentin Crisp's reference here to the colour blue may be an echo of Stanley Kubrick's 1975 film of William Makepeace Thackeray's The Luck of Barry Lyndon (1844): "Escorted by Lord Hallam and Wendover, Mr. Barry Lyndon tours an art gallery under the guidance of the proprietor. They stop before a painting which the proprietor identifies as Lodovico Cardi's Adoration of the Magi. They gaze up at the costly object, their Star of Bethlehem. "I love the use of the colour blue by the artist," says Barry, with a fine tact of an intelligent parvenu...
[quoted from from Mark Crispin Miller's Barry Lyndon Reconsidered]
Langue
(French f.) tongue
(French f.) language (colloquial), (the) vernacular, computer language
Les langues vont aller bon train (French: tongues with start wagging, tongues will start wagging)
La langue anglaise (French f.: English language)
La langue française (French f.: French language)
in his theory of semiology, Ferdinand de Saussure makes a distinction between parole and langue. Parole is the use of language (i.e., manifestations of actual speech and writing). Parole contrasts with langue, the invisible underlying system of language that makes parole possible
(French f.) Austronesian language (a member of a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia)
Langue blanche
(French f.) coated or furred tongue
Langue Bretonne
(French f.) Breton (language)
Langue chargée
(French f.) coated or furred tongue
Langue cible
(French f.) or langue d'arrivée (French f.), target language
Langue commune
(French f.) or langue standard (French f.), standard language
Langue courante
(French f.) colloquial language
Langue d'adulte
(French f.) grown-up language, the language of grown-ups (i.e. of adults)
Langue d'arrivée
(French f.) or langue cible (French f.), target language
Langue de bois
(French f.) set language, stereotyped formal language, wooden language (rhetorical expression)
"Do you have," I was asked by a lady at dinner in Paris last week, "an English equivalent of our langue de bois." "I don't think so," I replied. "We can speak of 'wooden language', but the meaning isn't quite the same. Not at all really." Langue de bois is the dead pretentious language of officialdom, dressed up to disguise poverty of thought and, often, the absence of any real meaning. And indeed, while we may not have the word, we have the thing. For example: "Oldham Social Services Department are investing resources into a newly formed Capacity Building and Research team to directly inform and develop its Commissioning Strategy and Service Development. At this current time the department is seeking both to lead and develop broad partnerships to meet the challenge of both user focused and sustainable services."
(French f.) or langue source (French f.), source language
Langue de diffusion
(French f.) broadcasting language
Langue de feu
(French f.) tongue of fire
Langue de l'Afrique orientale
(French f.) language of East Africa
Langue de la minorité
(French f.) minority language, language of a minority
Langue de la république
(French f.) the French language, as defined in the French Constitution
Langue de la salle de classe
(French f.) language of the classroom
Langue de l'autre
(French f.) another's language (for an immigrant, the language of one's new home as opposed to one's native language)
Langue de l'Europe
(French f.) European language
Langue de Molière
(French f.) language of Molière (pen-name of French actor and playwright Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (1622-1673))
Langue de Shakespeare
(French f.) Shakespearian language, language of English poet and playwright, William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Langue de spécialité
(French f.) specialist language (a form of jargon although the term jargon is generally reserved for a technical language)
Langue des signes
(French f.) sign language
Langue de terre
(French f.) strip of land, spit of land
Langue de tous les jours
(French f.) everyday language
Langue de travail
(French f.) working language (for example, in the European Community, those languages in which offical documents are published, in which meetings are held, etc., are known as working languages)
Langue de vipère
(French f.) spiteful gossip
Langue diplomatique
(French f.) language of diplomacy
Languedoc
(French m.) a region in southern France
Langue d'oc
(French f.) the language of southern France
Languedocien (m.), Languedocienne (f.)
(French) an inhabitant or native of the Languedoc
languedocien (m.), languedocienne (f.)
(French)of or pertaining to the Languedoc
Langue d'oïl
(French f.) the language of northern France
Langue du XVIIe siecle
(French f.) language of the 17th century
Langue du barreau
(French f.) legal parlance, the language of the courts, legalese (a term applied more commonly to writing than to speech)
Langue écrite
(French f.) written language
Langue espagnol
(French f.) Spanish (language)
Langue étrangère
(French f.) foreign language
Langue franco-canadienne
(French f.) French-Canadian (language)
Langue gauloise
(French f.) Gaulish (also Gallic) language, the Celtic language that was spoken in Gaul before the Vulgar Latin of the late Roman Empire became dominant in Roman Gaul
Langue indigène
(French f.) or langue vernaculaire (French f.), indigenous language, the vernacular (colloquial)
Langue italien
(French f.) Italian (language)
Langue journalistique
(French f.) journalistic language, journalese (a term applied more commonly to writing than to speech)
Langue juridique
(French f.) legal parlance, the language of the courts, legalese (a term applied more commonly to writing than to speech)
Langue littéraire
(French f.) literary language (for example, the Tuscan language employed by Dante in the 'Divine Commedy')
Langue maternelle
(French f.) mother tongue
languemente
(Italian) languishing, languishingly
Langue minoritaire
(French f.) minority language
Langue morte
(French f.) dead language (a language that is no longer learned as a native language)
Langue nationale
(French f.) national language
languendo
(Italian) languishing, feeble, plaintive, with languor (that is slowly and dragging the song, the beat, etc.)
Langue niçoise
(French f.) a regional language spoken in France in and around the city of Nice
Langue non officielle
(French f.) non-official language
languente
(Italian) languishing,in a languid manner (that is slowly and dragging the song, the beat, etc.)
Langue officielle
(French f.) official language
Langue officielle de travail
(French f.) official working language
Langue parentale
(French f.) parental language (language spoken by one's parents)
Langue parlée
(French f.) spoken language
Langue pâteuse
(French f.) coated or furred tongue
Langue populaire
(French f.) popular language, popular speech
Langue portugais
(French f.) Portuguese (language)
Langue principale
(French f.) principal language (for example, English in the United Kingdom)
Langue second
(French f.) second language
Langue source
(French f.) or langue d'départ (French f.), source language
Langue standard
(French f.) or langue commune (French f.), standard language
Languette
(French f.) the tongue of a harpsichord jack
(French f.) the tongue of the reed-pipe in the organ
(French f.) the stem of the keys of wind instruments
(French f.) vehicular language (for example, English used as the language for air traffic control communication)
Langue vernaculaire
(French f.) or langue indigène (French f.), indigenous language, the vernacular (colloquial)
Langue verte
(French f.) underworld slang
Langue vivante
(French f.) living language
Langue xyloglotte
(French f.) synonymous with langue de bois
Languid
in the organ, the 'block' (usually a flat piece of metal or wood placed horizontally at the top of the foot, just inside the mouth) of a flue pipe that directs the wind against the upper lip
limpet shells used as a percussion instrument in the Canary Islands. Two shells are struck against each other creating a sound like a castanet
Lapel
the turned back material between a coat collar and the front button
laper
(French) to lap
Lapicero
(Spanish m.) a pencil
Lápices de colores
(Spanish m. pl.) coloured pencils
Lápida
(Spanish f.) a memorial stone
Lápida sepulcral
(Spanish f.) a tombstone
lapider
(French) to stone
Lapin
(French m.) rabbit
Lapis-ink
perhaps more valuable than gold and silver inks, the deep blue ink made from finely crushed lapis lazuli (a deep blue copper bearing mineral) was
favoured by Byzantine illuminators, and when juxtaposed with gold or silver in illuminations the results were visually stunning
Lapis lazuli
(Latin, literally 'stone of azure') first mined in Afghanistan over 6000 years ago, it is believed to have been introduced to Europe by Marco Polo in the thirteenth century. This semi-precious mineral of a vivid deep blue colour was usually reserved for artworks of great importance, such as the funeral mask of Tutankhamen and decoration of the Taj Mahal. Lapis lazuli cost more than gold and artists of the Renaissance used it as the pigment ultramarine for tempera paint and, more rarely, oil paint. It was chosen to colour the garments of Christ and the Virgin Mary. Its usage as a pigment in oil paint ended in the early nineteenth century as a chemically identical synthetic variety, often called French ultramarine, became available
a group of seven French writers of the sixteenth century, led by Pierre de Ronsard, whose aim was to elevate the French language to the level of the classical tongues as a medium for literary expression. La Pléiade, whose name was taken from that given by the ancient Alexandrian critics to seven tragic poets of the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-246 BC), also included Joachim du Bellay, Jean Dorat, Jean-Antoine de Baïf, Rémy Belleau, Pontus de Tyard, and Étienne Jodelle. The principles of La Pléiade were authoritatively set forth by du Bellay in Défense et illustration de la langue françoise (1549), a document that advocated the enrichment of the French language by discreet imitation and borrowing from the language and literary forms of the classics and the works of the Italian Renaissance - including such forms as the Pindaric and Horatian ode, the Virgilian epic, and the Petrarchan sonnet
(French f.) the distinctive driving percussive rhythm guitar playing style associated with Gypsy jazz , that essentially replaces the drums
Lap organ
known also as "rocking melodeon" and "teeter", the lap organ is one of the earliest forms of the reed organ to become popular in the United States in the years approaching the middle of the nineteenth century. Holding the instrument on his lap, the player works the bellows with his left hand and plays the button keys with his right. Later versions had traditional "piano-type" keyboards. The volume can be modulated by means of shutter sliders on the top of the instrument
a small hanging flap or piece of lace, etc., such as one dangling from a headdress
a flaplike structure, such as the wattle of a bird or the lobe of the ear
La prima parte senza repetizione
(Italian) the first section without repeats
La prima volta forte, la seconda piano
(Italian) the first time loud, the second time soft
Laps de temps
(French m.) lapse of time
Lap slide guitar
loosly defined as any guitar that is played laying flat on its back, strings facing upwards, using a slide to create the notes rather than fretting the strings with the fingers. However a lap slide guitar is specifically a non-resonator acoustic guitar
also called 'Hawaiian guitar', 'lap steel' or 'steel guitar', a type of guitar, and a method of playing the instrument. The pedal steel guitar was developed from the lap steel, and is very closely related
(Javanese) there are two kinds of laras (tuning systems) in gamelan, namely sléndro (a five-note scale with approximately equal intervals between the notes (barang, gulu, dada, lima, nem) and pélog (a seven-note scale that is based on a nine-note scale of equal intervals from which two notes are missing (bem, gulu, dada, pelog, lima, nem, barang); in gamelan orchestras, the laras each have their own percussion set; about gamelan scales prior to those described above, there is evidence for three proto-gamelan scales (or modes), namely kodhok ngorek (literally, 'chant of the batrachians') with 2 notes, played in particular at marriages, munggang (literally, 'voice of the tiger') with 3 notes and carabalèn (literally, 'a Bali manner') with 4 notes, martial and often played for processions; in modern pélog (heptatonic tuning system) gamelan there would normally be two gendèr barung. One, the bem gendèr, would include the nada (the Javanese term for the concept of note name) 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6, while the other, the barang gendèr, would include the nada 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7. In both cases, the fourth degree of the tuning system is omitted. Depending on the mode of the composition being played in either case, only five of the seven nada of the pélog tuning system are used. This pentatonic arrangement of the pélog tuning system allows for the necessary transposition of melodic material to and from the pentatonic sléndro tuning system. A single pélog gendèr can be used in either bem or barang modes by exchanging the 7 keys for the 1 keys (or vice versa). Having made this switch, all the other keys remain the same, but since the resonating tubes under the sorogan keys are tuned to the original key, the volume of sound is greatly diminished when the "wrong" key is suspended above it. The resonating pitch of the tube can be modified by narrowing its aperture
Larch
(German Lärche, French Mélèze, Dutch Lork, European Species: Larix europaea, L. decidua: Average Weight: ranges from between 31 and 47 pounds per cubic foot) Larch becomes extremely hard and durable under water and burns poorly - both of which make it a favoured material for bridge building and exterior construction. Larch resin is the source for Venetian Turpentine
(French) in cooking, inserting strips of bacon or fat into meats
Larder
in cooking, the cold preparation section of a kitchen
in general, a place where food, that does not require cooling or freezing, may be stored
Lardon
(French) baton of thick streaky bacon
Laremuna wadauman
men's work songs of the Garifuna of Honduras and Belize
Lares et penates
(Latin) household gods, the familiar comforting things of home
larga
(Spanish) long
largamente
(Italian, Spanish) largely, fully, slowish and dignified, in a broad, large style of performance, at length, generously
largamento
(Italian) largely, fully, slowish and dignified, in a broad, large style of performance
largando
(Italian) widening, growing broader, slower and more marked with a crescendo, verbreiternd, en élargissant
Large
(French) slow and dignified, broad, wide, generous
a plainchant note equal to two (or three) longs
"In painting is the opposite of mesquin [meaning petty or skimpy]. ... Painting large or largement means using wide brushstrokes, not putting too much detail in to the small parts of the objects painted, and in uniting them into large masses of light and shadow that give all these varied parts, and consequently the whole, a certain spaciousness that makes it appear more vast than it really is." - Trévoux (1771)
the name given to compound 4/2 (or 2/1) meter by German theorists and composers of the first half of the eighteenth century. They ascribed equal metric weight to the first and third half-note beats of the bar. Consequently, they regarded each measure of this type as a composite of two 2/2 bars. Baroque and classical composers employed large alla breve in slow movements of sacred works and in works written in stile antico. During the first half of the eighteenth century, German theorists and composers regarded the stately 4/4 frequently employed in fugues as a notational variant of large alla breve
Large d'un accord
(French m.) open chord
largement
(French) slowish and dignified, broadly, freely, generously, boldly, abundantly, largamente
Largeur
(French f.) width, breadth
Largeur de bande
(French f.) bandwidth
larghetto
slow and measured, but not as slow as largo
Larghezza
(Italian f.) breadth, largeness, freedom, width
Larghezza di banda
(Italian f.) bandwidth
larghissimo
an extremely slow tempo, slower than largo, 40 beats per minute or less
Largo
(Italian) broad
when introduced, in the early seventeenth century, largo was the slowest of tempo indications (generally applied to and thereby indicating, the middle movement of three). By the mid to late seventeenth century, largo was a tempo lying between adagio and andante. According to English music dictionaries of the 1720s and 1730s, largo is "one degree quicker than Grave, and two than Adagio"
"Largo: this word place at the beginning of an air indicates a tempo slower than adagio and the slowest tempo of all. It shows that you must spin out [filer] the long sounds, stretch out the beats and the mesures." - Rousseau (1768)
(Breton) or ridée, a song with dance from the Pays Vannetais
Larigot
shepherd's pipe or flute, old name for a flageolet
in the organ, a mutation stop of 1 1/3 ft. that sounds two octaves and a fifth (or a twelfth plus an octave) above the written pitch
Laringe
(Italian f., Spanish f.) larynx
Laringitis
(Spanish f.) laryngitis
Laringólogo, Laringóloga (f.)
(Spanish) laryngologist
Larivyè léza
a Martinican dance which used to be performed at communal house-raisings. It may originally have been a stick fight or it may simply have been work music
(German) to make a bother, to make a noise, to make a fuss
Larmes dans la voix
(French f. pl.) tears in the voice, a tone of voice suggesting that speaker is on the verge of tears
larmoyant (m.), larmoyante (f.)
(French) tearful
Lärm veranstalten
(German) to make a lot of noise
Lärm verursachen
(German) to make a noise
Larnax
(Greek) a cinerary urn
La Ronde
a circle dance performed to quadrille music
Larron
(French m.) a thief
L'artisan de
(French) the architect of (figurative: the person who makes something happen)
L'art pour l'art
(French) art for art's sake (the doctrine that art should be free of social or moral restrictions which opposes those who believed that the value of art was to serve some moral or didactic purpose)
(Latin) a winged insect in the grub state, before its transformation into a pupa
Larve
(French f.) a larva
larvé
(French) latent
Laryngeal
of or pertaining to the larynx
a theoretical sound that probably existed in Proto-Indo-European, but which survived later only in Hittite
Laryngite
(French f.) inflammation of the larynx
Laryngitis
inflammation of the larynx
Larynx
(English, French m.) the upper part of the trachea in the human throat, also called 'voice box', 'glottis', 'vocal apparatus', the seat of the variation in tone of the voice
(Italian f.) flat strips of pasta (most often used in the plural form)
lasciare
(Italian) to allow to, to let
lasciare a desiderare
(Italian) to come short of expectations
lasciar vibrare
(Italian) let them vibrate, (usually marked l.v. in the score), referring to cymbals which after they have been clashed are held up away from the player's body until the sound has died away, or until they are clashed together again
lasciate
(Italian) allow!, let!
lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate
(Italian) all hope abandon, ye who enter here (the inscription over the gates of Hell in Dante's Inferno
las dos
(Spanish) both (of them)
la seguente
(Italian) the following
Laser
from 'Light Amplification by Simulated Emission of Radiation' - a fine beam of light, sometimes with considerable energy, used in imagesetting, colour scanning, copy scanning, platemaking, engraving, cutting and creasing forme-making, etc.
laskeva intervalli
(Finnish) descanding interval
La sol fa re mi
see Missa La sol fa re mi
La sostenido menor
(Spanish m.) the key of 'A sharp minor'
Las Posadas
(Spanish, literally 'the inn' or ' the guesthouse') a nine-night series of Mexican Christmas ritual processions commemorating Joseph and Mary's attempt to find lodging in Bethlehem
see aguinaldo
Lasso d'amore
a musical instrument made of corrugated plastic tubing, employed in some P. D. Q. Bach compositions such as the Erotica Variations. Musicologist Peter Schickele gives a tongue-in-cheek explanation of the instrument's evolution: Viennese cowboys twirled "their lariats over their heads with such great speed that a musical pitch was produced. ... The modifications that had made this development possible rendered [the lasso] useless for roping cattle." In reality, the lasso d'amore is a toy sold under various names including "bloogle" and "corrugaphone". It is much like a thin vacuum cleaner hose that is swung in a circle to play. The faster the toy is swung the higher the pitch of the note it produces. It produces discrete notes in the overtone series like a valveless brass instrument. To be played in concert as a lasso d'amore the length of the toy must be trimmed to tune it
Lasso d'amore from which this information has been taken
Lassú
(Hungarian, literally 'slow') the slow section of a csárdás
Last Judgment
the final judgment of mankind by God after the resurrection of the dead
Lastra
(Italian f.) steel plate
Lastra del tuono
(Italian f.) thunder-sheet, used to imitate the sound of thunder
Lastschrifteinzug
(German m.) direct debit
Lastschriftzahlung
(German f.) payment by direct debit
Lat.
abbreviation of Latin
lat.
abbreviation of lateinisch (German: Latin)
Latein
(German n.) Latin
Lateinamerika
(German) Latin-America
lateinamerikanisch
(German) Latin-American
Lateinameriker
(German m.) Latin-American
Lateiner
(German m.) Latin
Lateinische
(German n.) Latin
lateinisch
(German) Latin
Late modern English
English as spoken from about the year 1800 to the present
Laterais
(Portuguese) sides
Lateral
any sound made with the air blowing out of the oral cavity on either or both sides of the tongue
Laterality
referring to preferred side of the body (including the brain) for certain activities, such as handedness, footedness, or language use
latet anguis in herba
(Latin, literally 'there is a snake hidden in the grass) there is a 'snake in the grass' (i.e. a concealed drawback in the affair)
Lathis
wooden pole, usually iron-tipped
Latifundia
(Latin) large estates (commonly, estates in Spain and Spanish Latin-America)
Latijns-Amerikaans
(Dutch) Latin-American
Latin (dance)
as applied to dances, the term has two meanings:
a category of dances in 'International Style' ballroom competitions, also called 'Latin American' category, and including samba, rumba, cha-cha-cha, paso doble and jive. This category corresponds loosely to the 'Rhythm' category of 'American Style' ballroom
any social dance of Latin American origin, typically including cha cha, rumba, samba, salsa, mambo, merengue, bachata, cumbia, bolero, as well as tango and Argentine tango
Latin (music)
Afro-Cuban, Brazilian or other South American-derived music
playing with equal eighth notes as opposed to swung, also called 'straight-8', as in bossa novas and sambas
Latinajo
(Spanish m.) Latin quotation, dog latin (a corrupt form of Latin)
described by Fray Juan Bermudo (c.1510-c.1565) in his Declaración de Instrumentos Musicales (1540), as no more than a "vihuela lacking the sixth and first strings". The Latin guitar was played in two ways: in rasgueado and in plucked fashion. The common people made use of it in the first manner to accompany, with simple chords performed in easy positions, musica golpeada ('beaten music', as Bermudo terms it) and then in the same manner in which the guitarrilla (a small guitar with four strings) was often played in Spain and Italy, that is plucked when the individual player's ability and judgment deemed it advisable
Latin hip motion
a characteristic type of hip motion found in the technique of performing a step in 'Latin' and 'Rhythm' dances
Latinidad
(Spanish f.) Latin (language), Latin countries
Latin jazz
Latin jazz originated in New York City as a product of the encounter during the 1940s of Chano Pozo, conga player for the Machito Band, and the legendary trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie. Latin jazz combines jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms, a natural mix that evolved in New York City in the midst of both the Latin and African-American ghettos
there are two main categories of Latin Jazz:
Brazilian Latin Jazz
examples include bossa nova and samba
Afro-Cuban Latin Jazz
examples include salsa, merengue, songo, son, mambo, bolero, charanga and cha cha cha
Latin jazz from which this information has been taken
twentieth-and twenty-first-century writing and poetry by Hispanic immigrants or their children. Most scholars use the term Latino to refer to literature written in English with short sections or phrases in Spanish, though a few critics use the term exclusively in reference to original Spanish writings from the New World that are later translated into English
percussion instruments closely associated with music from Latin-America, including agogo bells, bongo drums, cabaça, castanets, claves, conga (drums), cowbell, güiro, maracas, scraper and timbales
Latin Rite
in the singular and accompanied, in English, by the definite article ("the Latin Rite"), designates the particular Church, within the Catholic Church, which developed in western Europe and northern Africa, when Latin was the language of education and culture, and so also of the liturgy. It is now present in all continents and is the majority Rite or particular Church within the Catholic Church. It is also called the Western Church, distinct from the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches, whose liturgies use the languages dominant in their areas at the time of their formation or a modern language such as Arabic. The Latin Church is a third term, used, for instance in the opening canon of both the 1917 and the 1983 editions of the Code of Canon Law
a Swedish wooden whistle usually with eight finger holes [corrected by Lars Hellvig]
Latrate
to bark like a dog
Latten
brass, bronze or a mixture of the two; generally a copper base metal with elements of tin or zinc plus other trace elements; often used to create or to decorate armour
Latter Prophets
or Nevi'im Aharonim, the latter part of second of the three major sections in the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh. It falls between the Torah (teachings) and Ketuvim (writings), and consists mostly of prophecies mostly in the form of biblical poetry. The former part of the second section of the Hebrew Bible, Nevi'im Rishonim or Former Prophets, contains the narrative books of Joshua through Kings
Lattice
a diamond style pattern cut into or sewn on to the fabric of a dress or top
Latticinio
(Italian, literally 'milk-product') a method of making ornamental stems for win-glasses by stretching a glass cylinder in which rods of coloured glass have been embedded (so called, because of the resulting milky appearance)
Latuk
(China) a musical bow held between the mouth and the palm of one hand, the thumb of the other hand used to change the tension on the bow string (made of twine from a plant) which is plucked
the most characteristic Franciscan contribution to poetry and music is found in a body of informal spontaneous hymns called laudi spirituali - songs of praise or, simply, lauds - traceable directly to St. Francis and his immediate circle. The practice of spontaneous hymn singing continued from his time onward and in the fourteenth century was firmly established as the most popular form of religious music. Many have survived in a pair of manuscripts Laudario di Cortona, (c.1250) and Laudario di Magliabechiano (c.1300-50). Although written in monophonic fashion, this music appears to have been performed heterophonically, a style called polifonia simplice
(Spanish m.) a plectrum-plucked chordophone, with a pearshaped body, consisting of twelve metal strings (six courses), similar to the bandurria but with a longer neck. Together with the guitar and the bandurria, it forms part of serenaders or traditional folk string music groups
there is a Cuban laúd which is identical to the Spanish laúd apart from the tuning
(English, German f., Latin) laud, praise, hymn of praise
Laudamus Te
(Latin, literally 'we praise Thee') part of the Gloria of the mass
Laúd árabe
(Spanish m.) the 'ud
Lauda spirituale
(Italian, literally 'song of praise') popular religious music, possibly influenced by the music of the troubadours, in many ways similar to the Spanish cantiga and the English 'carol', that were never performed as parts of religious services but which were taken up by the laudesi (in Italy), the flagellants (in a monophonic form it was known as Geisslerlieder) and certain monastic communities
Laudator temporis acti (s.), Laudatores temporis acti (pl.)
(Latin) one who praises the past at the expense of the present
Laude
(English, German pl., Latin) plural form of lauda (lauda spirituale)
Laudes
(Latin, literally 'praises') the second service of the Divine Office, usually performed at daybreak, the service consisting of several responsories and psalms which are sung
Laudesi
songs sang by followers of the 'flagellant' movement in Italy, initially the popular laudi, folk-songs of the Passion of Christ and the Sorrows of Our Lady. However, the songs of the laudesi during their processions tended more and more to take on a dramatic character and it was from them that in time the popular mystery-play developed, which in turn led to the earliest forms of Italian drama, the rappresentazione sacra and early oratorio
Laudi
see laudesi
(Italian) plural form of lauda
Laudisti
(Latin) psalm singers, hymn singers
Lauds
the early morning service of divine office
plural form of 'laud'
Lauf
(German m.) a run, a roulade
that part of a stringed instrument that holds the pegs, i.e. the pegbox
Läufe
(German m. pl.) rapid divisions of notes, a flight or run of rapid notes
laufend
(German) running
laufende Nummer
(German f.) serial number
Laugh track
Jack Mullin, who in June 1947 brought the first reel-to-reel tape recorders to the US from post-war Germany, explained that new techniques were invented on the Bing Crosby show with these machines: "One time Bob Burns, the hillbilly comic, was on the show, and he threw in a few of his folksy farm stories, which of course were not in Bill Morrow's script. Today they wouldn't seem very off-color, but things were different on radio then. They got enormous laughs, which just went on and on. We couldn't use the jokes, but Bill asked us to save the laughs. A couple of weeks later he had a show that wasn't very funny, and he insisted that we put in the salvaged laughs. Thus the laugh-track was born."
Bing Crosby from which this extract has been taken
Laulettavan tavun sävelkuvio
(Finnish) melisma
Laulu
Finnish folk song is commonly understood to be runolaulu (also called runosong), a four-footed trochaic form using only the first five notes of a scale. Highly alliterative, runolaulu doesn't rhyme and frequently tells stories about heroes like Väinämöinen, Lemminkäinen and Kullervo. These were the songs compiled by Elias Lönnrot in making the Kalevala, which inspired a rise in Finnish nationalism after its second publication in 1848
Lauluääni
(Finnish) voice, as in a polyphonic composition
la una
(Spanish) one o'clock
Laune (s.), Launen (pl.)
(German f.) mood
Launeddas
(Italy) or triple clarinet or triplepipe, a polyphonic reed instrument from Sardinia, which is made up of three canes. Since it requires a constant flow of air it is played using circular breathing
(German) or kapriziös (German), capricious, capriciously, a capriccio (Italian), at will, as the player wishes, freely (particularly as regards the time), capricieusement (French)
sticks that are struck against the side of a mina drum, used in the Barlovento region of coastal Venezuela (played with the mina and curbata drums)
Lauro
(Italian m.) laurel
Laus Deo Semper
(Latin) or its abbreviation LDS, praise to God always
Lause
(Finnish) (musical) phrase
Laussal
(Norwegian) separate sale
Laut
(German m.) a sound, a tone, a phone
laut
(German) loud, noisy, aloud, uproarious, strident, strong, forte (Italian)
(German) per, in accordance with, according to
Lautar (s.), Lautari (pl.)
Romanian Roma musician, traditional entertainers at weddings and other celebratory occasions
laut äußern
(German) to crack
Laute
(German f.) lute, liuto (Italian), luth (French)
läuten
(German) to toll (a bell), to ring (a bell), to sound (a bell)
Lautenclavicymbel
(German, literally 'lute-harpsichord') over a period of some three centuries there are plenty of references to gut-stringed instruments that resemble the harpsichord and imitate the delicate soft timbre of the lute (including its lower-sounding variants, the theorbo and chitarrone or archlute) or the harp, but little concrete information. Not a single such instrument has survived, nor is any contemporary depiction known apart from a rough engraving of the early sixteenth century. Fewer than ten lute-harpsichord makers are known, and there are reasonably detailed descriptions of instruments made by only two or three of them. Nonetheless, the instrument is mentioned fairly frequently in music books of the early 17th to the mid-eighteenth century. Much of the available information relates to three eighteenth-century German instrument makers: Johann Christoph Fleischer of Hamburg, Johann Nicolaus Bach and the organ builder Zacharias Hildebrandt. Other names given to instruments of this type include the Theorbenflugel and the Lautenwerk
(German m.) luthier, a maker of stringed instruments
Lautenmusik
(German f.) lute music
Lautenschläger
(German m./f.) lute-player, lutenist
Lautenspieler
(German m./f.) lute-player, lutenist
Lautentabulatur
(German f.) lute tablature
Lautenwerk
see Lautenclavicymbel
Lautenzug
(German m.) lute-register, lute stop (on a harpsichord)
Lautenzugleiste
(German) buff batten [entry provided by Michael Zapf]
lauter
(German) louder, più forte (Italian), plus fort (French)
lauter drehen
(German) to turn up
laut ertönen lassen
(German) to resound
lauter werden
(German) crescendo
laute Zungen
(German f. pl.) chorus reeds [entry by Michael Zapf]
laut herausschreien
(German) to roar
laut lachen
(German) to chortle, to guffaw, to roar with laughter
laut lesen
(German) to read aloud
Lautmalerei
(German f.) an imitation of a sound
Lautnachahmung
(German f.) onomatopoeia
lauto
(Italian) lavish
laut plätschern
(German) to bicker
laut rufen
(German) to shout, to sing out
laut schreien
(German) to shout, to sing out
laut sprechen
(German) to bawl
Lautsprecher
(German m.) loudspeaker
Lautsprecherbox
(German f.) speaker cabinet
Lautstärke
(German f.) volume, loudness
Lautstärkepegel
(German m.) volume level, loudness level
Lautstärkeverteilung
(German f.) sound intensity distribution
Lautstärkewahrnehmung
(German f.) the perception of sound levels
laut streiten
(German) to brawl
laut tonend
(German) clangorous
laut und umständlich
(German) fussy
laut verkünden
(German) to bray (like a donkey), to peal (a bell)
laut verwünschen
(German) to boo (to show disapproval)
Lava
(Italian, literally 'stream') the flow of molten or semi-liquid rock from a volcano (the term is applied also to the material after it has cooled and hardened)
lavabile
(Italian) washable
Lavabo
(Latin, literally 'I shall wash') the ritual washing of the priest's hands after the Offertory of the Mass
medieval wash-basin
(Italian m.) wash-basin
Lavafrutas
(Spanish m.pl.) finger bowl
Lavaggio
(Italian m.) washing, flushing out
Lavaggio del cervello
(Italian m.) brainwashing
Lavagna
(Italian f.) slate, blackboard (school)
Lavanda
(Italian f.) wash, lavender (plant)
Lavandaia
(Italian f.) washerwoman
Lavanderia
(Italian f.) laundry
Lavanderia automatica
(Italian f.) launderette
Lavandino
(Italian m.) sink
Lavapiatti
(Italian m./f.) dishwasher (person)
lavare a secco
(Italian) to dry-clean
lavare i piatti
(Italian) to wash up
lavarsi
(Italian) to wash
Lavasecco
(Italian m./f.) dry-cleaner's
Lavata
(Italian f.) wash
Lavata di capo
(Italian f.) scolding (figurative)
lavato industrialmente con la pomice
(Italian) stonewashed
Lavatoio
(Italian m.) wash-house
Lavatorium
a series of basins outside a monastic refectory for the washing of hands
Lavatrice
(Italian f.) washing-machine
Lave-glace
(French m.) windscreen washer (car, etc.)
Lavender cotton
branching aromatic Mediterranean shrub with woolly stems and leaves and yellow flowers (Santolina chamaecyparissus)
Laver
an edible purple seaweed
laver
(French) to wash, to avenge
Laverie
(French f.) or laverie automatique, launderette, laundromat (US)
Lavette
(French f.) dishcloth, wimp (pejorative)
Laveur de carreaux
(French m.) window-cleaner
Lave-vaisselle
(French m.) dishwasher (machine)
La vida pueblerina
(Spanish) village life
La voce
(Italian f.) the voice
Lavoire
(French m.) wash-house
Lavolta
(Italian, literally, 'the leap') a dance, popular in the sixteenth century, in fast triple time featuring leaps and turns, a great favourite with Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) although not everyone believed it was elegant
a special step that could be included in the 'galliard' which involves an intimate, close hold between a couple, with the woman being lifted into the air and the couple turning about 270 degrees, within one 6 beat measure
(Italian) to work, to do business, to work, to knead (dough), to till (the soil)
lavorare a maglia
(Italian) to knit
lavorare con ...
(Italian) to work with ... (a person)
lavorare con attrezzi
(Italian) to tool (to work with tools)
lavorare con impegno a ...
(Italian) to plug away at ... (a task)
lavorare in proprio
(Italian) to work on one's own account, work for oneself (i.e. self-employed)
lavorativo
(Italian) working
Lavoratore (m.), Lavoratrice (f.)
(Italian) worker
lavoratore (m.), lavoratrice (f.)
(Italian) working
Lavorazione
(Italian f.) manufacture, production, workmanship, cultivation (of the land)
Lavori con l'ago
(Italian m. pl.) needlework (sewing work)
Lavori forzati
(Italian m. pl.) hard labour
Lavori in corso
(Italian m. pl.) work in progress
Lavorio
(Italian m.) intense activity
Lavoro
(Italian m.) work, labour, job, play (theatre)
Lavoro all' uncinetto
(Italian m.) crochet work
Lavoro di casa
(Italian m.) housework
Lavoro di commesso
(Italian m.) inlay or mosaic of bone, ivory, mother-of-pearl or semi-recious stones
Lavouto
the lavouto, lavouta or lagouto is a Greco-Turkish lute similar to the oud but with a longer neck and a smaller body. In Persian mythology, the invention of the lavouto is traced back to Lamak, a decendant of Biblical Cain. As the story goes, on the death of his son, Lamak hung the young man's remains on a tree and the desicated skeleton suggested the form of an lavouto or oud
Lavta
Turkish lute
Lavway
a dance chorus, see for example, bélé
Lawine
(German f.) avalanche
Law of the first wave front
see 'Haas effect'
Laws of Hospitality
called xenia in Greek, the term refers to the custom in classical Greece and other ancient cultures that, if a traveller comes to a town, he can ask any person there for food, shelter, and gifts to help him on his journey
with reference to the laity, or persons who are not members of the clergy
Laya
(literally 'motion') in Indian music, the tempo, which keeps uniformity of time span and is divided into slow (vilambit), medium (madhya) and fast (drut). The essence of laya is that it is the duration of rest between two strokes of matra (beat)
Layakari
a term used in Hindustani classical music to describe the use of different rhythmic patterns
Lay back
in jazz, play on the back side of the beat
Lay brother
member of a religious order who is not bound to the recitation of the divine office and is occupied in manual work, generally adult converts to the monastic life; also known as conversi
Lay-clerk
an adult vocalist in a church or cathedral choir, who is not in holy orders
Laye
(German f.) wind chest
Layering
(English, German n.) in composition or performance, a technique in which several different levels with a distinctive character are placed on top of one another
Layette
(French f.) baby clothes
Lay out
in jazz, a direction indicating that a player should be silent (often while a solist is playing a 'break')
Layout, orchestral
the positioning of orchestral performers on the concert platform
female member of a religious order who is not bound to the recitation of the divine office and is occupied in manual work, generally adult converts to the monastic life
Lazaretto
(English from the Italian lazzaretto) a building for the reception of people detained in quarantine, a store-compartment in the fore part of a ship
(see lazzi for etymology) theatrical turns or acts
Lazzarone (s.), Lazzaroni (pl.)
(Italian) a rascal, a beggar or casual worker in Naples
Lazzi (pl.), Lazzo (s.)
(Italian, probably from fare azione meaning 'to perform an act') improvised acts in commedia dell'arte that were to influence the libretti of comic opera
Le
(French) the
the lowered sixth degree of the major scale; in 'fixed do' solfeggio, le is always the note 'A flat'
LB
catalogue numbers for the works of Nadia and Lili Boulanger (provided by C.F. Nieweg)
lb.
(from Latin, libra) pound weight (a predecimal unit of weight)
LDS
abbreviation of laus Deo semper (Latin: praise to God always)
Le
(French m., Italian pl.) or l', the, a, per, him (masculine form), it (thing or animal) (la or l' is the feminine article, les is the plural article)
for example, le voci (Italian: the voices)
Lead
a cue
the part that first introduces a theme
the part or parts that an accompanist plays along with
see 'lead and follow'
Lead and follow
in partner dancing, the two partners are labelled the 'leader' and the 'follower', or 'lead and follow'. Traditionally, the male partner leads and the female partner follows
violino di spalla (Italian), Leiter (German), chef d'attaque (French)
the first violinist in a conventional orchestra, concert-master
the first cornet in a brass band
the first clarinet in a military band
the first soprano in a choir of mixed voices
an antecedent
conductor or director
see 'lead and follow'
Lead guitar
a term refering to a role within a popular music band, especially a rock band, that provides melody or melodic material, as opposed to the rhythm of the rhythm guitar, bass, and drums. A lead guitarist typically plays solos, improvised or written passages played with the accompaniment of the rest of the band. Lead guitarists also often, during the rest of a song, play riffs or repeating melodic figures. Lead guitar may also provide fills during the pauses of the lead singer between phrases or sections
Lead guitar from which this extract has been taken
Leading
principal, chief, guiding, directing
Leading chord
dominant seventh chord
Leading melody
principal melody or theme in a piece of music
Leading motif
leitmotif
Leading motive
leitmotif
Leading note
or leading tone, nota sensibile (Italian), Leitton (German), note sensible (French), sensible (Spanish), the seventh degree of a major, harmonic minor or rising melodic minor scale, therefore the note a major seventh above the tonic. If the note is flattened in descending minor keys it is then called a 'flattened leading note' (for which theorists reserve the name subtonic, sottotonica (Italian) or subtónica (Spanish))
(US) the seventh degree of a major, harmonic minor or rising melodic minor scale. If the note is flattened in descending minor keys it is then called a 'flattened leading note' (for which theorists reserve the name 'subtonic')
(US) a four-note chord built in thirds on the seventh scale degree a semitone (half step) below the tonic
Leading whole tone scale
Leadpipe
on a brass musical instrument, the first section of tubing of a brass instrument extending from the mouthpiece receiver to the next joint. It usually tapers, unless it is equipped with a tuning slide
Lead sheet
(English, Leadsheet (German n.), Führungsblatt (German n.)) also called 'fake music', all that is required to be able to play a head arrangement, namely a written representation of the theme and the accompanying chords
also called a 'flat spring', a hammered brass or tempered steel spring tongue that is riveted or screwed to the finger spatula end of a key of a wind instrument. It was also sometimes tucked or screwed into the mount assembly, so that it exerted an upward pressure on the rear of the key. Keys mounted in metal saddles were frequently sprung in this optional reverse manner in the early stages. In some cases each key will have both types of flat spring exerting pressure on each other for very efficient key return
¿le agrada este, señora?
(Spanish) is this one to your liking, madam?
le agrada verlo contento
(Spanish) it gives her pleasure to see him happy
le agradecería (que) me llamara
(Spanish) I would appreciate it if you would call me
le alcahuetea las mentiras
(Spanish) she covers up for him when he lies
leale
(Italian) loyal, faithful
Lealtà
(Italian f.) loyalty, faithfulness
le amarraron las manos
(Spanish) they tied his hands together
Leaning note
appoggiatura
Leap
in harmony, a skip
the movement from one note to another an interval more than second away
Leap year
a year with 366 days
Learned
having much knowledge acquired by study, showing or requiring learning (a learned work), (of a publication) academic
Learned word
(Note: the word learned is pronounced as two syllables in this phrase) a word, often technical in nature, used primarily in bookish contexts such as scientific or scholarly discussion rather than in everyday life
learning music by ear is done by repeatedly listening to other musicians and then attempting to recreate what one hears. This is how people learn music in any musical tradition in which there is no complete musical notation. Many people in cultures which do have notation still learn by ear, and ear training, often through a musicianship course at a music conservatory or college, is common practice among those who use notation extensively
contract by which the owner of property allows another to use it for a specified time, usu. in return for payment
Lease of life, new
improved prospect of living, or of use after repair
Leasehold
holding of property by lease, property held by lease
Leaseholder
a person holding property under a lease
Leather
material made from the skin of an animal by tanning etc.
Leather-bound
bound in leather
Leatherette
imitation leather
Leather plectrum
a plectrum made of leather. In modern harpsichords, spinets and virginals the material is that used in the soles of shoes - cowhide which has been rolled to consolidate it. To be distinguished from peau de buffle which is much softer and coarser in texture. Broadwood's Journal (1771-1785) includes several references to the use of leather as a plectrum material. There has been a tendency amongst restorers to regard a leather register in an eighteenth century harpsichord by an English maker as a later addition. That Broadwood changed registers for customers is quite clear, and it is also certain that he supplied harpsichords fitted with them
(German) becoming livelier, becoming more animated, animando, en animant
Lebhaftigkeit
(German f.) liveliness, vivacity, animation
Lebhaftigkeit und durchaus mit Empfingung und Ausdruck
(German) with animation with feeling and expression throughout
Le Boudin
the official march of the French Foreign Legion, Le Boudin is a reference to boudin, a type of blood sausage. Le boudin colloquially meant the gear (rolled up in a red blanket) that used to top the backpacks of Legionnaires. The song makes repeated reference to the fact that the Belgians don't get any "blood sausage", since the King of Belgium at the time forbade his subjects from joining the Legion. Le Boudin is marched to at 88 steps per minute, much slower than the 120 steps per minute of all other French military units. Consequently, the Legion contingent at the Bastille Day march holds up the rear
the daily class taken by dancers throughout their career to continue learning and to maintain technical proficiency
Leccornia
(Italian f.) a delicacy
Le Chat Noir
(French, literally 'The Black Cat') a famous nineteenth-century cabaret in the notoriously bohemian Montmartre district of Paris
Le Chat Noir from which this extract has been taken
lécher
(French) to lick
lecito
(Italian) lawful, permissiable
Leçon
(French f.) lesson
Lectern
stand for holding a book in a church etc.
Lecteur (m.), Lectrice (f.)
(French) reader, foreign language assistant
Lecteur de cassettes
(French m.) cassette player
Lecteur de disquettes
(French m.) (disk) drive (in a computer)
lectio difficilior potior
(Latin) see difficilior lectio potior
Lectionary
book containing Biblical readings to be read at the mass
Lector
(Spanish) reader (person or machine), (language) assistant
the third rank of minor orders of the ministry; also known as reader
lector (m.), lectora (f.)
(Spanish) reading
Lectorado
(Spanish m.) (university) assistantship
Lector de microfichas
(Spanish) microfiche reader
Lector de microfilmes
(Spanish) microfilm reader
Lectori Salutem
(Latin) greetings to the reader
Lectura
(Spanish f.) reading, interpretation
Lecture
(French f.) reading
Lecture à vue
(French f.) sight-reading
le daré la respuesta antes de una semana
(Spanish) I will give you my reply within a week
ledere
(Italian) to damage, to injure
Lederhosen
(German f. pl.) short leather trousers usually with leather braces as worn in Germany, Austria and Swizterland
Lederschlägel
(German m.) leather stick
Ledetone
(Danish) leading note
Ledger line
see 'leger line'
Ledger space
see 'leger space'
le dieron un susto de alivio
(Spanish) they gave him an awful fright
ledit (m.), ladite (f.), lesdit(e)s (pl.)
(French) the aforesaid
le double plus rapide
(French) at double the speed, doppio movimento (Italian)
Ledton
(Swedish) leading note
leer
(Spanish) to read
German) open
leer ausgehen
(German) come away empty handed
leer entre líneas
(Spanish) to read between the lines
leere Saite (s.), leere Saiten (pl.)
(German f.) open string (as on a violin), corda vuota (Italian f.), corde à jour (French f.), corde à vide (French f.)
le estoy muy agradecida
(Spanish) I'm very grateful to you
Left hand
mano sinistra (Italian), Linke Hand (German), main gauche (French)
Left-hand muting
for a right-handed guitarist, a performance technique on stringed instruments, where the vibration of a string is muffled by the left hand. For a left-handed guitarist who reverses his hands, this technique would be called 'right-hand' muting
tt is possible to execute a pizzicato with a finger of the left hand (the hand that normally stops the strings). This allows pizzicati in places where there would not normally be time to bring the right hand from or to the bowing position. This technique is quite rarely called for, but was used as a special effect by Niccolò Paganini in the 24th Caprice from his 24 Caprices, Op. 1. Left hand pizzicato is also used while bowed notes are being held, an effect appearing primarily in repertoire of the late nieteenth century and beyond. Examples of this technique can be found in the works of Wieniawski, Berg (Violin Concerto), Stravinsky (Three Pieces for String Quartet) and many others
a close-position voicing without a root, played mainly within an octave of middle C, a style closely associated with jazz musicians Bill Evans, Red Garland and Wynton Kelly, these left-hand chords are sprinkled in irregular syncopations under the right-hand melody. The absence of roots frees the bass player and so allows a richer harmony in the voicing. This has become the mainstream style of left-hand playing
Left-handed sewer flute
a musical instrument invented by Peter Schickele
Left-hand voicing
see 'left-hand rootless voicing'
leg.
abbreviated form of legato
Lega
(Italian f.) a league, an alloy (metal)
legabile
(Italian) slurred, connected, playing or singing smoothly, legato
Legaccio
(Italian m.) a string
légal
(French) legal
Legale
(Italian m.) lawyer
legale
(Italian) lawful, legal
légalement
(French) legally
légaliser
(French) to legalise
Legalità
(Italian f.) legality
Légalité
(French f.) legality, the law
legalizzare
(Italian) to authenticate, to legalise
Legame
(Italian m.) a tie, a liaison (amorous), a link
Legamento
(Italian m.) a ligament
legando
(Italian) legato
(Italian) slurring, bound together
(Italian) in string playing, playing under a single bow
legare
(Italian) to slur, to bind
legare le note
(Italian) legato
legate
(Italian) slurred, played or sung smoothly
Légation
(French f.) legation
legatissimo
(Italian) legando, exceedingly smooth and connected
legato
(English, German, Italian, literally 'bound') smooth playing style in which the notes seem bound together
on plucked instruments three techniques are used for legato effect, namely 'hammer-ons', 'pull-offs' and 'legato slides'
an inverted V over a short horizontal line both over the notehead
legato forzato
(Italian) marcato and legato
Legato forzato marking
a V on its side over a short horizontal line both over the notehead
Legato pedaling
also called 'syncopated' pedaling, or infrequently, 'following' pedaling. Its simplest application occurs when two notes or chords are to be connected with a seamless, unblurred legato. The first chord is caught with the pedal, then, as the next chord is played, the pedal is lifted; as the fingers continue to hold the chords, re-depress the pedal. The chord changes are legato by each chord does not sound over into the chord following
Legatura
(Italian f.) ligature, slur, brace
(Italian f.) syncopation
Legatura di espressione
(Italian f.) slur
Legatura di frase
(Italian f.) phrase mark (used to produce a legato effect)
Legatura di portamento
(Italian f.) slur
Legatura di valore
(Italian f.) tie, bind
Legatura di voce
(Italian f.) smooth execution of a succession of notes in one breath
Legatura espressiva
(Italian f.) slur
Legend (English)
a composition written in a narrative, romantic style
a composition that depicts a legend, a term was used mostly during the Romantic era
"Dancers and acrobats must be léger and fit in every limb. ... This musician has a hand that is léger when playing instruments." - Furetière (1690)
"In architecture, a work that is léger is one with a great deal of open-work and whose beauty consists of using a minimum of materials. It is also said in sculpture about the delicate ornaments that come closest to Nature and that are very elaborate, hollowed-out and imaginative, for example the leaves on the finest capitals. ... Is said figuratively about things that are frivolous, unimportant, insubstantial, superficial." - Furetière (1702)
"This word means a tempo that is even faster than gai, a tempo that is midway between gai and vite [quickly]. It is roughly equivalent to the Italian vivace." - Rousseau (1768)
"It is said when speaking of a writing master who writes with great aise and very quickly: "His hand has great légèreté." Is also said of an instrumentalist whose performance is extremely aisé and brilliant." - Dictionnaire de l'Académie Françoise (1694)
(from the French léger, meaning 'light' or 'slight') also written 'ledger line', taglio addizionale (Italian), Hilfslinie (German), ligne ajoutée (French), línea adicionale (Spanish), a short line drawn through, above or below the head of a note that is written above or below the standard five-line staff [entry corrected by Giovanni Andreani]
(English, colloquial) lasting quality (stamina) at the box office
léguer
(French) to bequeath
Légume
(French m.) vegetable
Leg warmers
knitted footless socks, worn by ballet dancers when exercising
Lehdert n temgharin
(Berber, Morocco) rituals sung exclusively by women. Three types of ceremonies are organized: for young ladies, married women and elderly ladies. They are actually initiation ceremonies and follow very strict social rules
Lehrer (m.), Lehrerin (f.)
(German) teacher
Lehrfilm
(German m.) educational film, instructional film
Lehr-gedicht
(German) didactic poem
Lehr-ode
(German) didactic ode
Lehrstück (s.), Lehrstücke (pl.)
(German n., literally 'teaching piece') a genre of musical drama popular in Germany during the 1920s, developed by Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), Paul Hindemith (1895-1963), Kurt Weill (1900-1950), Hanns Eisler (1898-1962) and others, whose purpose was to communicate anti-Nazi political propaganda rather than to entertain, a secular analog to the Medieval moralities
(German, Leise, a contraction of Kyrie eleison) a genre of medieval devotional song whose name derives from the fact that in the Medieval Mass, the people could only sing the first part of the Kyrie eleison (Lord have mercy on us). All the other parts of Mass were sung by the priest and/or the choir. When the people composed their own sacred hymns, which were to be sung outside the church, they would add the Kyrie eleison to it, as if they were asking for forgiveness for their boldness
(German) a chord or harmony leading instinctively to another because it requires resolution, as, for example, the chord of the dominant leading to the tonic
Leitartikel
(German m.) leader (in a paper), editorial
Leitbild
(German n.) model (figurative)
Leiten
(German n.) conducting
leiten
(German) to conduct, to lead, to hold an executive position, to direct, to manage, to run (for example, a business)
Leiter
(German f.) a (musical) scale, ladder
Leiter (m.), Leiterin (f.)
(German) director, manager (m.) or manageress (f.) (of a business), leader (of a group), head (of a school)
(German) conductor (of an orchestra or choir), leader
leitereigen
(German) proper to the scale (i.e. diatonic)
leiterfremd
(German) not proper to the scale (i.e. chromatically altered)
Leiter-Harmonisierung
(German f.) scale harmonisation
Leiterin
see Leiter
Leitfaden
(German m.) manual
Leitkegel
(German m.) (traffic) cone
Leitmotif
(English from the German, a word that has a mixed etymology as the German word Motiv is borrowed from the French motif, meaning motive or theme. Prefixing it with Leit- (coming from German leiten, to lead), produces Leitmotiv (German plural Leitmotive) or Leitmotif, meaning 'leading motif') like the 'reminiscence motive', the Leitmotif is a theme identified with a character, event or idea in music and particularly in opera. The term was first used by H. von Wolzogen in a discussion of The Ring by Richard Wagner (1813-1883) and by F. W. Jähns in his Carl Maria von Weber in seinen Werken (1871). The Leitmotiv is distinct from the 'reminiscence motive' in that the former is developed, extended even altered according to the dramatic state while the latter is seldom changed at all
(German n.) key note, leading motif, leitmotif, theme
Leitplanke
(German f.) crash barrier
Leitspruch
(German f.) motto
Leitton
(German m.) leading note, leading tone
Leitung
(German f.) direction, management, control, cable (electricity), flex (electricity), line (telephone), pipe, main (chief)
Leizi bili
vertical flute, indigenous to the Naxi minority of China
'Le jive'
see 'modern jive'
Lekolulo
from Lesotho, a kind of flute played by herding boys
Leksikon
(Danish, Norwegian) an encyclopedia, a dictionary [entry provided by Lars Hellvig]
Lektion
(German f.) lesson
Lektor (m.), Lectorin (f.)
(German) editor (in a publishing house)
Lektor (m.), Lectorin (f.)
(German) assistant lecturer (in a University)
Lektüre
(German f.) reading matter, reading
Le même
(French m.) the same
le même mouvement
(French) the same speed
Lemma (s.), Lemmata (pl.), Lemmas (pl.)
(Greek) the heading or title of a literary work, the head-word of an entry in a glossary or dictionary
(Greek, Latin) premise, thesis, assumption
Lemon gold
generally a term for gold that was not red. Today it can indicate an 18 carat gold instead of 24 carat gold
le mot juste
(French m.) the right word, the word that exactly serves the required purpose in a literary composition
Leña
(Spanish f.) firewood
Leñador
(Spanish m.) woodcutter
Lenaia
an Athenian religious festival occurring shortly after the Dionysia. While the Dionysia focused on tragedies, with only short interludes of comedy, in the Lenaia, comedies were performed as the main entertainment
Lenau, Nikolaus (1802-1850)
German Romantic poet. The inherent musicality of his verse made him a natural choice for many Lieder composers of the late nineteenth century, among them Charles T. Griffes (1884-1920) (Auf geheimem Waldespfade). Charles Ives (1874-1954), Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), Hugo Wolf (1860-1903), and Alban Berg (1885-1935). His dramatic verse drama, Faust and Don Juan, inspired tones poems by Franz Liszt (1811-1886) and Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Nikolaus Lenau from which this information has been taken
lendemain, le
(French) the next day, the day after, the future (figurative)
lendemain de, le
(French) the day after
lendemain matin, le
(French) the next morning
lendemain soir, le
(French) the next evening
Lengte
(Dutch) duration
Length
duration of a vowel sound. Vowels can be long or short in English writing, which often uses a single symbol to represent two or more sounds
Lengthening
the change of a short vowel sound into a long one
Length of body
Korpuslänge (German f.), longueur de corps (French f.), lunghezza della casa (Italian f.)
(Spanish f.) or caña simple (Spanish f.), single reed, einfaches Rohrblatt (German n.), anche simple (French f.), ancia semplice (Italian f.)
Lengüetería del órgano
(Spanish f.) the reed stops of an organ
Lenition
the softening of a consonant sound, i.e., the replacement of a hard and abrupt sound by a more hissing or continuous sound that makes the syllable containing it easier to pronounce in the midst of other surrounding sounds
(Italian) slowing, slackening the time, ritardando, rallentando, langsamer werdend, en ralentissant
lentato
(Italian) slowed, rallentando
Lente
(Italian f., Spanish f.) lens
Lente d'ingrandimento
(Italian f.) magnifying glass
Lentejuela
(Spanish f.) sequin
lentement
(French) slowly, leisurely
"This word is the equivalent of the Italian largo and indicates a slow tempo. Its superlative, très-lentement [very slowly] indicates the slowest tempo of all." - Rousseau (1768)
"In French music is the equivalent of the adagio of the Italians and designates a mouvement that is lent and posé." - Trévoux (1771)
verse using internal rhyme in which the middle and end of each line rhyme. More specifically, in the leonine verse of medieval Latin, hexameters (or alternate hexameters and pentameters) would have the word before the caesura and the final word in each line rhyme with each other, such as the ecclesiastical Stabat mater. The name leonine traditionally comes from a 12th century poet, Leo, the Canon of Saint Victor's in Paris, whose Latin verses used this device. It predates him, however
named for the French acrobat Jules Leotard (1830-1870), a one-piece garment cobvering the entire torso, with or without sleeves, worn with tights for practice or in many contemporary ballets, as a stage costume
Leotardo
(Spanish m.) thick tights
Leo X, Pope (reigned 1513-1521)
Pope Leo X gave Henry VIII the eventually ironic title of "Defender of the Faith." Born Giovanni de' Medici, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, he had been well-educated in music, perhaps receiving instruction from the Flemish composer Heinrich Isaac. A contemporary observer wrote that the Pope's interest had inspired many young people to become musicians, in hopes of gaining favor with him. A five-part arrangement of a Colinet de Lannoy chanson melody by the Pope is competent and demonstrates the influence of Isaac. Leo X's love of music was widely discussed by ambassadors, with one going so far as to say that the Pope "values nothing except to sound the lute." Leo's generosity to musicians sometimes drew criticism; he once appointed a Gabriel Merino to be Archbishop of Bari even though Merino's only qualifications seemed to be that he was a good singer and also shared the Pope's interest in hunting. Even more controversial was his appointment of a Jewish lutenist, Gian Maria, as ruler of Verrucchio. Leo participated in discussions of theory with some of the most learned musicians of his time, including Adrian Willaert. Several decades after the Pope's death, he was summarized in this way: Leo decimus musicos in primis amavit (Above all, Leo X loved the musicians)
note: à + lequel = auquel, à + lesquel(le)s = auxquel(le)s; de + lequel = duquel, de + lesquel(le)s = desquel(le)s
Lera
Persian flute
'Le roc'
see 'modern jive'
les
(French) the
les is often prefixed to the name of a group of entertainers, as if to give them a Continental air
les agradezco su presencia
(Spanish) (I) thank you for being here
Les aigus
(French) the high notes
les alcahuetea las travesuras
(Spanish) he lets them get away with all kinds of things
le saluda atentamente
(Spanish) yours faithfully (as in a letter)
lesbar
(German) legible, readable
Les bois
(French m. pl.) the woodwind (section)
Les cuives
(French m. pl.) the brass (section)
Leseb
in Morocco, Chaabi songs typically end with a leseb, or swift rhythmic section accompanied by syncopated clapping
Lèse-majesté
(French) an offense against the majesty of a sovereign or nation, high treason
Lese-majesty
(English, from the French) treason, an insult to a sovereign or ruler, presumptuous conduct
Lesen
(German n.) reading
lesenswertes Buch
(German n.) readable book, book worth reading
Leser (m.), Leserin (f.)
(German) reader
léser
(French) to wrong
leserlich
(German) legible
Leserzeichen
(German n.) bookmark
'Les gôuts réunis'
(French, literally 'the tastes united') François Couperin (le grand) (1668-1733) wrote a large quantity of chamber music including L'apothéose de Lully, a tribute Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) the leading composer in France in the second half of the seventeenth century and L'apothéose de Corelli, a tribute to the Italian composer Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713), part of a larger collection of ensemble pieces under the title Les goûts réunis, an exploration of the rival French and Italian tastes in music, a quarrel in which Couperin remained neutral
Lesiba
(Southern Africa) a musical bow, a jaw harp with a tight string instead of a bar
(German m.) Leslie effect, the effect that gives the Leslie speaker its special properties
Leslie-Lautsprecher
(German m.) Leslie speaker
Leslie speaker
the classic Leslie speaker consists of two driver units - a treble unit with horns, and a bass unit. The key feature is that the horns of the treble unit (actually only one working horn, but a dummy horn is used to counter-balance it) and a sound baffle for the bass unit are rotated using electric motors to create 'Doppler effect based' vibrato, tremolo and chorus effects. The rotating elements can be switched between two speeds (or stopped completely by means of optional "brakes"), and the transition between the two speeds produces the most characteristic effects
the terms 'greater' and 'lesser' were used formerly to identify the species of third in a scale; thus, a scale with a greater third was a major scale, while a scale with a lesser third was a minor scale
Lesser barbiton
kit or small violin used by dancing masters
Lesser Doxology
see doxologia minor
Lesser shake
flattement
Lesser sixth
minor sixth
Lesser third
minor third
Lessive
(French f.) washing powder, washing (action)
'Les Six'
see Six, Les
Lesson
a short keyboard piece or pieces from the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries, sometimes but often not a study
Lesson scenes
a popular device in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century comic operas, the two most famous examples being the singing lessons for Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868), and for Marie in La Fille du Régiment by Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
Lest
(French m.) ballast
lestamente
(Italian) quickly, lively, brisk
leste
(French) nimble, coarse
lester
(French) to ballast
Lestezza
(Italian) agility, quickness
lestissamamente
(Italian) very quickly
lestissimo
(Italian) very quickly
lesto
(Italian) nimble, quick, lively
Letane
see Litania
Letanía
(Spanish) litany, long list (familar)
le tengo antipatía a su novia
(Spanish) I don't like his girlfriend
Léthargie
(French f.) lethargy
léthargique
(French) lethargic
Letra
(Spanish f., Portuguese f.) the lyrics (of a song)
Letra cursiva
(Spanish f.) italic character (as in type face)
Letra negrita
(Spanish f.) bold character (as in type face)
Letra pequeña
(Spanish f.) small print
'Let ring' slur
a short slur, with let ring above it) that begins on a notehead (usually of longer duration) but ends in space, indicating a continued vibration
Letrista
(Portuguese) lyricist
'Les trois âges de l'opéra'
see Ramistes
L'été
one of the movements of a quadrille
Letkajenkka
a Finnish folkdance, often danced at parties, where all the participants form a line and, as they dance, perform exactly the same steps as the person ahead of them
a system of representing the notes of the 12-tone scale by their letter names A-G, possibly with a trailing sharp or flat symbol, such as A# or Bb. This is the most common way of specifying a note in speech or in written text
a relief process where the printing surface of type is raised above the non-image surface. It is a direct printing method where the inked form presses the image directly into the paper creating a slight embossing. Letterpress is one of the oldest printing methods and was the most widely used to print text until it was replaced by offset lithography in the 1960s. A variant of this process called flexography is still used for printing on non-porous and unusual surfaces
Lettione seconda (1543)
written by Silvestro Ganassi (c.1492-1550), published in Venice, a manual for playing the viola da gamba
Lettner
(German m.) rood screen, choir screen, chancel screen, jubé (French)
Lettre
(French f.) letter (written communication), each of the graphical symbols that constitute an alphabet
les lettres (French: the arts, arts)
lettré
(French) well-read
Lettre de cachet
(French f.) a sealed letter form the King of France ordering the governor of the Bastille to imprison the person named, any arbitrary warrent for arrest
Lettre de marque
(French f.) Royal authorisation of commit piracy upon the ships of another country
Lettre exprès
(French f.) express letter
Lettre simple
(French f.) basic letter (the form of a letter without a diacritical sign added to alter pronunciation or to distinguish between similar words, thus, in French, without accent aigu (acute accent) or accent grave (grave accent), cédille (cedilla), tréma (diaeresis, or umlaut in German) or accent circonflexe (circumflex)
Lettre spéciale
(French f.) special letter (letter peculiar to a single language or group of languages, for example, ß in German)
Lettriste
(French) (an art form) in which alphabetical symbols are used for decorative purposes, in a way that has no reference to sense
Lettura
(Italian) a reading, a lecture, instruction given by a master to his scholars
Lettura di musica
(Italian) a musical lecture
letzt
(German) last
Leucémie
(French f.) leukaemia
Leuchte
(German f.) a light
leuchten
(German) to shine
leuchtend
(German) shining
Leuchter
(German m.) a candlesitck
Leuchtfeuer
(German n.) a beacon
Leuchtkugel
(German f.) a flare
Leuchtrakete
(German f.) a flare
Leuchtreklame
(German f.) a neon sign
Leuchtstoffröhre
(German f.) a fluorescent tube
Leuchtturm
(German m.) a lighthouse
Leuchtzifferblatt
(German n.) a luminous dial
leugnen
(German) to deny
Leukämie
(German f.) leukaemia
Leumund
(German m.) reputation
leur
(French) their, (to) them
le leur, la leur, les leurs (French: theirs)
Leurre
(French m.) illusion, deception
leurrer
(French) to delude
Leute
(German pl.) people, workers, men (miltary)
Leutessa
(Italian f.) a bad lute
Leutnant
(German m.) a second lieutenant
Leuto
(Italian) lute
leutselig
(German) affabile (Italian), in a gentle pleasant manner, in an affable manner, elegant, affably, affable (French)
le va a dar algo
(Spanish) he'll have a fit
leva il calice
(Italian) raising his glass
Levain
(French m.) leaven
Levalto
see volta
levantar acta
(Spanish) to take minutes, to draft a statement
levantar el acta
(Spanish) to take the minutes (of a meetings)
in Spanish acta is a feminine noun but it takes the masculine article, el, when used in the singular
levantar la mano
(Spanish) to raise one's hand
levantar tempestades
(Spanish) to cause a storm (figurative)
levantar un atestado
(Spanish) to draw up a report, to draft a report
Levante
a geographical area which stretches from Almeria in Eastern Andalucia to Valencia. This area gives its name to the so-called cantes de levante which include minera, taranta, murciana and cartagenera
levar anclas
(Spanish) to weigh anchor
levare
(Italian) to lift, to take off
levate
(Italian) lift off!, take off!
levé
(French) up
leveästi
(Finnish) largo
Levée
(French f.) lifting, collection, levying
(French f.) anacrusis, upbeat, the initial note of a melody that occurs before the first barline, the upstoke of the conductor's bâton
(French f.) a reception held during rhe King's morning toilet, a reception held by the King or by his representative at which only men are present
Levée en masse
(French f.) general mobilisation (for war)
Level (music)
a term employed by Peter van der Merwe (1989), also called "tonality level", which is identical to Kubik's "tonal step", and John Blacking's "root progression", a temporary modal frame contrasted with another built on a different foundation note. It is more general and basic than a chord and is found in Asian, African, and Celtic folk musics and in European Renaissance music. Levels then give way to chords and chord changes in Baroque music and in the twentieth-century chords give way to levels in the blues, completed with the V-IV-I progression, and spread to all popular music
Level (music) from which this extract has been taken
Levelling
also called merging, in linguistics, this process is the loss of earlier distinctions in sounds or word forms
Level of difficulty
music is generally classified into six levels of difficulty:
I
very easy
easy keys, meters, rhythms; limited ranges
II
easy
may include changes of tempo, key, and meter; modest ranges
III
moderately easy
contains moderate technical demands, expanded ranges, and varied interpretative requirements
IV
moderately difficult
requires well-developed technical skills, attention to phrasing and interpretation, and ability to perform various meters and rhythms in a variety of keys
V
difficult
requires advanced technical and interpretive skills; contains key signatures with numerous sharps or flats, unusual meters, complex rhythms, and subtle dynamic requirements
VI
very difficult
suitable for musically mature students of exceptional competence
Level staff
also called levelling rod, a graduated wooden or aluminium rod, the use of which permits the determination of differences in elevation
levendig
(Dutch) joyful
Levendikos
(Greek) also called leventikos or poustseno, a dance danced in the western side of Macedonia in the town of Florina, and also a different dance performed in Petroussa
Leventikos
see levendikos
Lever
on a clavichord, it is a wooden rod that has a key at one end and a tangent at the other, which when the key is depressed raises the tangent up to the appropriate string which both touches the string and frets the string at a given point
lever
(French) to lift, to lift up, to raise, to close, to levy, to rise
Lever de rideau
(French m.) a 'curtain-raiser', a short play performed before the main theatrical performance of the evening
Lever du jour
(French m.) daybreak
Lever du rideau
(French m.) curtain up (theatre)
Lever du soleil
(French m.) sunrise
Lever harp
any harp that uses levers rather than pedals to obtain semitones. Levers are attached to the neck of the harp, and have various designs to either slightly bend or pinch the string. In the U.S., raising the lever engages it; in the UK, lowering the lever engages it (just as lowering the pedal on a pedal harp raises the pitch by a semitone)
a piece to be played under a bedroom window in the morning
a fanfare to wake soldiers in the morning
lève-toi
(French) stand up
Levezza
(Italian f.) lightness
Levier
(French m.) a lever
Levier pneumatique
(French m.) a pneumatic lever found in an organ, the purpose of which, when engaged, is to lighten the touch of a large organ so that it may be as light as that on a piano
Lèvre
(French f.) lip, labio (Spanish m.)
Lévrier
(French m.) greyhound
Levure
(French f.) yeast
in cooking, luting, a paste of flour and water used to seal pastry
Levure alsacienne
(French f.) baking powder
Levure chimique
(French f.) baking powder
Levygraph
a photo engraving process patented by Max Levy in Baltimore in 1875
Lexeme
an abstract unit of morphological analysis in linguistics, that roughly corresponds to a set of words that are different forms of "the same word". For example, English run, runs, ran and running are forms of the same lexeme. A related concept is the lemma (or citation form), which is a particular form of a lexeme that is chosen by convention to represent a canonical form of a lexeme. Lemmas are used in dictionaries as the headwords, and other forms of a lexeme are often listed later in the entry if they are unusual in some way
(Latin) the law of retalisation (an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth)
Lézard
(French m.) lizard
Lézarde
(French f.) crack
Lezione
(Italian f.) lesson
Lezione collettiva
(Italian f.) group lesson
LGSM, L.G.S.M.
abbreviation of 'Licentiate Guildhall School of Music (UK)'
LH, L.H., l.h.
abbreviation of 'left hand' or linke Hand (German: left hand), indicating that specific notes are to be played by the left hand
L'homme armé
a secular tune that formed the cantus firmus for at least 31 Mass-settings in the Renaissance period including those by Dufay, Ockeghem, Morales and Palestrina. The earliest reliable source of the L'homme armé melody is a late fifteenth-century manuscript in Naples, which contains six anonymous Masses based on the song. This Neapolitan version of L'homme armé poses two unsolved problems: whether it was originally a monophonic song or the tenor of a lost three-voice chanson; and whether it originally had any more verses, as the refrain structure rather suggests. Apart from the composers already mentioned, there were Mass-settings founded on L'homme armé by Busnois (who was said, by Pietro Aaron in 1523, to have been the original composer of the song, although modern scholarship has suggested Firminus Caron as the author), Regis, Tinctoris, Obrecht, Brumel, Mouton, de Silva, Carver and several others. The series was finally closed in the seventeenth century by Carissimi, who crowned the tradition with a 12-voice work
L'homme, l'homme, l'homme armé, l'homme armé,
L'homme armé doibt on doubter.
On a fait par tout crier,
Que chascun se viegne armer, d'un haubregon de fer.
L'homme, l'homme, l'homme armé, l'homme armé,
L'homme armé doibt on doubter.
L'homme même
(French) the personality of a writer as reflected in his style (quoting from Buffon Discours sur le Style (1753): le style est l'homme même)
