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Li
the raised sixth degree of the major scale; in 'fixed do' solfeggio, li is always the note 'A sharp'
Liagan
an Uzbeck percussion instrument formed of a metal plate. An alternative is a metal tray which, like the liagan, can produce a rhythm similar to that of a doira
Liaison
(Italian) in music, legato, slur, tie or bind, a syncopation
(French f.) in music, slur, tie, bind, playing a passage under a single bow, singing a passage in one breath
the pronunciation of a final consonant (which would otherwise be silent) when the following word begins with a vowel or mute h
exchange of information between two parties
an illicit intimacy between a man and a woman
in cooking, a thickening or binding, usually egg yolks and cream
Liaison de chant
(French f.) the sostentuto style of singing
Liaison de prolongement
(French f.) tie or bind, fascia (Italian), Bindenbogen (German), ligadura de prolongación (Spanish)
Liaison d'expression
(French f.) a slur or phrase mark, ligadura de expresión (Spanish)
liar los bártulos
(Spanish) to pack one's bags
lib(s)
abbreviation of 'libretto(s)'
Libanon, der
(German m.) Lebanon
Libation
pouring out of a drink-offering to a god, or such a drink-offering
Libelle
(German f.) a dragonfly, a spirit-level (technical), a (hair) slide
Libelli missae
books containing liturgical formulae such as Eucharistic prayers
Libellus (s.), Libelli (pl.)
(Latin) pamphlet
Liber
(Latin) book
Liberal arts
these represented the subject matter of the secular 'arts' syllabus of the Middle Ages; first the preparatory trivium - grammar, rhetoric and dialectic, then the basis of a philosophical training, the quadrivium, comprising arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music. By the thirteenth century, each had been given a pictorial identity, together with identifying attributes (e.g. a measuring rod for geometry) and exemplars (e.g. Pythagoras for arithmetic, Tubal for music).While treated with a stylistic variety that reflected current pictorial concerns, whether with iconographic completeness (Andrea da Firenze in the Spanish Chapel at S. Maria Novella in Florence), or with narrative (Pinturicchio in the Vatican) or with the nude (Pollaiuolo's tomb of Sixtus IV in St Peter's), the theme was left remarkably intact by artists whose own activity (save through the mathematics of perspective) was excluded from it as manual rather than liberal
(Italian) freely (rhythm or tempo), boldly, easily, plainly
libero
(Italian) free, unrestrained
Libertà
(Italian f.) liberty, freedom
Libertad de expresión
(Spanish f.) free speech
Libertà di parola
(Italian f.) free speech
Libertin
(French m.) a free-thinker, a person holding unorthodox opinions on religious questions
Libertine
(from the French) a rake, a profligate
Liberty Bell
America's most famous bell and emblem of liberty, located in Independence Hall, Philadelphia. It was first cast by Whitechapel of London in 1752 but had to be recast twice (by Pass and Stow of Philadelphia) before it could be used. It became immortal when it was used to call an assembly in the State House yard on July 8, 1776, for the reading of the proclamation declaring independence from England. Although its inscription reads PROCLAIM LIBERTY THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND UNTO ALL THE INHABITANTS THEREOF (Leviticus 25:10), it did not assume its title of Liberty Bell until after 1839. The bell weighs 2,080 pounds, and is one of the earliest bells cast in the United States
Liber usualis
a modern-day book of chants, prayers and readings for major services throughout the Church year, first published in 1896
Libido
(Latin) the energy of the instinctive desires
Libitum
see ad libitum
Libra (s.), Librae (pl.)
(Latin) a pound weight (abbreviation: lb.), a pound sterling (abbreviation: £ or L.)
Libraio
(Italian m.) bookseller
Libraire
(French m./f.) bookseller
Librairie
(French f.) bookshop
Libraria
(Latin) bookshop
Librarian
an expert in the practical organization and retrieval of information in service to people with information needs. Librarianship is the professional activity of selecting, procuring, organizing, preserving, and making available data, information, and creative and scholarly works, and providing services which assist and instruct people in the most efficient and effective ways to identify, locate, access, and use information and resources (articles, books, magazines, etc.)
for information about different types of library please refer to Types of Library
Library steps
found in libraries of large houses after about the eighteenth century and of two main kinds. The first is a fixed pair of steps some with hand-rails. The second, form isa set of folding steps, sometimes fitted to other pieces of furniture, such as chairs, stools, tables, etc.
Libra solidus denarius
(Latin) pounds, shillings, pence (old pre-decimal UK currency), L.S.D.
libre
(French) free
Libre albedrío
(Spanish m.) free will
libre de derechos de aduana
(Spanish) duty free
libre de mouvement
(French) rubato
librement
(French) freely (rhythm or tempo), easily, plainly
Libreria
(Italian f., Spanish f.) bookshop
Libreria editorial
(Spanish f.) publishing house
Librero
(Spanish m.) bookseller
Libretista
(Spanish m./f.) the author of the literary text of an opera or oratorio
Libreto
(Spanish m.) libretto
Librettist
(English, German n.) the author of the literary text of an opera or oratorio
(Italian m., German n., English, diminutive of libro) originally the name given to the book in which the literary text of an opera or oratorio was printed, but later given to the text itself
the money to be made from the sale of libretti to audiences attending performances of the opera was one of the considerations for not lowering the lights during the performance, whatever the wishes of the set designers, producers, etc. A reviewer attending an 1882 performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operetta Iolanthe wrote: "that when the time came for tuning over the leaves of the book [libretto] there was such a rustling as is only equalled when musicians are following the score at an oratorio." It was in the same year, 1882, that a British audience first attended an opera performance in a darkened auditorium, for the British premiere of Wagner's Ring cycle
(Italian pl.) from early 17th century Italy, letter-writing guides
Libro
(Italian m., Spanish m.) book
Libro corale (s.), Libri corali (pl.)
(Italian m.) choir book, book of church music (usually a large book)
Libro da tavolo
(Italian m., literally 'table book') parts written in different directions on facing pages, so to enable reading by performers standing around a table
Libro de consulta
(Spanish m.) source book
Libro de coro
(Spanish m.) choir book
Libro de ilustraciones
(Spanish m.) picture book
Libro de messo
(Spanish m.) coffee table book (generally large and illustrated)
Libro de oraciones
(Spanish m.) prayer book
Libro de pedidos
(Spanish m.) orderbook
Libro de recibos
(Spanish m.) receipt book
Libro de referencias
(Spanish m.) reference book
Libro de registro
(Spanish m.) register (for example, in a hotel)
Libro de tapas duras
(Spanish m.) hardback book
Libro de texto
(Spanish m.) textbook, course book
Libro de viajes
(Spanish m.) travel book
Libro de viejo
(Spanish m.) secondhand book
Libro talonario
(Spanish m.) receipt book
Libyen
(German n.) Libya
Licence
a departure from rule in musical writing
Licensing Act
by an order of 1581, new plays in Britain could not be performed until they were licensed by the Master of Revels. A separate license, granted by the Court of High Commission, was required for the play to actually be published and printed, though as Stephen Greenblatt notes, plays were in practice often pirated and printed without a license. From 1610, the Master of Revels was responsible for licensing plays for both publication and performance. In John Milton's time, a similar Licensing Act passed under Puritan influence in 1643. It demanded that all British writers submit their works to a parliamentary body for review. If the body disapproved, they would issue no license and thus make it illegal to publish the material. John Milton strongly opposed this licensing process, leading him to write Areopagitica as an argument in favour of free speech
a term used in the 17th- and 18th-centuries for an improvised passage or cadenza
a choral ode, dedicated to the ruler under whose patronage the performance was being given, that would be performed at the end of an opera, a feature common in Vienna during the late seventeenth century
Licenza poetica
(Italian f.) poetic licence, alterations or deviations from common rules
Liceo
(Italian m.) Lyceum, academy, the name of some Italian music schools and other musical institutions
Licet
(Latin) it is allowed
Lich gate
also 'lychgate' or 'lichgate', a roofed gate at the entrance to a churchyard, where a coffin can be set down to await the arrival of the clergyman
Licht
(German n.) light, a candle
licht
(German) bright, lucid (mentally), sparse
Lichtbild
(German n.) a passport photograph, a slide (transparency)
Lichtbildervortrag
(German m.) a lecture illustrated with slides
Lichtblick
(German m.) a ray of hope, a glimmer of hope (figurative)
Lichtdruck
(German m.) the perfected version of the collotype, dating from 1865, used by its inventor Josef Albert and J. Obernetter in Munich, Germany. This type of fine photo reproduction could be used with the traditional glass plate or on a litho-stone (Lichtdruckanstalt) for a larger press run. The process remained in use until 1900
(German m.) photoengraving
lichten
(German) to thin out
Lichthupe
(German f.) headlight flasher
Licht machen
(German) to put on the light
Lichtmaschin
(German f.) a dynamo
Lichtschalter
(German m.) a light-switch
Lichtspielhaus
(German n.) movie theatre
Lichtspieltheater
(German n.) movie theatre
Lichtton
(German m.) optical soundtrack (e.g. on film)
Licht und Schatten
(German n.) light and shade
Lichtung
(German f.) a clearing
Lich wall
the wall of a churchyard or burying ground
Lich wake
the wake, or watching, held over a corpse before burial
Lick
(English, German m.) a spontaneous musical phrase, melody or passage often drawn from a stock of scales, arpeggios, and so forth. If the lick is wholly original it is called a 'true lick'
(French, literally 'bound') gliding, slurred (where the notes are different pitches), tied (where the noted are the same pitch), bound, legato (Italian), gebunden (German), ligado (Spanish, Italian)
"Notes liées are two or several notes that are played with a single bowstroke on the violin and cello, or with a single tongue stroke on the flute and oboe. In short, all the notes under a slur." - Rousseau (1768)
(German m.) pear-shaped bell (for example, as on a cor anglais), padiglione piriforme (Italian m.), pavillon piriforme (French m.), pabellón en forma de pera (Spanish m.)
Liebesgeige
(German f.) viola d'amore
Liebesgeschichte
(German f.) a love story
Liebeskummer
(German m.) heartache
Liebeskummer haben
(German) to be depressed over an unhappy love-affair
Liebeslied
(German n.) love song
Liebesoboe
(German f.) oboe d'amore (English, Italian m.), Oboe d'amour (German f.), hautbois d'amour (French m.), oboe de amor (Spanish m.)
Liebespaar
(German n,) (a pair of) lovers
Liebesträume
(German m. pl.) dreams of love
liebevoll
(German) amoroso (Italian, Spanish), amorevole (Italian), con affetto (Italian), loving, lovingly, affectionate, affectionately,fondly, with affection, with warmth, with passion, with tenderness, with emotion, mit Zuneigung (German), avec affection (French), doux (French), tendre (French)
liebgewinnen
(German) to grow fond of
liebhaben
(German) to be fond of, to love
Liebhaber
(German m.) a lover, a collector
Liebhaberei
(German f.) a hobby
liebkosen
(German) to caress
liebkosend
(German) carezzevole (Italian), accarezzevolmente (Italian), accarezzevole (Italian) or accarezzando (Italian), caressing, coaxing, en caressant (French), câlin (French)
Liebkosung
(German f.) a caress
lieblich
(German) lovely, gentle, sweet, charming
used as part of the name of various sweet-toned organ stops, for example Lieblich-Gedackt, Lieblich-Bourdon, etc.
Lieblich-Gedackt
(German) a sweet-toned stopped-diapason organ register
Liebling
(German m.) darling, favourite
Lieblings-
(German prefix) favourite
Lieblingsmusik
(German f.) (a person's) musical favourites
lieblos
(German) loveless, uncaring, unkind, unkindly, without care
Liebschaft
(German f.) (love) affair
liebste (m.), liebster (f.), liebstes (n.)
(German) dearest, favourite
Lied (s.), Lieder (pl.)
(German n.) song, songs
a term originally applied to songs written in German as opposed to settings of religious texts in Latin
a style of nineteenth-century German art song distinguished by the setting of texts from the literary tradition and by the elaboration of the instrumental accompaniment, usually for public performance in a recital
(German n.pl., French m.pl.) plural of Lied (German: song)
Liederabend
(German m., literally 'evening of song/ballads') a recital given by a singer and pianist, particularly of works by nineteenth-century Austrian or German composers
Liederbuch (s.), Liederbücher (pl.)
(German n.) songbooks from the middle ages, most of which provide the German words without music
(German n.) fifteenth- and sixteenth-century collections of German polyphonic songs
(German n.) collections of songs with German text
Lieder der Akrites
(German n. pl.) acritic songs [entry provided by Michael Zapf]
Lieder-dichter
(German) lyrical poet, writer of songs
Liederkranz
(German, literally 'wreath of songs') song cycle, a series of songs
(German n.) a German form of ballad opera (or operetta) using popular folk songs or folk style songs
a song cycle, the text of which involves some element of action
Liedertafel
(German f.) a German male voice glee club or choral society
Liederzyklus (s.), Liederzyklen (pl.)
(German m.) song cycle
Liedform
(German f.) song form (ternary form)
Liedhorn
(German n.) the smallest member, soprano, of the ballad horn family manufactured, in England, by Boosey & Co.
Lied ohne Worte
(German n., literally 'song without words') a short cantabile composition for pianoforte with a clearly defined melody
Liedsammlung
(German f.) song collection, collection of songs
Liedtekst
(Dutch) lyrics
Liedtext (s.), Liedtexte (pl.)
(German m.) lyrics
Liedthema
(German n.) the theme used as the basis for a set of variations
Liedtradition
(German f.) song tradition
Liedvorm
(Dutch) song form (ternary form)
Lieferant
(German m.) supplier
Lieferanteneingang
(German m.) tradesman's entrance
lieferbar
(German) available (commercial), deliverable
liefern
(German) to supply, to deliver, to yield
Lieferschein
(German m.) delivery note
Lieferscheinnummer
(German f.) delivery note number
Lieferung (s.), Lieferungen (pl.)
(German f.) shipping, delivery, consignment
(German f.) a single number of a volume issued in parts
Lieferwagen
(German m.) a delivery van
Lier
(Dutch) lyre
lier
(French) to slur, to tie, to join, to bind, to link or join up (phrases, words) to unite (people)
lier amitié
(French) to strike up a friendship
lier avec une ficelle
(French) to tie with a piece of string
lier conversation
(French) to strike up a conversation
lier les notes
(French) to slur the notes
Lierne
purely decorative extra vaulting ribs joining the structural ribs to form a net-like pattern
Lierre
(French m,) ivy
Liesse
(French f.) jubilation
lietamente
(Italian) joyful
Lietezza
(Italian) joy
lietissimo
(Italian) very joyous
lieto
(Italian) joyous
lieto fine
(Italian) happy ending
lieve
(Italian) easy, light
lievemente
(Italian) easily, lightly
lievezza
(Italian) lightness
Lifar, Serge (1905-1986)
From 1923 to 1929, Lifar was dancer and ballet master of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. From 1929 to 1944 he was appointed leader of the ballet of the Paris Opéra, from 1945 to 1947 artistic director of the Nouveau Ballet of Monte Carlo, and from 1947 to 1958 once more leader of the ballet of the Paris Opéra. Serge Lifar was chairman of the Russian Union of Musicians in Paris, and he had a great influence on the development of modern French ballet
whether the user of the word ligadura intends it to mean 'tie' or 'slur' can usually be determined from the context
Ligadura de expresión
(Spanish f.) a slur or phrase mark, liaison d'expression (French)
Ligadura de frase
(Spanish f.) a phrase mark, liaison d'expression (French)
Ligadura de prolongación
(Spanish f.) tie, bind
Ligadura de prolongamento
(Portuguese f.) tie, bind
Ligadura de unión
(Spanish f.) tie, bind, fascia (Italian), Bindenbogen (German), liaison de prolongement (French)
ligar
(Spanish) to tie, to slur
Ligatur
(German f.) ligature
Ligatura
(Latin) ligature
Ligature
(from the Latin ligare, to bind) slur, tie or bind
in medieval manuscripts, a method of writing certain letter combinations in which two separate letters are joined into a new form (written with one stroke in common)
the joining of a pair of letters as, for example, in uf (French m.: egg), Æ in 'Æolian' or æ in 'mediæval' (these words are only rarely written using in this way: in current usage oeuf, Aeolian and mediaeval, are the standard spellings)
in mensurable music, the singing two or more notes to the same syllable, shown as a neume comprising two or more notes. When transcribed into modern notation, notes originally linked by a single ligature are enclosed under a square bracket
today, this is extended to include the playing of two or more notes under a single bow stroke, or the singing of a phrase in one breath, often indicated by placing the notes under a slur sign
a syncopation, a note on the unaccented part of the bar tied to one of the same pitch on the following accented part. A dissonance with its preparation. A dissonance is said to be prepared when the dissonant note appeared in the preceding chord as a consonance
not heavy, not heavily, leggiero (Italian), leicht (German), léger (French m.), légère (French f.)
Lightburn
an area of an image that has been noticeably bleached lighter by sunlight than surrounding areas that may have been covered. Sometimes found on paper items that have been matted or placed under mounting tabs. Not to be confused with acid migration, which can yellow or darken a paper's surface
Lightfast
the resistance of a colour to fade when exposed to light, especially sunlight. The ultra-violet end of the electromagnetic spectrum provides high energy that reacts with the compounds that make up colourants causing them to decompose. This may cause them to change colour, usually darken, or to fade or bleach out completely. Since dyes are made up of smaller chemical molecules than pigments, it takes less time for them to break down, making them more prone to fading. A colour that fades rapidly is called 'fugitive'
LightHarp
the LightHarp uses spotlights, lasers and light sensors to trace virtual strings through space for performers to play. The instrument does not make sound itself but rather it controls computers and synthesizers in performance. The instrument was originally built in fiberglass and designed by violin and instrument maker David S. Brown in collaboration with Stuart Favilla and Robin Whittle
an orchestra that performs 'light music', for example, the BBC Light Orchestra
Light organ
see clavier à lumieres
Light register
see 'head tone, head voice'
Ligne
(French f.) line (on a staff)
in dance, the outline presented by a dancer while executing steps and poses
Ligne ajoutée (s.), Lignes ajoutées (pl.)
(French f.) leger or ledger line
Ligne additionnelle (s.), Lignes additionnelles (pl.)
(French f.) leger or ledger line
Ligneam psalterium
(Latin) a wooden dulcimer
Ligne de basse
(French f.) bass line
Ligne de changement de date
(French f.) date-line
Ligne est occupée, La
(French) The line is busy
Ligne mélodique (s.), Lignes mélodiques (pl.)
(French f.) melody line (for example, the various 'voices' or 'parts' in counterpoint)
Ligne supplémentaire (s.), Lignes supplémentaires (pl.) (d'une portée)
(French f.) leger or ledger line
Lignin
a complex polymer found in plant cells, lignin makes up about 25 to 30 percent of the volume of wood. Its molecular structure is very complex making it difficult to separate from the cellulose in wood pulp. While chemical processing and bleaching of pulp can remove most of the lignin, mechanical pulp retains high quantities of it. As the sulphur in lignin acidifies over time it will degrade any paper that contains it by turning it yellow and brittle. Lignin can also be the target for damage by certain insects
Lignum vitae
(Latin) an exceptionally hard wood of the West Indian tree Guaiacum officinale
Lija
(Spanish f.) dogfish, sandpaper
Lijadora
(Spanish f.) sander, sanding machine
lijar
(Spanish) to sand, to sandpaper
Lijerica
a pear-shaped, three-stringed instrument from Hercegovina and the Croatian region of Dalmatia which is played with a bow. It is played to accompany the traditional dances known as the kolo and poskocica-lindjo. The lijerica-player is seated and strikes his foot on the floor, while the dance-leader calls out the commands in witty, often ambiguous verses, by which the dances change the dance figures and compete among themselves in improvisation
the most widespread form of native folk music from East Timor was the likurai dance, performed to by women to welcome home men after war. They used a small drum and sometimes carried enemy heads in processions through villages; a modern version of the dance is used by women in courtship
or leela, divine play or sport, the creation is often explained by the Vaishnavas as the leela of God, a conception that introduces elements of spontaneity and freedom into the universe
Lille interval
(Danish) minor interval
Lilt
to say, sing, or play something in a cheerful way, often with pleasant variations in pitch
to walk or move in a bouncy cheerful way
a merry tune that is easy to sing along with
variation in voice pitch, a pleasant rising and falling variation in the pitch of a person's voice
bouncy step, a light bouncy way of walking, often taken as an indication of a cheerful disposition
Lilting
see sean nos
synonymous with swing (i.e. swung rhythm) but which may refer also to syncopation or other subtle ways of interpreting and shaping musical time
Limaçon
(French m., from the Provencal for 'snail') or cochlée, cochlea
Limado
(Spanish m.) filing (metal, etc.)
Limadura
(Spanish f.) filing (metal, etc.)
Limae labor
(Latin, literally 'work of the file') careful correction and revision (of a literary work)
limar
(Spanish) to file, to polish up, to put the final touches to
limar asperezas
(Spanish) to smooth things over (figurative)
Limbe
Mongolian shawm
Limbi
Tuvan flute
Limbic system
an interconnected group of deep brain structures (amygdala and hippocampus, among others) thought to be involved in emotion and motivation
Limbindi
a bowed instrument from the Baka forest people of southeast Cameroon. A strong vine is used as the cord and a strong, elastic branch used as the bow. To change the pitch of the notes the cord is held under the player's chin which is slid forward and back raising and lowering the pitch
Limbo
a novelty dance, that originated on the island of Trinidad, in which the dancer must lean backwards and dance under a progressively lowered horizontal pole without touching it
a region to which useless or neglected persons or things are consigned
Lime
(name used in Europe - genus Tilia), basswood (name used in North America - genus Tilia), europäische Linde (German), gemeine Linde (German), tilleul d'Europe (French), tilleul intermédiaire (French), tiglio olandese (Italian), tiglio comune (Italian)
in the percussion industry, basswood is sometimes used as a material for drum shells, both to enhance their sound and their aesthetics. Basswood is also frequently used as a material for electric guitar bodies. In the past, it was typically used (along with Agathis) for favoured for less-expensive models. However, due to its better resonance at mid and high frequency, and better sustain than alder, it is now more commonly in use with superstrats. It can also be used for the neck because of its excellent material integrity when bent and ability to produce consistent tone without any dead spots
Basswood from which the second entry has been taken
see 'Linden'
Limelight
a type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. Although it has long since been replaced by electric lighting, someone in the public eye is still said to be "in the limelight". An intense illumination is created when an oxyhydrogen flame is directed at a cylinder of lime (i.e. calcium oxide), which can be raised to white heat without melting
a five-line closed-form poem in which the first two lines consist of anapestic trimeter, which in turn are followed by lines of anapestic dimeter, and a final line in trimeter. They rhyme in an AABBA pattern. Typically, they are used in comic or bawdy verse, making extensive use of double entendre
(Latin) a Roman frontier, consisting of a string of forts, usually joined by a military road
Liminal
(Latin limin, 'threshold') a liminal space is a blurry boundary zone between two established and clear spatial areas, and a liminal moment is a blurry boundary period between two segments of time. Most cultures have special rituals, customs, or markers to indicate the transitional nature of such liminal spaces or liminal times. Examples include boundary stones, rites of passage, high school graduations, births, deaths, marriages, carrying the bride over the threshold, etc. These special markers may involve elaborate ceremonies (wedding vows), special wardrobe (mortarboard caps and medieval scholar's gown), or unusual taboos (the custom of not seeing the bride before the wedding)
a series of identical artworks that are produced from a single master, and display an edition number. The edition number consists of two parts; the number that represents the maximum quantity of pieces to be made (the limit for this the edition), proceeded by a slash and a prefix designating the individual number of that particular piece. An edition number of 1/100 means it is the first piece of a maximum one hundred copies to be made. Works in limited editions usually carry artists' signature
Limiter
(English, German m.) in electronics, a limiter is a circuit that allows signals below a set value to pass unaffected, as in a Class A amplifier, and clips off the peaks of stronger signals that exceed this set value, as in a Class C amplifier
Limiter from which this short extract has been taken
Limiteur
(French m.) limiter (electronics)
Limiting
(English, German n.) see 'compression'
Limitatore
(Italian m.) limiter (electronics)
Limma
or leimma, from ancient Greek music theory, the interval called the Pythagorean limma has the ratio 256:243 and is the lesser half of a tone (whole step), i.e. a minor semitone (half-step)
in Arabic music, a limma is the interval of 1/3 of a tone (whole step)
Limp cover
in printing, a flexible book cover, as distinct from a stiff board cover
Limpiabarros
(Spanish m.) boot scraper
Limpiabotas
(Spanish m.) bootblack, shoeblack
Limpiachimeneas
(Spanish m.) chimney sweep
Limpiacristales
(Spanish m.) window cleaner
Limpiador
(Spanish f.) cleaning product, cleansing product
Limpiador (m.), Limpiadora (f.)
(Spanish) cleaner (person)
limpiador (m.), limpiadora (f.)
(Spanish) cleaning, cleansing
Limpiaparabrisas
(Spanish m.) windscreen wiper
limpiar
(Spanish) to clean, to cleanse, to wipe, to purify (figurative), to pinch (familiar), to nick (familar)
(Spanish) clean, tidy, honest, fair (even-handed), net (for example, net of taxes), clear, ignorant (figurative)
Limpión
(Spanish m., Latin-America) dish-towel
Limusina
(Spanish f.) limousine
Linaje
(Spanish m.) lineage, kind (species), class
linajudo (m.), linajuda (f.)
(Spanish) high-born, blue-blooded
Linaza
(Spanish f.) flaxseed, linseed
Linchamiento
(Spanish m.) lynching
linchar
(Spanish) to lynch
Linctus
(Latin) a thick syrupy medicine prescribed to relieve irritation of the throat
lindamente
(Spanish) neatly, prettily
lindante
(Spanish) bordering, bordering on (figurative)
lindar
(Spanish) to adjoin
lindar con
(Spanish) to border on (another country)
Linde
(Spanish f.) boundary, limit
Linden
(German/Dutch Linde, French Tilleul, European Species: Tilia parvifolia (Small leaf linden), T. grandifolia (Big leaf linden): Average Weight: 35 pounds per cubic foot) Linden (or Lime) was a favoured carving wood, especially in Germany (after the fourteenth century). The wood is too soft and weak for most furniture. Linden bark is fibrous and can be used for rope, mats, bags, and the like. Basswood or Yellow Poplar are probably the closest American equivalents
(Spanish f.) prettiness, flattering word (familiar), sweet talk (familiar)
Lindezas
(Spanish f. pl.) insults (ironic)
Lindfield Colony [1823-1833]
a land colony set up on the 100 acre Graveley estate in Sussex by Quaker William Allen. The estate was divided into plots provided with a cottage, wood-house, wash-house, bakehouse and piggery. The colony also had its own school, workshops and printing press on which it produced its own newspaper. Allen's school still survives as a private house, and the colony is remembered in the names of Allen Road, America Lane & Hanbury Park
Lindjo
(Croatia) a dance from Dubrovnik and its surroundings distinguishable by the instrument that accompanies it, the small bowed string instrument called the lijerica, and the solo dancer, the Vikac, who calls out loud and amusing commands which are to be obeyed by the rest of the dancers
lindo (m.), linda (f.)
(Spanish) pretty, lovely
Lindsay, Vachel (1879-1931)
together with Langston Hughes, Lindsay helped define the school of Jazz Poetry in the first decades of the twentieth century. So-called because of the syncopated or bluesy rhythms the verse borrowed from the music of the era, the tradition evolved with Hughes into a practice of pitching verse in conjunction with musicians. This style of poetry performance, refined throughout the century, culminated in the famous recordings of the Beat Generation
Vachel Lindsay from which this short extract has been taken
Lindy Hop
named after Charles Lindbergh's flight to Paris in 1927, when the newspaper headline read: "Lindy hops the Atlantic", in fact the dance has no 'hop' in it. It is the authentic Afro-Euro-American Swing dance, unabashedly joyful, a social dance. Partners are connected smoothly and gently to each other, while relating closely to the music, in feeling, improvisation and phrasing
Kasey Rogers (the real name of actress Laura Elliot) revealed in an interview on the 2004 Special Edition DVD of the film, Strangers on a Train, that Hitchcock did the shot of the murder of Miriam back on the soundstage, after a week of location shooting. He told Kasey, as she recalls, to act "like you're doing the Lindy [dance] - float to the ground." On the seventh take Hitchcock was happy with her "floating", and that was a wrap
[taken from Analysis of a Scene from Patricia Highsmith's novel & Alfred Hitchcock's film, Strangers on a Train]
Lindy Turn
see 'swingout'
Line
linea (Italian), Linie (German), ligne (French)
used graphically to denote ends of bars (single and double bar lines), the pitches of notes (staff and leger lines), articulation (tenuto mark)
used to describe aspects of melody, for example, a musical line or phrase
in dance, the term used for the length and stretch of the body from head to toe
used to describe a formation of dancers, as in 'line dancing'
Linea
(Latin, Italian f., Spanish f.) a stave line, line, figure (outline), line (family)
Línea adicionale (s.), Líneas adicionales (pl.)
(Spanish f.) leger or ledger line
Línea de compás
(Spanish f.) also barra de compás or línea divisatoria, bar-line, barre de mesure (French)
Linea delantera
(Spanish f.) forward line
Línea de puntos
(Spanish f.) dotted line
Linea directa
(Spanish f.) direct line (of descent)
Línea divisatoria
(Spanish f.) also barra de compás or línea de compás, bar-line, barre de mesure (French)
essentially, a chord that results from linear motion. For example, if you have a chord in root position that moves to its first inversion and some of the upper voices imitate the bass motion, the interval of the third will separate the notes (tones) in some voices. The interval of the third in the bass can be filled in with a passing note (tone). We would not call the passing note (tone) a chord. However, if the remaining voices were connected with passing and neighbouring notes, a chord appears. In this case, the chord is the product of linear motion
a print made by incising a design directly onto a plate with a burin or graver
Linen card stock
a heavy paper stock embossed with a texture that resembles linen fabric
Line of dance
the counterclockwise course followed by dancers progressing around a room
Liner notes
textual data that convey information about a music recording, for example, printed as a booklet supplied with a compact disc
Line screen
a transparent plate holding two sets of parallel lines that can be aligned at different angles. The spaces formed between the lines act as small apertures when exposing a negative through them. This transforms the image into a series of black dots of varying size that produce optical tones
Line-up
the personnel in a band
Linga
(Central African Republic) wooden slit-drum in which a tree or a solid block of wood is hollowed out to leave a longitudinal opening on the upper side. The edges of this slit are of unequal thickness and produce two sounds of different pitch when struck. They are generally used in groups of three instruments of different size. Each player hammers the edges of the slit with a pair of mallets to produce two different notes
(Italian) the tongue in organ reed stops
Ling Alley
John Robbins planned to lead 144,000 people to the Holy Land, sustained on a diet of dry bread, raw vegetables and water. His wife was to mother a Messiah and he claimed to have appeared on earth before Adam. The Ling Alley community was raided in May 1651 and the ten people found there locked up in Clerkenwell Prison
Lingerie
(French f.) women's underwear
Lingala
the name given to soukous or 'congo music' in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, named for the Lingala language of the region from which the music originated
Lingua
(Italian f.) tongue
Lingua franca
(Italian f.) a mixed language, resembling a much simplified Italian, used in the Levant
the term is applied now to any language used for communication between people of two different nationalities
Linguaggio con termini psicologici
(Italian m.) psychobabble (language with psychological terms)
Lingual
a category of sounds produced, in part, using the tongue, such as /s/ and /l/
Lingual ingressive
(also called velaric ingressive) in phonetics, the airstream mechanism is the method by which airflow is created in the vocal tract. Along with phonation, it is one of two mandatory aspects of sound production; without these, there can be no speech. Lingual ingressive is the airstream mechanism where the air in the mouth is rarefied by a downward movement of the tongue. These are the clicks
Lingualpfeife
(German f.) on an organ, a reed pipe, Zungenstimmen, Schnarrwerk [entry supplied by Diethild S. Holbein]
or 'lined out', a call and response singing practice, prevalent in early America and England, characterized by the alternation between a singer leader and a chorus singing heterophonically. The leader sings the very first line, and the congregation joins in when they recognize the song. After that, the song proceeds line by line: the leader briefly chants a line alone, and then the group repeats the words but to a tune that is much longer and more elaborate than the leader's 'chant' or 'lining tune'. This is the procedure called 'lining out'
Lining
Reifchen (German n.), Futterleiste (German f.), contre-éclisse (French f.), controfascia (Italian f.), softwood strip(s) used in string instrument making to strengthen the join between the ribs and the back and belly
Lining tune
see 'lining out'
Link
material that appears between the end of one phrase and the beginning of the next, but belongs to neither
linking material that appears before a story in a fragment begins and which suggests what may have come before is called a headlink. Material that appears at the end of a story or at the end of a fragment and suggests what will come next is an endlink
a trade name for a typesetting process in which type to be placed in a letterset form could be cast in lines rather than individual letters. After use these metal lines of type could be melted down and reused. It cut down dramatically on typesetting costs
Lintel
the flat top of a doorway
Lion dance
a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture, in which performers mimic the lion's movements in a lion costume
tambour à cordes (French), Brummtopf (German), Löwengebrull (German), Rommelpot (German), ruggio di leone (Italian), ruggito del leone (Italian), rugghio di leone (Italian), tambour con cuerdes (Spanish) - a membranophone instrument that has a drum head and a cord or horsehair passing through it. The home-made lion's roar is a drum that sits on the floor. The cord then makes friction with the drumhead as it is moved back and forth. It makes a noise effect like lion roaring.
see 'friction drum'
Lion's Roar from which part of this entry has been taken
Lip
the projecting edge where the air column is split to produce a pitch, such as the metal plate (called a lip plate) on a flute where the player places his or her lips
(on an organ) the flat surfaces above or below the mouth of a flue pipe
the adjustment of the performer's lips when playing a wind instrument so as to affect the tone and or pitch of the sound produced, this correction is called 'lipping'
(of a bell) the same as the 'rim', the bottom edge of a bell where inner and outer surface come to a point
Lippe (s.), Lippen (pl.)
(German f.) lip
Lippenpfeifen
(German f. pl.) see Labialpfeife
Lippenpflegestift
(German m.) chap stick (used to prevent chapping of the lips)
Lippenstift
(German m.) lipstick
Lippentriller
(German m.) lip trill
Lipping
the adjustment of the performer's lips when playing a wind instrument so as to affect the tone and or pitch of the sound produced
Lip plate
the rounded plate surrounding the embouchure hole on a flute headjoint
Lip synch
shortened form of 'lip synchronisation'
Lip synching
on stage, moving one's lips to music that has been pre-recorded
matching singing or speech to an earlier filmed performance so as to superimpose the later recorded sound to the earlier recorded images
the act of 'lip synching' or, in Britain, 'miming'
Lip trill
the shake (or 'lip trill') , like most ornaments of jazz, was originally un-planned, perhaps a mistake, but had some quality of excitement about it that led to imitation. In his book The First Trumpeter, Jimmy Maxwell writes: "The first shake that I ever heard was done by Louis Armstrong who had a strong emotional vibrato. He was playing the final chorus of "When You're Smiling", a simple thrilling rendition of the melody in the upper register. Because of the closeness of the harmonic series above the staff, a tone apart, and because of the intensity of his vibrato, he went into a brief shake on some of the notes and in my opinion, that is where the shake was born. There may have been earlier examples that I don't know of; it doesn't matter, that is where I learned it and it wasn't until then that I heard anyone else do it. I heard a great many after that and played a great many myself. Louis often lapsed into shakes particulary in his later career but I believe that he rarely did them deliberately, and of course, that is the best way to do them"
a liquescent neume (called liquescens or 'semivowel') only features at the end of a syllable, a modifier often written as a tight loop, especially when the pronunciation of the following syllable(s) is/are likely to present a problem. Liquescence is a particular vocal rendering of complex syllables in the text, especially at diphthongs and the juxtaposition of consonants. Liquescent neumes are ambiguous. In the St. Gall tradition, for instance, a single liquescent neume-form can refer to two different normal neume signs (e.g. virga and clivis), even within the same manuscript. The most common case is the syllable ending on -m, as in sanctum, or when a consonant cluster appears, like in non confundentur. The Vaticana print indicates the liquescent neumes with a very tiny note attached at the end of the group. The main guideline for a good performance is clear pronunciation. Pes, clivis and climacus liquescens are called also epiphonus, cephalicus and ancus respectively
Liqueur
(French) a strong sweet alcohol-based drink very often flavoured with herbal extracts
Liquid
a semi-consonant sound produced without friction and thus capable of being sounded continuously in the manner of a vowel, or at least made until the lungs exhaust their supply of air. The sounds of [r] and [l] are liquids
or 'liquiding', a form of gestural dance that sometimes involves pantomime. The term invokes the word liquid to describe to the fluid-like motion of the dancers body and appendages
a style of drum and bass. While it uses the same basslines and bar layouts, it contains less bar-oriented samples and more progressive synths, harmonies, and ambience, producing a calmer atmosphere directed at a home listener rather than nightclub audiences
Liquid funk from which this extract has been taken
Liquindi
see 'water drumming'
Lira
(Italian f.) a general term meaning lyre (English, French) or Lyra (German), or, more generally, 'stringed instrument' as in lira da braccio, lira organizzata, lirone, lyra and the hurdy-gurdy
Lira da braccio
(Italian) the viola da braccio, an instrument popular in the Renaissance and related to the violin, in that its shape is similar shape to that of violin, but with seven strings, a wider neck and a flatter bridge
(Italian f.) a string instrument held between the knees of the player, was meant to evoke the antique lyre, a plucked instrument. Iconographical evidence has shown liras in the hands of such important figures as Homer and Odysseus. Such evidence further indicates that the lira da gamba, as well as the ancient lyre, was meant to accompany singing. The lira da gamba was used primarily in Italian courts of the 16th and 17th centuries by musicians, scholars friendly to the arts, poets and princes. Special characteristics of the lira include a number of drone strings set to the side of the fingerboard; sound holes in the the shape of the letter C; and a flat peg board at the instrument's top end. The straight bridge and closely-spaced strings indicate that the instrument was primarily intended for playing chords
(Italian f.) a hurdy-gurdy, popular around 1780, with organ pipes and bellows encased within the instrument's body
Lira pagana
(Italian f.) a hurdy-gurdy
Lira rustica
(Italian f.) a hurdy-gurdy
Lira tedesca
(Italian f.) a hurdy-gurdy
Lira, Ukrainian
see 'Ukrainian lira'
lire
(French) to read, to scan
lire dans (le journal)
(French) to read in (the paper)
lire la musique
(French) to read music
Liressa
(Italian) a bad lyre or harp
lire un livre de bout en bout
(French) to read a book cover to cover
Lirica
small fiddle with three strings, held on the knee and bowed like cello, from Dalmatia
see lirico
Lírica
(Spanish f.) lyric poetry
Lirico (m.), Lirica (f.)
(Italian) lyric, lyric poetry, poetry adapted for music
Lírico (m.), Lírica (f.)
(Spanish) lyric poet or poetess
lirico (m.), lirica (f.)
(Italian) lyric, lyrical
lírico (m.), lírica (f.)
(Spanish) lyric, lyrical
Lirico spinto
(Italian m.) a female voice that combines the characteristics of a lyric soprano with greater power and drama
Liripipe
the lengthened peak of the medieval hoo
Lirismo
(Spanish m.) lyricism. fantasy (Latin America)
Lirone
also called the 'bowed lira', the bass member of the lira da braccio family, held between the knees rather than under the chin, usually fretted and having from nine to sixteen strings
a modern style of Cuban music, romantic and languid
l'istesso
(Italian) the same - (the alternative lo stesso is more grammatically correct)
l'istesso movimento
(Italian, literally 'the same movement') synonymous with l'istesso tempo - (the alternative lo stesso movimento is more grammatically correct)
l'istesso tempo
(Italian) or dasselbe Zeitmaß (German), the same time, i.e. the beat remains constant when the meter changes, so that, in the case of 2/4 to 6/8, the meter is still counted with two beats per bar (measure) but the tempo or speed of the beat remains unaltered; in fact all that has changed is the subdivision of the beat from the duplets of the 2/4 to the triplets of the 6/8 - (the alternative lo stesso tempo is more grammatically correct)
Lists
an arena or field for chivalric combat and tournaments with bleachers or balconies set to one side where nobility might sit to observe
Lit.
abbreviation of 'lithographed by' (followed by the lithographer's name)
lit(s)
abbreviation of 'litany' (singular), 'litanies' (plural)
Litanei
(German f.) litany
Litania
(Italian f.) litany
Litania (s.), Litaniae (pl.)
(Latin) litany
Litaniae lauretanae
(Latin, literally 'Litanity of Loretto') one of the most popular of the litaniae of which many polyphonic settings were written including one by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
(from the Greek litaneia, literally 'prayer') a form of prayer consisting of a series of petitions sung by a deacon, a priest or cantors, to which the people made fixed responses
Lit-bateau
(French m.) a bed with a head and foot curved up so as to resemble the prow and stern of a boat
Lit de camp
(French m.) camp-bed
Lit de justice
(French m.) the king's throne in the French parliament
Lit d'enfant
(French m.) cot
Lit d'une personne
(French m.) single bed
Lite
(Italian f.) a quarrel, a row, a lawsuit
Literal
a literal passage, story, or text is one intended only (or primarily) as a factual account of a real historical event rather than a metaphorical expression, an allegorical expression of a larger symbolic truth, or a hypothetical example
insistence on a literal interpretation, adherence to the letter (often implying 'rather than to the spirit')
Literalization
a form of humour that takes a figure of speech and interprets it literally
literarischer Nachlass
(German m.) literary remains, literary estate, literary inheritance
Literary
of or concerned with books or literature etc., (of a word or idiom) used chiefly by writers, formal (writing style)
Literary ballads
a form, with its connotations of simple folkloric authenticity, that became popular with the rise of Romanticism in the later eighteenth century. Literary ballads were often set to music, for example, Schubert's Der Erlkönig which is set to a literary ballad by Goethe
Literary magazine
a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry and essays along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters. Literary magazines are often called literary journals, or little magazines, which is not meant as a pejorative but instead as a contrast with larger commercially oriented magazines. In general, literary magazines function as a sort of literary alternative for writers by publishing the work of people who may not yet be established or accepted in the mainstream press
(Italian) men of letters, men of learning, the learned classes
literatim
(Latin) or litteratim, letter by letter, literally
Literatura
(Spanish f.) literature
Literatura infantil
(Spanish f.) children's book
Literatura sinfónica
(Spanish f.) symphonic literature (genre)
Literature
written works, especially those valued for form and style
writings of a country or period or on a particular subject
literary production
(colloquial) printed matter, leaflets, etc.
Literie
(French f.) bedding
Lite rock
see 'soft rock'
Litet intervall
(Swedish) minor interval
Lith.
abbreviation of 'lithographed by' (followed by the lithographer's name), 'Lithuanian'
Lithe
flexible, supple (for example, said of an athlete, dancer, etc.)
Lithochrome
a generic term for a lithograph printed in colour. The term lithochrome is often used interchangeably in common usage with chromolithograph
Lithograph
lithographic print, a print produced through the process of lithographic printing
to print by lithography
Lithographic printing
a process in which the printing and non-printing surfaces are on the same plane and the substrate makes contact with the whole surface. The printing part of the surface is treated to receive and transmit ink to the paper, usually via a blanket, the non-printing surface is treating to attract water and thus rejects ink from the ink roller, which touches the surface
Lithography
a planographic printing method invented in Prague by Alois Senefelder in 1798 in order to reproduce sheet music, these prints are pulled from a chemically treated flat plane rather than a mechanically reliefed surface
a musical instrument consisting of a plurality of rocks or pieces of rock, in which musical notes are sounded by striking one or more of the rocks in combination
Litho-plate
or 'lithography plate', a thin flexible sheet of metal, usually zinc or aluminium, used as a printing plate in lithography
Litho-stone
or 'lithography stone;, a particular type of limestone used to reproduce images in the lithography process. All the better stones came from the quarries near the town of Solnhofen in the Jura Mountains of Bavaria, the hometown of the inventor of lithography, Alois Senefelder. This particular limestone from the Jurassic-age was considered superior because its fine granularity was capable of capturing subtle gradations, while its purity allowed production of flawless stable images with consistent reactions in processing
Lithotint
when the design was washed on with a brush and greasy ink the effect of a water-colour was produced, and this was by some firms named a 'lithotint'
Lithuanian
a native or national of Lithuania in eastern Europe (one of the 'so-called' Baltic States), a person of Lithuanian descent, the language of Lithuania
of or pertaining to Lithuania, its people, or language
Litice
(Latin) synonymous with lituus
Litière
(French f.) (pallet) litter
Litigant
party to a lawsuit
(to be someone) engaged in a lawsuit
litigare
(Italian) to quarrel, to litigate
litigare con
(Italian) to fall foul of, to fall out with (idiomatic), to have a run in with, to have a fight with
Litigate
to go to law, to contest (a point) at law
Litigie
(French m.) dispute
Litigio
(Italian m.) a quarrel
litigioso
(Italian) quarrelsome
Litigious
fond of litigation, contentious
Litofono
(Italian m.) lithophone, stone discs
Litografia
(Italian f.) lithography, a lithograph
Litografia con le foto
(Italian f.) photolithograph (lithography through pictures)
Litophon
(German n.) lithophone, stone discs
Litophone
(French m.) lithophone, stone discs
Litorale
(Italian m.) the coast
litorale
(Italian) coastal
Litotes
(Greek) a figure of speech by which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of the contrary (one form of meiosis, a general kind of understatement)
(in the plural form) written records, documents, deeds, literature, scholarship, history (writings)
Litterae humaniores
(Latin pl.) the humanities, the study of Greek and Roman classics (for example, as a subject of an Honours Course in the University of Oxford)
Litterae significativae
(Latin pl.) found in ninth- and tenth-century manuscripts, usually interpreted to indicate variations in tempo, for example, c = celeriter (fast), t = tenete (hold), a = auge (lengthen, as in a tie)
littéraire
(French) literary
littéral
(French) literal
littéralement
(French) literally
litterarius
(Latin) relating to reading and writing
litteratim
(Latin) or literatim, letter by letter, literally
Littérateur (m.), Littératrice (f.)
(French) a (professional) man of letters, particularly a writer of critical works
Litterator
(Latin) philologist, grammarian, critic
Litteratura
(Latin f.) a writing composed of letters, the alphabet, grammar
Littérature
(French f.) literature
litteratus
(Latin) lettered, inscribed with letters, branded, learned, liberally educated
Litterula
(Latin f.) a letter of the alphabet written small, a little letter, a note (short letter), a smattering of literature
Litterulae minutae
(Latin f.) letters of the alphabet written small
Little, a
a small amount, poco (Italian), ein wenig (German), un peu (French)
Little, a very
a very small amount, pochettino (Italian), ein klein wenig (German), très peu (French)
Little by little
by small amounts, poco a poco (Italian), allmählich (German), mach und nach (German), peu à peu (French)
Little Gidding [1625-1657]
founded by Nicolas Ferrar, a small religious community with connections to Charles 1. It was broken up by Cromwell's Roundheads. It featured in a poem by T.S. Eliot and is today the home of a small Christian community
Little Girl Step Through
one of the two-couple figures danced in a circle of four people traditionally associated with square dancing
(French m.) the coast, a district bordered by the sea
Litungu
a Kenyan seven-stringed harp/lyre
Litura (s.), Liturae (p.)
(Latin f.) the smearing of a waxen tablet to erase what had been written an erasure, a correction, the passage erased, a blot, a wrinkle
Liturgia
(Italian f., Spanish f.) liturgy, sometimes accompanied with music
Liturgia católica romana
(Spanish f.) Roman Catholic liturgy
Liturgical books
books containing liturgical services
in the Roman Catholic Church there are seven books
missale
graduale
breviarium
antiphonale
martirologium
pontificale
rituale
Liturgical drama
or religious drama, which in its various Christian contexts, originates from the mass itself, and usually presents a relatively complex ritual that includes theatrical elements. In the Christian tradition, religious drama stemmed out of liturgy at the end of the Middle Ages (mostly the fifteenth century) in the form of mystery plays. These usually short presentations were first given in the interiors of churches
a term used to mean 'sacred music', that is, music associated with forms of religious workshop in the Jewish and Christian traditions. In an age when forms of worship are often less formal, a new term, 'reverent music', has being used although there is considerable disagreement about the forms of music to which this description may properly be applied (see 'reverent music')
Liturgical music drama
a term used to encompass twelfth- and thirteenth-century medieval dramas based on Biblical stories, generally in Latin, performed to the accompaniment of monophonic music. These dramas formed the basis of the mystery plays, a feature of the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, performed not in Latin but in the vernacular, and with a reduced, incidental role for any music
Liturgical year
also known as the Christian year, the liturgical year consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in some Christian churches which determines when Feasts, Memorials, Commemorations, and Solemnities are to be observed and which portions of Scripture are to be read. In a few, predominantly Eastern Orthodox, nations, religious holidays are celebrated on the corresponding day in the Julian Calendar. From 1900 until 2100, there is a thirteen-day difference between the Julian and the Gregorian Calendar, which is used in most of the world as well as in Eastern Orthodox countries for civil purposes. Thus, for example, Christmas is celebrated on January 7 in these countries. The computation of the day of Easter is, however, completely different between the two calendars and does not differ in any straightforward way
the body of religious rituals prescribed for 'community' worship of the Church. The liturgy includes music, sacred or inspirational texts and prayers. When referring specifically to the liturgy of the Catholic Church, the word is normally capitalized. The Liturgy is comprised mainly of the Mass and the Divine Office
Liturgy of St. Basil
a eucharistic service used by Eastern Orthodox and Eastern-rite Catholic churches 10 times during the year: January 1 (the feast of St. Basil), the first five Sundays in Lent, Holy Thursday, Holy Saturday, Christmas Eve, and the Eve of the Epiphany (unless Christmas or the Epiphany falls on Sunday or Monday). The Liturgy of St. Basil, of which two versions - the Alexandrian and the somewhat longer Byzantine - are extant, was probably authored, in part at least, by St. Basil himself. Except for the anaphora (the central part of the liturgy), it is identical with the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, which is a shortened form in daily use
Lituus
(Latin) ancient Roman brass instrument in the the shape of a letter 'J', used for martial purposes
Johann Sebastian Bach used the term lituus in his Cantata No. 118, but it is uncertain to what instrument he is referring
an abbreviation of liuyeqin, its name is a reference to the willow leaf shaped soundbox. The lin qin is the treble version of the Chinese lute, the pipa. It is also called tu pipa (unrefined pipa) or jingang tui. Originally the liu qin was an alto instrument bearing 2 or 3 strings and 7 frets, but today it is a soprano instrument having up to 4 steel strings (tuned: g, d, g', d'') and 24 frets, arranged chromatically. It sounds like a mandolin and is plucked with a small bamboo or horn tube, placed over the forefinger
(Italian m./f.) luthier, maker of stringed instruments
Liuteria
(Italian f.) the craft of building string instruments that are played with a bow (violin, viola, cello, viola da gamba, etc.) or plucked (guitar, mandoline, lute, etc.)
Liuto
(Italian m.) lute, Laute (German), luth (French)
Liuto attiorbato
(Italian m.) archlute, theorbo lute
Liuto cantabile
(Italian m.) a five-course double-strung plucked string instrument, tuned CC-GG-dd-aa-ee, that covers the range of the mandoloncello, the guitar and the mandola. Raffaele Calace (1863-1934), who first used and named this instrument, used a mandoloncello with an added E double string on the top. His Gran Duo for mandolino and liuto cantabile is probably the finest example of a work composed specifically for this instrument
Liuyeqin
see liuqin
Liuyin paigu
see paigu
Live-Aufnahme
(German f.) live recording
Live electronic (music)
or 'live electronics' (English, German f.), music generated by electronic means which requires more human intervention than just the playback of a pre-recorded tape or the electronic amplification of sound
Liveelektronik
German f.) live electronic (music), live electronics
Livella
(Italian f.) level
Livella a bolla d'aria
(Italian f.) spirit level
livellare
(Italian) to level
livellarsi
(Italian) to become level
Livello
(Italian m.) level
Lively
animated, vivo (Italian), vivace (Italian), frisch (German), vif (French m.), vive (French f.)
Lively, very
very animated, vivacissimo (Italian), sehr frisch (German), très vif (French)
Livenka
or Livenskaya garmoshka, a specific variety of accordion used in Russian folk music, specifically in the region around the city of Livni, from which the instrument takes its name
Livenka from which this information has been taken
Livenskaya garmoshka
see livenka
Liverpool sound
see 'Mersey sound'
Live-Sending
(German f.) live broadcast
Livetronica
a form of live improvisation mimicking the sounds of DJs and electronica musicians
Livianas
a song and dance form, the song having evolved from being a tona liviana (song without accompaniment or compás) to a style with guitar accompaniment performed to the compás of siguiriyas
livide
(French) pallid
Livido
(Italian m.) bruise
livido
(Italian) livid
Living tradition
see 'English folk music'
Livore
(Italian m.) envy
Livorno
(Italian f.) Leghorn
Livraison
(French f.) issue (a single number of a volume published in parts), delivery
Livre
(French m.) book
Livrea
(Italian f.) livery
Livre à clef
(French m.) roman à clef (French m.), key-novel (English), Schlüsselroman (German m.)
Livre à couverture rigide
(French m.) hardback (book), book with a stiff cover
Livre bleu (s.), Livres bleus (pl.)
(French m.) one of the books published as part of the Bibliothèque bleue de Troyes (q.v.)
Livre de bois
(French m.) a book made of wooden pages, a percussion instrument made of thin pieces of wood connected so that they can be snapped shut to produce a sharp percussive noise
Livre de bord
(French m.) log book
Livre de chevet
(French m.) a bedside book, a favourite book one wishes to have within easy reach
Livre de choeur
(French m.) choir book
Livre de compte
(French m.) books (the financial records)
Livre de poche
(French m.) paperback
Livre de table
(French m., literally 'table book') parts written in different directions on facing pages, so to enable reading by performers standing around a table
Livrée
(French f.) livery
Livre ouvert
(French m.) see à livre ouvert
livrer
(French) to deliver, to give over, to give away
Livret (d'opéra)
(French m., literally 'little book') book, libretto
Livret scolaire
(French m.) school report (book)
Livreur (m.), Livreuse (f.)
(French) delivery boy (m.), delivery girl (f.)
Livro (s.), Livros (pl.)
(Portuguese) book
Liza
(Spanish f.) contest, combat
(Spanish f.) lists (at a medieval tournament)
Lizard
see cornetto
Lizza
(Italian f. pl.) lists (at a medieval tournament)
Ljetopisu Popa Dukljanina
(Montenegro) a text from the end of the twelfth century which described the secular use of musical instruments
LL, ll
(Spanish f.) formerly the fourteenth letter of the Spanish alphabet
a 'call' or 'break', a dance movement or series of steps (the time value of which depends on the compás of the dance being interpreted) which alert the guitarist to the fact that the dancer wishes to end a section or even an entire number, which, if appropriate, could be when the cantaor might begin singing
llamado (m.), llamada (f.)
(Spanish) so-called
Llamador
(Spanish m.) door knocker, bell
Llamamiento
(Spanish m.) appeal, call
llamar
(Spanish) to call, to summon, to draw, to attract, to knock (on the door)
(Spanish) to ring the doorbell, to knock on the door
llamar al timbre
(Spanish) to ring the doorbell
llamar la atención
(Spanish) to attract attention, to catch the eye
llamarle la atención a
(Spanish) ... to reprimand ..., to give ... a talking to
llamarse uno andana
(Spanish) to go back on one's word
llamativo (m.), llamativa (f.)
(Spanish) loud, gaudy, flashy, showy (person)
Llame
the call used in batá performance to begin playing a dialogue between the iyá and the itótele
Llanero (m.), Llanera (f.)
(Spanish) plainsman (m.), plainswoman (f.)
Llanero harp
sometimes called joropo or criollo harp, a harp used in Venezuela to play llanero music
Llanero music
the llaneros, the cowboys that inhabited the savannahs of Venezuela and Colombia, and their way of life, have come to symbolize much of Venezuela's folklore. Their music is popular and the joropo, a llanero dance, has become the national dance of Venezuela. Llanero music uses a small harp (called the llanero or Venezuelan harp), maracas, and a four-stringed guitar called a cuatro
an instrument from Southern Albania with a large pear-shaped body constructed, lute-like, from many strips or staves. It has four courses (double strings) and is tuned in fifths, C-G-D-A
Llave
(Spanish f.) or corchete (Spanish m.), brace, bracket, accolade (French f.)
(Spanish f.) bracket (in typography)
(Spanish f.) key (on a wind instrument), chiave (Italian f.), Klappe (German f.), clé (French f.)
in Spanish do not confuse clave (musical key, for example, B flat major, etc.) with llave (key on an instrument, for example, bottom C key on a tenor recorder)
(Spanish f.) stopcock (to turn off the water main)
Llave fija
(Spanish f.) spanner
Llave inglesa
(Spanish f.) monkey wrench, spanner
Llave maestra
(Spanish f.) master key, pass key
Llavín
(Spanish m.) small key, latch-key
LLB
abbreviation of 'Bachelor of Laws'
LLCM, L.L.C.M.
abbreviation of 'Licentiate of the London College of Music'
LLD
abbreviation of 'Doctor of Laws'
Llegada
(Spanish f.) arrival (general), finish
llegar atrasado
(Spanish) to arrive late
llegó con dos días de antelación
(Spanish) she arrived two days early
llegó sin avisar
(Spanish) she showed up without any prior warning, she showed up unexpectedly
Lleno
(Spanish m.) full house (theatre, concert hall, etc.)
(Spanish m.) full stops, plein jeu (on an organ)
lleno, llena (f.)
(Spanish) full
lleva años alejado de la docencia
(Spanish) he's been out of teaching for years
Llevadas
(Spanish) in dance, lifts (initiator uses the upper thigh or foot to carry the responder's leg to the next step)
llevar a ... en andas
(Spanish - South America) to carry ... on one's shoulders (somebody)
llevar al altar
(Spanish) to marry
llevar aparejado, llevar aparejada
(Spanish) to mean, to entail
llevar la batuta
(Spanish) to be in command, to be the boss
llevar la contraria
(Spanish) to contradict
llevar la delantera
(Spanish) to be ahead
llevar la dirección de
(Spanish) to direct
llevar los pantalones
(Spanish) to wear the trousers (colloquial: to be the one in charge)
llevarse
(Spanish) to win, to carry off, to be fashionable
llevarse un premio
(Spanish) to win a prize
lleva un esmoquin de alquiler
(Spanish) he's wearing a hired dinner jacket
Lligadura
(Catalan f.) tie, bind
llorar
(Spanish) to cry, to weep, to groan, to moan, to mourn
Llorera
(Spanish f.) fit of tears (familar), sobbing
lloriquear
(Spanish m.) to whimper, to snivel
lloriquear
(Spanish) to whimper, to snivel
Lloriqueo
(Spanish m.) whimpering, snivelling
Lloro
(Spanish m.) tears, weeping
Llorón (m.), Lloróna (f.)
(Spanish) a crybaby
llorón (m.), lloróna (f.)
(Spanish) tearful, weaping
lloroso (m.), llorosa (f.)
(Spanish) tearful, weeping
LMusA, L.Mus.A.
abbreviation of 'Licentiate in Music Australia (AMEB)'
LNME
acronym for Laboratorio Nacional de Música Electroacústica. In 1942 in Havana, Juan Blanco patented the plans for the Multiórgano, an electronic instrument that used 12 loops of chromatic recordings of voices and instruments, recorded on magnetic wires. In 1964, he organized the first public electronic music concert in Cuba at Unión Nacional de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba. In 1979, he was appointed director of what became the Laboratorio Nacional de Música Electroacústica, an important centre where many of the best known Cuban composers have studied and worked
a small Chinese flat gong, about 20 cm wide (8 inches)
(Italian) the
LOA
abbreviation of location avec option d'achat (French: leasing with the option to buy)
Loa
(Spanish f.) praise, eulogy
loable
(Spanish) praiseworthy, laudable
Loach
a small European fresh-water fish of the carp family
lo afectó mucho
(Spanish) upset him terribly
lo antes posible
(Spanish) as soon as possible
Loanword
a word borrowed or adapted from another language
loar
(Spanish) to praise
Loathly lady
the motif of a ugly hag who will under set conditions transform into a beautiful maiden, or more rarely a beautiful maiden cursed to revert to a hideous or inhuman shape under different conditions
(English, misspelling of the French local) the place or locality where some event happens or is envisaged as happening
Localidad
(Spanish f.) village, rown, seat (theatre, cinema), ticket
Local knowledge
see 'traditional knowledge'
Locataire
(French) a tenant, a lodger, one who rents a house or a room
Locative
a grammatical case in many Indo-European languages that indicates location
loc. cit.
abbreviation of loco citato (Latin: in the passage just quoted)
Loch
(German n.) hole
lochen
(German) to punch a hole in, to punch holes in
Locher
(German m.) a punch (for making holes)
löcherig
(German) full of holes
löchern
(German) to pester (familiar)
Lochzange
(German f.) hole punch, ticket punch
Locke
(German f.) curl
Locked hand style
(English, Locked-Hand-Style (German m.)) jazz style associated with the pianist George Shearing and others, employing block chords in parallel with the melody, usually in fairly close position. It is a technical procedure requiring much practice, and can sound dated if the harmonies are not advanced enough
originally 'Campbellocking', a comical street dance style. It relies on perfect timing and frequent "locking" of limbs in time with the music. Locking dancers ("lockers") have a distinctive dress style, resembling clowns or mimes
on a guitar, bolts that lock the strings in place at the nut
Loco
(Italian, literally 'place', particularly in the sense of 'in its proper place') an instruction to play the notes as written, cancelling an earlier instruction to play an octave higher or lower than written
Loco citato
(Latin) in the passage just quoted
lo compré el día antes
(Spanish) I bought it the day before
Loco parentis
(Latin) or in loco parentis, in the place of a parent
Locrian mode
the Locrian mode comes from the music theory of ancient Greece. However, what is now called the Locrian mode was what the Greeks called the Mixolydian mode. The original Greek Locrian mode seems to have been tuned to a natural A mode, but how it differed from the Aeolian and Hypodorian modes is unclear
seldom used mode consisting of the rising interval sequence S-T-T-S-T-T-T, (T=tone or whole-step, S=semitone or half-step)
Locrian mode from which the second entry has been taken
(Latin) a deputy (for example, one doctor standing in for another, when the abbreviated form locum is more commonly used)
Locus (s.), Loci (pl.)
(Latin) the place in which a thing or an event happens
in mathematics, the path swept out by a point, the position of which is defined by an equation
Locus amoenus
(Latin, 'pleasant place') a pleasant locale and time, traditionally a green Edenic garden on a temperate but sunny spring day, especially in the month of May. This is the traditional setting for the opening of a dream vision narrative
Locus celebrationis
(Latin) the place of celebration (of a marriage)
Locus classicus (s.), Loci classici (pl.)
(Latin, literally 'classical passage') the most authorative illustrative source (for example, of an ancient author, which is particularly important to the understanding of some word, phrase or subject)
Locus communis (s.), Loci communes (pl.)
(Latin) a commonplace, a passage always quoted in some particular context
Locus delicti
(Latin) the scene of the crime
Locus deperatus (s.), Loci desperati (pl.)
(Latin) a passage in a text transmitted by manuscript whose meaning is so corrupt as to be almost beyond conjecture
Locus in quo
(Latin, literally 'the place in which') the place where something happens
during proceedings may be used as reference to subject matter ie scene of accident
Locus standi
(Latin) a recognized position (in connection with some activity)
lo dejo a tu libre albedrío
(Spanish) I leave it entirely up to you
lo demás
(Spanish) the rest
Loden
(German m.) a thick woollen cloth used for making cloaks
lodern
(German) to blaze
lo dije sin ánimo de ofender
(Spanish) I meant no offence, no offence intended (colloquial)
lo dijo con ánimo de ofender
(Spanish) she said it with the intention of being offensive
l'oeil du maître
(French, 'the eye of the master') the vision of the artist, the masterly eye
Löffel (s.), Löffeln (pl.)
(German m.) spoon, spoonful
löffeln
(German) to spoon up
Lo-fi
an abbreviated form of 'low fidelity', a description of a sound recording that contains accidental artifacts, like distortion, or environmental noise, or a recording which has a limited frequency response. This stands in contrast to 'high fidelity' or "hi-fi"
a musical genre which uses lo-fi recording practices. The aim is to sound authentic, rather than over-produced. Many lo-fi artists use inexpensive cassette tape recorders for their music
Loflied
(Dutch) laud
Loftjazz
(German m.) loft jazz
Loft jazz
(English) the Loft Jazz Scene was a cultural phenomenon that occurred in NYC during the mid 70s. The "loft jazz" term eventually fell into disuse, as, slowly, the music made its way out of the NYC lofts
or split drum, tambour de bois (French: log drum), Schlitztrommel (German: slit drum), tamburo di legno (Italian: log drum), tamburo di legno a fessura (Italian: slit drum), tambor de madera (Spanish: log drum)
made by hollowing out a log or cylindrical piece of solid timber. The instrument is 'voiced' by cutting slits through the wall of the drum. This form of drum is found widely in Africa and Asia
Loge
(German f., French f.) box (in a theatre or opera house), a theatrical dressing-room
(German f.) lodge
logé nourri
(French) bed and board
Loggia (s.), Loggie (pl.)
(Italian f.) a gallery or arcade, open to the air on one side at least
Loggione
(Italian m.) gallery
Loggionisti
(Italian m. pl.) a small group of opera buffs standing or sitting in the top-most gallery (i.e. the cheapest seats) of an eighteenth-century opera house (particularly La Scala in Milan) who might express their opinions of a singer by booing or whistling during the performance
Logierbesuch
(German m.) house guest, house guests
Logierian system
a system of musical instruction, introduced by Johann Bernard Logier (1777-1846), which with instruction on the pianoforte, combines simultaneous performance in classes, and also the study of harmony, modulation, etc.. Logier published A System of the Science of Music and Practical Composition (1827) in London, and settled as a teacher of music in Stephens Green, Dublin, where he died
Logik
(German f.) logic
logisch
(German) logical, logically
Logo
or logotype, the manufacturer's brand name, emblem or trademark stamped or in some other way attached to the instrument, accessories, etc.
Logos
(Greek) the Word, the Mind of God, divine Reason
Logotype
logo
lo había apalabrado pero no llegué a firmar nada
(Spanish) it was all arranged but I never actually signed anything, it was all fixed but I never actually signed anything
lo hizo a su albedrío
(Spanish) he did it of his own free will
Lohn
(German m.) wages, pay, reward (figurative)
Lohnemp fänger
(German m.) wage-earner
lohnend
(German) worthwhile, rewarding
Lohnerhöhung
(German f.) (pay) rise, raise (US)
Lohnsteuer
(German f.) income tax
loin
(French) distant
lointain
(French) distant (which, when used as a musical marking, implies 'faint sounding')
Lojki
wooden spoons, popular Russian percussion
Lokal
(German n.) a café or tavern
Lokalposse
(German f.) see posse
Lokananta
the mythical first set of gamelan, created by the gods and played in Mount Lawu, east of Solo
Lokanga
a southern Malagasy three-stringed fiddle, descended from ancestral Arab and South African box-shaped fiddles
Lo kantak
Basque lullaby
Loki djili
a sparsely accompanied form of song performed by the rural Hungarian Roma
Lokole
(Zaire) a large drum from the Kasai region
Lokrisch
(German n.) Locrian
lokrisch
(German) Locrian
lokrischer Modus
(German m.) Locrian mode
lo llamó aparte y lo reprendió
(Spanish) she called him aside and reprimanded him
Lollards
followers of John Wycliffe, who believed that the Bible was the sole authority in religion and that every man had the right to read and interpret it for himself
Loma
a harp from Liberia
Lombarda
a species of dance from Lombardy
Lombardic mandoline
see 'mandolin, mandoline'
Lombardic rhythm
or 'Lombard rhythm', a reversed dotted rhythm, as in a quaver (eighth note) followed by a dotted crotchet (dotted quarter note), for example, the Scotch snap
extended, great in length, lunga (Italian), lange (German), long (French m.), longue (French f.)
Long, Longa, Longe
(Latin, literally 'long') in early mensural music, the note that is thrice or twice the value of a brevis and half the length of the Large, its origins are in the virga
Longa
see 'long'
Long and short work
long stones on end between flat ones, all bonded into the walls, at corners
Long drum
a large drum used in military bands, carried horizontally before the performer, and struck at both ends
Longe
see 'long'
longevo (m.), longeva (f.)
(Spanish) long lived
Long form
in jazz, a composition that is made up of multiple themes interspersed with solo sections, interludes or other passages
Longingly
having or showing intense desire, con desiderío (Italian), verlangend (German), avec ardour (French)
Longissima melodia
an alternative for the Medieval term 'sequence'
Longitud
(Spanish f.) length
Longitud de onda
(Spanish f.) wavelength
longitudinalmente
(Spanish) lengthways
Longitudinal waves
waves that have vibrations along or parallel to their direction of travel; that is, waves in which the motion of the medium is in the same direction as the motion of the wave. Mechanical longitudinal waves have been also referred to as compressional waves or compression waves. Sound propagates as a non-electromagnetic longitudinal wave in which there is an alternation in pressure, particle displacement, or particle velocity propagated in an elastic material
or 'long-form', TV programming that is longer than an hour in duration (for example, a TV movie or miniseries)
Long meter
a piece in 4/4 time is said to be written in long meter when, written in quavers (eighth-note), it feels as though it is written in crotchets (quarter-notes), and a written half bar (half-measure) feels like a whole bar (whole measure). The term is little used but describes a way of notating music that can make it easier to read
Long mordent
see 'double mordent'
Longo
after Alessandro Longo (1864-1945), cataloguer of music by Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Long pause
lunga pausa (Italian), punto coronate (Italian), lange Pause (German), longue pause (French
Long-playing discs
termed LPs, these micro-groove vinyl (PVC) records turned at a speed of 33 1/3 rpm and had a playing time of approximately 25 minutes per side
Long rest
also called a 'four measure rest', a period of silence that when used today has a duration twice the length of a breve rest (double rest)
Long S
one Old English variation for writing the letter s that continued to be used in Shakespeare's day, even up through the 1790s. The long s looked much like the lower-case letter f without a horizontal crossbar
Long Sword dance
a hilt-and-point sword dance from Yorkshire in England. It is related to the 'rapper sword dance' of Northumbria, but the character is fundamentally different as it uses rigid metal or wooden swords, rather than the flexible spring steel rappers used by its northern relation
any syllable with a long vowel or any syllable with a short vowel and two or more consonants following it. Such syllables typically take twice as long to sound as a short syllable, and thus become an important component of classical Latin poetry. In English poetry, meter relies on stress rather than long and short syllables
(French m.) a tedious passage in a work of literature, speech, public entertainment, etc.
Longueur active
(French f.) active length (on a piano that part of the string that vibrates when struck by a hammer)
Longueur d'onde
(French f.) wavelength
Longueur muette
(French f.) on a piano, that length of a string that, because of damping felt, remains silent when the active length is set into motion
lo noté como abstraído
(Spanish) he seemed rather preoccupied
Lontananza
(Italian f., Spanish f.) distance, background (in a painting)
lontano
(Italian) distant, remote, a great way off, far away, fern (German), weit (German), entfernt (German), lointain (French)
lontano molto
(Italian) in the distance, en lontananza (Spanish)
Loo-Jon
see 'lujon'
Look-through
in printing, the appearance of paper or board when held up against a strong light
Loop
a piece of material that plays over and over. In a sequencer, a loop repeats a musical phrase. In a sampler, loops are used to allow samples of finite length to be sustained indefinitely
lo operaron con anestesia
(Spanish) he was operated on under (an) anesthetic
Looping (music)
(English, German n.) looping music today typically employs tape delay/feedback systems, digital delay devices, or computers to create repetitions of sounds. These repetitions can either remain limited to simple repeated phrases, or they are allowed to add up to a complex sound texture which either stands for itself or is used as an atmospheric or rhythmic background for soloing or other musical expression
during the Renaissance, the most prestigious and costly seating in public playhouses
lorenzo (m.), lorenza (f.)
(Spanish) uncouth, coarse
Lorgnette
(English, French f.) or lorgnon, a pair of eyeglasses equipped with a long handle by means of which they may be held to the eyes (in French, pince-nez or face-à-main), an opera-glass, a field-glass
in English usage, lorgnette is reserved for the first meaning and lorgnon for the second while French usage is the reverse
Lorgnon
see lorgnette
Loriga
(Spanish f.) coat of mail
Lorza
(Spanish f.) (clothing) tuck, pleat
los
(German) loose, free in style
lo sacaron por la tele
(Spanish) it was on television (colloquial)
lo saluda atentamente
(Spanish) or lo saluda atte., sincerely yours, yours sincerely, yours faithfully
los ancianos
(Spanish) old people
löschen
(German) to erase (for example, a recording tape)
los de arriba
(Spanish) those at the top
los dos
(Spanish) both (of them)
los dos somos amantes de la ópera
(Spanish) we are both opera lovers
lo siento en el alma
(Spanish) I'm really sorry, I'm terribly sorry
Loslaten
(Dutch) release
Lösnummer
(Swedish) single number [corrected by Lars Hellvig]
los problemas se me amontonan
(Spanish) I've got more and more problems
Lossalg
(Norwegian) separate sale
Losse noten
(Dutch) detached notes
Losse nummers
(Dutch) single numbers
Lost Chord, The
see 'Procter, Adelaide Ann'
lo stesso movimento
(Italian) see l'istesso movimento
lo stesso tempo
(Italian) see l'istesso tempo
lo stesso tempo e animando sempre più
(Italian) the same rate of speed but with ever increasing animation (i.e. expression)
Løst fortegn
(Danish) accidental
Lost generation
in literature, a group of twentieth-century authors who grew disillusioned after World War I and lived in Europe as expatriates
Lotar
or lutar, Moroccan pear-shaped four-stringed lute
Lote
Pygmy notched flute played primarily by elders
loten
(German) to sound
Lothar
see lotar
Lötkolben
(German m.) soldering iron
Lotos
(German, from Latin and Greek) a mythical plant the fruit of which induces in the eater a state of dreamy forgetfulness, the Egytian water-lily often depicted in decorative art
(Italian) or essere alle prese con, to grapple with, to struggle with
Lotus
(English, Latin from the Greek) a mythical plant the fruit of which induces in the eater a state of dreamy forgetfulness, the Egytian water-lily often depicted in decorative art
Lotus flute
see 'slide whistle'
Louange perfide
(French) praise designed to lead to unfortunate consequences for the person praised
louche
(French) crooked, not straightforward, disingenuous
loucher sur
(French) to ogle
Loud
forte (Italian), laut (German), stark (German), haut (French)
Louder
più forte (Italian), stärker (German), plus haut (French)
Louder by degrees
crescendo (Italian), più forte poco a poco (Italian), anschwellend (German), enfler (French), plus haut (French), plus fort (French)
Loudness
loudness is the human impression of the strength of a sound. The loudness of a noise does not necessarily correlate with its sound level. Loudness level of any sound, in phons, is the decibel level of an equally loud 1 kHz tone, heard binaurally by an otologically normal listener. Historically, it was with a little reluctance that a simple frequency weighting "sound level meter" was accepted as giving a satisfactory approximation to loudness. The ear senses noise on a different basis than simple energy summation, and this can lead to discrepancy between the loudness of certain repetitive sounds and their sound level
a 10dB sound level increase is considered to be about twice as loud in many cases. The sone is a unit of comparative loudness with 0.5 sone=30 phons, 1 sone=40 phons, 2 sones=50 phons, 4 sones = 60 phons etc. The sone is inappropriate at very low and high sound levels where subjective perception does not follow the 10dB rule
loudness level calculations take account of "masking" - the process by which the audibility of one sound is reduced due to the presence of another at a close frequency. The redundancy principles of masking are applied in digital audio broadcasting (DAB), leading to a considerable saving in bandwidth with no perceptible loss in quality
Acoustics FAQ from which this extract has been taken
a pedal on the piano that lifts the dampers away from the strings so allowing the notes struck to ring on after the keys have been released, also called the sustaining pedal
Loudspeaker
or 'speaker', an electromechanical transducer which converts an electrical signal into sound
Loudspeaker from which this extract has been taken
Loudspeaker acoustics
an important concern when attempting to reproduce sound realistically and with good sound quality
fortissimo (Italian), sehr stark (German), très fort (French)
Lou-ifi
(Tonga) part of the set pieces performed at royal and noble weddings and funerals, the song sung during the traditional ceremony of apology
Louisiana blues
a type of blues music that is characterised by plodding rhythms that make the sound dark and tense. As a result of this sound, a subgenre appeared called swamp blues (based largely out of Baton Rouge), which emphasizes the dark sound and laidback rhythms of the standard Louisiana blues
a musical genre, jazz-influenced with strong ethnic elements
Lounge music
a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s encompassing such genres as exotica, easy listening and space age pop. Lounge music ranges from beautiful music-influenced instrumentals, to modern electronica with chillout or downtempo influences, while maintaining its focus on retro-space-age cultural elements. The earliest forms of lounge music appeared in the 1920s and 1930s, known as light music. Lounge music is a form of mood music, intended to create the feeling of another place such as a jungle, an island paradise, or outer space. Lounge music may also refer to music played in the lounges and bars of hotels and casinos, or at standalone piano bars - this genre is also called 'cocktail music'
Lounge music from which this extract has been taken
Loup retourne toujours au bois, Le
(French) One always goes back to one's roots
lourd (m.), lourde (f.)
(French) heavy, awkward, pesant (also, figuratively, difficult or uncomfortable)
"Is said figuratively about boring men whose esprit is pesant: "He is a man who is very lourd." ... In painting, is said of the effect created when a painting has been worked over a great deal: "His touch is lourd," that is, he paints painstakingly. One also says: "His composition is lourd," to mean that it is depressing and without grace." - Dictionnaire de l'Académie Françoise (1762)
(French f., German f.) in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Normandy bagpipe
(French f., German f.) a rather slow rustic dance in 3/4 or 6/4 time
Louré
"The slur mark is also called louré; it serves to connect quavers (eighth notes) into pairs in simple duple and triple time, and to make them couler and roll in a manner that is pathétique and touching, as in airs for the musette. Instrumentalists who play wind instruments should give only one tongue stroke, and string players only one bow stroke to the first quaver (eighth note) of a pair [or to all the notes under the slur]" - Desmots de la Salle (1728)
(French) on a string instrument, notes played under a single bow but separated, portato
lourer
(French) to slur unequally
"Sometimes the first half-beat is made a little longer than the second. This manner is called lourer; it is used in melodies in which the sounds follow each other in conjunct motion. [In his manuscript addition to the book: The first half-beats are a bit longer than the second, that is, one dwells a bit longer on the first than on the second.]" - Loulié, Eléments (1698)
"Means to nourish sounds with douceur and to stress the first note of each beat more noticeably than the second, although they have the same value." - Rousseau (1768)
or 'luffer-board', used to deflect sound downwards
Louvre
(French) a name applied to a French air called L'amiable Vainqueur, of which Louis XIV was extremely fond, and to which the freen dancing masters composed a dance
Lovers rock
the United Kingdom's main contribution to reggae. A style which developed in England in the 1970s, Lovers Rock represented an apolitical counterpoint to the conscious Rastafarian sound dominant in Jamaica
Lovers Rock from which this extract has been taken
Lovingly
in a manner that shows love or affection, amorevolo (Italian), amoroso (Italian), liebend (German), affectueusement (French)
Low
basso (Italian m.), bassa (Italian f.), tief (German), basse (French)
Low comedy
in contrast with high comedy, low comedy consists of silly, slapstick physicality, crude pratfalls, violence, scatology, and bodily humor rather than clever dialogue or banter
(German n., literally 'lion's roar') rugissement de lion (French), tambour à cordes (French), Rommelpot (German), Reibtrommel (German), ruggito di leone (Italian), rugghio di leone (Italian), ruggio di leone (Italian), ruggito del leone (Italian)
Lower auxiliary (note)
see 'auxiliary note'
Lowercase (music)
originally coined by minimal artist Steve Roden, 'lowercase' is an extreme form of ambient minimalism in which very quiet sounds bookend long stretches of silence
(of a wind instrument) pezzo inferiore (Italian m.), Unterstück (German n.), Fußstück (German n.), troisième corps (French m.), patte (French f.), cuerpo inferior (Spanish m.)
Lower mordent
see 'mordent'
Lower saddle
Untersattel (German m.), sillet du bas (French m.), capo-cordiera (Italian m.), (on a violin, etc.) the lower saddle takes the pull of the tailgut off the edge of the belly
Low frequency oscillation
often abbreviated to LFO, a term that predominantly refers to an audio technique specifically used in the production of electronic music. The abbreviation is also very often used to refer to Low Frequency Oscillators, which are electronic circuits which produce periodic waveforms used to control other circuits
an effect on a flute used to produce a South American-style sound where the end barrel is pulled out and the mouthpiece turned inwards towards the player
Lowland pipes
the Border or Lowland bagpipe is a loud cauld (cold) wind pipe, which is currently undergoing a great revival. Border, Lowland or 'Cauld Wind' bagpipes differ from the Highland bagpipe. Their drones are set in a common stock, they are usually bellows blown and they have a quieter, sweeter tone. During the 17th and 18th centuries the Scottish Border was a center of popularity for the use of these pipes and each town employed its own town piper
a vowel made with the jaw stretched open and the tongue lowered from the top of the oral cavity
Low whistle
see 'penny whistle'
Lozhki
(Russian) specially decorated wooden spoons, used as percussion
LP (record)
(English, German f) abbreviation of 'long playing', the largest of the black vinyl record formats
L.P.
abbreviation of 'long pause' or lunga pausa, serving the same function as the fermata when placed over a rest or bar line
LPO
abbreviation of 'London Philharmonic Orchestra'
LRAM, L.R.A.M.
abbreviation of 'Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music London'
LRCM, L.R.C.M.
abbreviation of 'Licentiate of the Royal College of Music London'
LSDA, L.S.D.A.
abbreviation of Licentiate in Speech & Drama Australia'
LSO
abbreviation of 'London Symphony Orchestra'
Lt
abbreviation of Laute (German: lute, luth (French))
LTCL, L.T.C.L.
abbreviation of 'Licentiate of Trinity College of Music, London'
Ltée
abbreviation of Limitée (French)
Lubnata piscal
(Slovenia) a long pipe made of bark
Lubricious
having a smooth or slippery quality
characterised by lust
Lucas number
a series, quite similar to the Fibonacci series, that often occurs when working with the Fibonacci series. Edouard Lucas (1842-1891) (who gave the name Fibonacci Numbers to the series written about by Leonardo of Pisa) studied this second series of numbers: 2, 1, 3, 4, 7, 11, 18, .. called the Lucas numbers in his honour. The Fibonacci rule of adding the latest two to get the next is kept, but in the Lucas series procedure the series starts with 2 and 1 (in this order) instead of 0 and 1 for the (ordinary) Fibonacci numbers
(Italian, 'light coming from below') in painting, a device employed to produce a dramatic effect
Luces
(Spanish f.pl.) plural of luz (Spanish f.: light)
Luces antiniebla
(Spanish f.pl.) foglamps, foglights
Luces del puerto
(Spanish f.pl.) harbour lights
luci della ribalta
(Italian) limelights
lucir
(Spanish) to look good, to look special, to wear, to sport (item of clothing, accessory), to flaunt, to show off, to shine (star), to display (sport)
lucirse
(Spanish) to excel oneself, to show off
Lucri causa
(Latin) in order to make money (that is, to make a profit)
Lucus a non (lucendo)
(Latin, literally 'a grove, so called because it is not light') an entymology that is absurd, anything the qualities of which are the opposite of what its name suggests
Lucy tuning
a meantone temperament system in which the fifth is 600+(300/pi) approximately equal to 695.5 cents, 4.5 cents flatter than that of 12-tone equal temperament. Its main advocate is Charles E. H. Lucy, who discovered it among the eighteenth-century writings of John Harrison
Lucy tuning from which this extract has been taken
Luddite
the Luddites of the early 1800s were part of an anti-technological, anti-industrial grassroots movement in Britain. They protested specifically the introduction of textile machines as a threat to their jobs and more generally protested the jarring social changes from the Industrial Revolution
(German f.) 'as the crow flies' (figurative, literally 'in a straight line') as, for example, 100 km Luftlinie (German: 100 km as the crow flies)
Luftloch
(German n.) air-hole, air pocket
Luftmatratze
(German f.) air-bed, inflatable mattress
Luftpause
(German f.) in singing or one a wind instrument, a pause for breath, often indicated with a V above the staff
Luftpirat
(German m.) (aircraft) hijacker
Luftpolsterfolie
(German f.) bubble wrap
Luftpost
(German f.) airmail
Luftpumpe
(German f.) air pump, bicycle pump
Luftröhre
(German f.) windpipe
Luftsäule
(German f.) air column
Luftschiff
(German n.) airship
Luftschlange
(German f.) (paper) streamer
Luftschösser
(German n. pl.) castles in the air
Luftschutzbunker
(German m.) air-raid shelter
Luftstrom
(German m.) air stream
Luftström
(German f.) air current, air flow, air stream
Lufttemperatur
(German f.) air temperature
Lüftung
(German f.) ventilation
Luftveränderung
(German f.) change of air
Luftwaffe
(German f.) airforce
Luftzug
(German m.) draught
Lugar
(Spanish m.) place
Lugar adonde se dirigían
(Spanish m.) place where they were going, place to which they were going
Lugar común
(Spanish m.) cliché
Lugar del sucesos
(Spanish m.) scene of the incident, scene of the crime, scene of the accident
Luge
(Swiss-German) a sledge, a sleigh
Lüge
(German f.) lie
Lügner (m.), Lügnerin (f.)
(German) liar
lügnerisch
(German) untrue, untruthful (person)
lujo que no está a mi alcance, un
(Spanish) a luxury I can't afford
Luguan
see guanzi
lugubre
(French, Italian) lugubrious, sad, mournful
luid
(Dutch) loud
luide stem
(Dutch) aloud
Luidheid
(Dutch) volume
luidruchtig
(Dutch) noisily
Luid tokkelen
(Dutch) plonk (as on a banjo)
luisteraar
(Dutch) listener
Luisteren
(Dutch) to listen
luisteren naar
(Dutch) to listen to
Luit
(Dutch) lute
Lujon
or 'Loo-Jon', a number of square wooden resonators enclosed in a rectangular box of playing height. A metal plate is screwed over each resonator and it is the plate that is struck by a soft marimba stick to produce the sound of a metallic marimba
(Thai, literally 'child of the fields') the most popular form of Thai country music. The term is short for pleng luk thung (Thai, literally 'song of a child of the fields'). The songs typically reflect the hardship of everyday life among the rural poor. Tempos tend to be slow, and singers use an expressive singing style with a lot of vibrato
a cradle song, ninna-nanna (Italian), Wiegenlied (German), berceuse (French)
the genre is often marked by trimeter or duple meter in its metrical line, repetition, soothing euphony, and simple diction
Lumachella
(Italian f.) a dark-coloured marble containing iridescent fossil shells
Lumière
(French f.) aperture
lumineux
(French) luminous
luminoso
(Italian) luminous
Lümmel
(German m.) lout, rascal
Lumpen
(German) rag, tattered clothing (the term is used in English to mean physically and mentally poverty-stricken)
Lumpenproletariat
(German) the ragged populace (those without wealth or culture)
Luna de miel
(Spanish f.) honeymoon
Luna di miele
(Italian f.) honeymoon
Lundu
a Brazilian comedic song and dance style that originated in Baia in the eighteenth century and turned up in Lisbon in the late 1770s where it became very popular and was even performed at the Portuguese court. It is connected with Kaduke de Mbaka (Angola), and gave rise to one of the most popular dances in Luanda, the masemba 'belly-dances' (masemba is the plural of semba). In the dance, the partners touch each other by thrusting their navels forward. The word lundu comes from kilundu, which according to Antonio Assis jnr. means "spirit being of the invisible world", and which Cordeiro de Mata refers to as "a supernatural being that guides man's destiny". The diminutive of this word is kalundu. A popular expression current in Angola is 'to be with the kalundus', which means to be struck down with madness
(Finnish) ancient minor scale, natural minor scale
Lupanar
(Latin) a brothel
Lupe (s.), Lupen (pl.)
(German f.) magnifying glass
Lü pipes
(Chinese lü, literally 'law') ancient Chinese musical instruments constructed for tuning purposes. To establish pitches, 12 bamboo pipes, closed at one end, were cut into graduated lengths. When blown across their open ends, they produced the 12 lü, or fundamental pitches, of the octave
Lupo
(Italian m.) wolf
Lupo mannaro
(Italian m.) werewolf
Lupus in fabula
(Latin, literally 'the wolf in the story') a person who appears just as he (or she) is being spoken of
Lur
a large, ancient, Nordic trumpet made of bronze in the shape of an 'S'
also used to describe wooden trumpets used by Scandinavian herdsmen
Lusheng
a mouth organ used by the minority nationalities in southwestern China (Yunnan, Guizhou), with pipes of varying lengths
(Chinese, "regulated song") a verse form popular in China in the T'ang and Sung dynasties. It was also referred to as the chin-t'i shih to keep the term distinct from the ku-shih or "old songs." The verse was characterized by extensive parallelism and an elaborate tonal pattern. This formal structure also influenced the fu or "prose poem" of later centuries
(Italian) soothing, coaxing, fawning, flattering, alluring, to play in an intimate manner
lusinghiero
(Italian) soothing, coaxing, fawning, flattering, alluring, to play in an intimate manner
Lusophone music
(countries that speak Portuguese) Portugal and its former colonies are linked musically by the shared influence of fado, a bluesy form of music derived from itinerants in Lisbon. In varying forms, the genre has dominated Portuguese music since the early twentieth century, and has also spread to its former colonies, especially Brazil and the African colonies (Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and Angola), while having a lesser influence on the Asian colonies of Sri Lanka and East Timor
(Latin) a period of five years (named for the ancient Roman ceremony of 'lustration' or purification, performed once every five years)
Lustspiel
(German n.) comedy
Lusus naturae
(Latin) a 'sport', a freak of nature (implying that Nature is playing a joke)
Lut
(French) lute
Luta
(Swedish) lute
Lutar
(Berber, Morocco) or lotar, the four-stringed Berber lute
Lute
liuto (Italian), Laute (German), luth (French)
the lute is a stringed instrument of Arabic origin (al-'ud) , that is thought to have been imported into Europe around the fourteenth century. The lute evolved in Western Europe from a melody instrument, plucked with a plectrum, to a chordal instrument, played with the fingers. The lutes played in Africa often have a boat-shaped sound-box with a fairly long neck, of wood, which enters the resonator through the skin sound-table. These lutes must have existed in early antiquity, as similar instruments may be seen in the hands of the women musicians depicted in the reliefs and paintings of ancient Egypt. African lutes can have one string (the molo in Senegal, the kountigui in Niger) or more (the konde in Burkina Faso, the xalam in Senegal, the komo in Nigeria). In Chad, the lute used among the populations of Tibesti has two strings tuned to the third - an extra string may be added in order to perform certain pieces; these are fastened to the wooden neck with leather straps. The belly of the instrument consists of a hemispherical vessel, of wood, gourd or metal (often a household utensil), covered with a camel skin. Its use is reserved for the men, who play their lutes as a solo instrument at evening gatherings or to beguile the solitude of the traveler far from his village
the lute as played by the late Elizabethans was typically of six courses and eleven strings (like a modern twelve string guitar, except that the course of highest pitch had only one string). The strings of every course were tuned in unison, and overall had a tuning of GCFADG. For those who like mnemonics, you may try to remember German Courtiers Flee A Drunken Guitarist. If you possess a classical guitar, and wish to give yourself a similar tuning, tune your G string down a semitone to F#. If you want the exact tuning (for instance, when you are playing as an accompanist), put a capo on the third fret
towards the end of the sixteenth century, lower courses started being added to the lute. The seventh course was tuned to either a D or an F. Obviously to read tablature you will need to determine which tuning is being used. The only sure way to do this is to look at the chords being used while the seventh fret is being played, and use this to determine which tuning makes sense. A quick rule of thumb is that if the seventh course is fingered above the first fret then it is probably tuned to D. Most books printed at the time will only use the one tuning for the seventh course throughout (Dowland's airs had the seventh course tuned to D, Campion's airs had the seventh course tuned to F), but there are a number of exceptions, including Thomas Robinson's School of Musicke which uses both. The presence of an eighth course could also alter the tuning of the seventh (usually to F)
lute frets were always made of catgut and tied around the neck of the instrument, and could thus be moved at will, unlike the embedded metal frets on today's fretted string instruments
or harp lute. Although the kora and the soron, the impressive harp-lutes played in the Ivory Coast, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea and Southern Mali, have plucked strings, they are very different from the harp proper. The former are composed of a large hemispherical sound-box or gourd, crossed by a long and straight cylindrical neck, the lower end of which extends beyond the base and serves as the string-holder. All the strings, made of ox tendon (21 in the kora, 19 in the soron), are fastened round the wooden neck with plaited leather rings that can be slid up and down for tuning. A large notched bridge, standing upright in the center of the sound-table, raises the strings and maintains them in two parallel rows. The player holds the instrument so that he can pluck the strings between the bridge and the neck with the thumb and forefinger. The soron harp-lute is the instrument used by professional musicians, the Griots; like the kora, it is played either in solo performance or to accompany songs of praise
(Spanish f.) specifically, the art of making stringed instruments, although sometimes the term is applied more generally to those who sell string and wind instruments
Lute-song
in the late 16th- and early 17th-centuries, accompanied song or ayre similar to the French air de cour
Lute stop
a rank of jacks on a harpsichird placed at the extreme end of the eight foot strings. It is set into a slot cut diagonally across the wrest plank near the eight foot nut. The tone is very nasal which gives rise to the alternate designation of nasale register
Lute tablature
see 'tablature'
Lute zither
the Stössel-laute, or lute-zither. part zither, part lute, was invented by Georg Stössel in 1914, and available throughout the 1920s. There were several sizes and configurations
interest in 1920s Paris in the newly invented Luthéal was short. This piano-like instrument that had several tone-colours (or registers) that could be engaged by pulling stops above the keyboard. One of these registers had a cimbalon-like sound, which inspired Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) to use it for Tzigane (1924) and dedicated to the Hungarian violinist Jelly d'Aranyi (1893-1966)
Lutheranism
a movement within Christianity that began with the theological insights of Martin Luther in the sixteenth century, which launched the Protestant Reformation of the Western church. The "confessions" or "symbolical writings" of the Lutheran Church are contained in the Book of Concord, published in German in 1580, and in Latin in 1584. Today nearly seventy million Christians belong to Lutheran churches worldwide, with some four hundred million Protestant Christians[3] tracing their history back to Luther's reforming work
Lutheranism from which this extract has been taken
Lutherie
(French) the profession of musical instrument making particularly that of string instruments like the violin, lute, guitar, etc.
lutherisch
(German) Lutheran
Lutherzither
(Germany) the cittern survives in Germany under the name Lutherzither. The name comes from the belief that Martin Luther played this instrument, and a tendency in modern German to interchange the words for cittern and zither
Luthier
(French m.) a maker of stringed instruments
Luthist
lutenist
Luthiste
(French m.) a lutenist [corrected by Irene Silberstein]
Lutier
(Spanish m./f.) luthier
Lutina
small lute or mandolin
Lutrine
(French m.) lectern, music desk
lutto
(Italian) mourning
luttosamente
(Italian) sadly, mournfully, sorrowfully
luttoso
(Italian) mournful
luttuosamente
(Italian) sadly, mournfully, sorrowfully
luttuoso
(Italian) mournful, sorrowful
Lux
(Latin) light
Luxate
to dislocate, to move out of position
Luxe
(French m.) wealth, luxury, sumptuousness, sumptuous elegance, host (many)
Luxury is a necessity that begins where necessity ends - Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel (1883-1971)
Luxe de détails
(French m.) a wealth of details, a host of details
Luxembourg, le grand-duché de
(French m.) the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (a European country)
Luxembourgeois (m.), Luxembourgeoise (f.)
(French) an inhabitant or native of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
luxembourgeois (m.), luxembourgeoise (f.)
(French) of or pertaining to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
luxer
(French) to dislocate, to luxate
luxueusement
(French) luxuriously
luxueux (m.), luxueuse (f.)
(French) luxurious
Luxure
(French f.) lust
Luxuriance
(English, French f.) the property of being lush and abundant and a pleasure to the senses
Luxuriant
exuberant, elaborate, marked by complexity and richness of detail, displaying luxury and furnishing gratification to the senses, abundant in growth or detail
luxurieux (m.), luxurieuse (f.)
(French) lustful, lascivious, sensual
luz de fundo
(Portuguese) backlit
l.v.
an abbreviation of laissez vibrer (French, let them vibrate) or lasciar vibrare (Italian: let them vibrate), 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
LW
referring to the catalogue prepared by Rena Charnin Mueller and Mária Eckhardt of music by Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
LWV
abbreviation of Lully-Werke-Verzeichnis, the catalogue of the works of Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) by Herbert Schneider
LX
for 'electrics', in the theatre, a reference to those responsible for lighting, for example, lighting designer, head electrician, lighting operator, etc.
Lycanthropie
(French f.) lycanthropy
Lycanthropy
(in folklore) the magical ability of a person to assume the characteristics of a wolf
Lycée
(French f.) a (French) state-maintained secondary school
Lycée d'enseignement professionnel
(French f.) technical school
Lycéen (m.), Lycéenne (f.)
(French) a secondary school pupil
Lycée technique
(French f.) technical school
Lyceum
(Latin, from Greek) an institute of higher education
named for the garden in Athens, adjacent to the temple of Apollo, in which Aristotle taught his pupils
Lychanos
(Greek) the third string of the lyre
Lych gate
also 'lychgate', see 'lich gate'
Lych wake
see 'lich wake'
Lych wall
see 'lich wall'
Lycra
a man-made stretch fabric made from elasticated yarns, first introduced in 1958, and since proved an essential component in underwear and other figure hugging garments made popular in the 1980s, for example, in sportswear
Lydian augmented mode
the third mode of the melofic minor scale - also the chord derived from that mode
Lydian dominant mode
also called 'Lydian flat 7', a dominant 7th scale with a raised 4th (11th) or the fourth mode of a melodic minor scale. One of the fundamental forms of the dominant chord - also sometimes called 'lydo-mixian'. It is the scale and chord most appropriate for non-V dominants, such as II7 or bVII7
Lydian flat 7
see 'Lydian dominant'
Lydian mode
(Lydian, of or pertaining to Lydia, a country of Asia Minor, or to its inhabitants) one of the ancient Greek modes
in Greek music theory it was based on the Lydian tetrachord: descending (the way the Greeks always wrote about it), a series of falling intervals of a semitone followed by two whole tones. Applied to a whole octave, the Lydian mode was built upon two Lydian tetrachords separated by a whole tone. This is identical to the modern major mode: C D E F | G A B C (ascending, in the modern reckoning). Placing the two tetrachords together, and the single tone at bottom of the scale produces the Hypolydian mode (below Lydian): F | G A B C | (C) D E F. Placing the two tetrachords together, and the single tone at the top of the scale produces the Hyperlydian mode (above Lydian), which is effectively the same as the Hypophrygian mode: G A B C | (C) D E F | G. Confusingly, the Greek Lydian mode is the same as the mediaeval and modern Ionian mode or major mode
a mode consisting of the rising interval sequence T-T-T-S-T-T-S, (T=tone or whole-step, S=semitone or half-step)
the Lydian mode is regarded as being the most fundamental of jazz scales by the influential theorist George Russell
Lydian modes from which the second entry has been taken
Lydian tetrachord
the first four notes of the Lydian mode, spanning an augmented fourth
Lydien (m.), Lydienne (f.)
(French) Lydian
Lydisch
(German n.) Lydian
lydisch
(German) Lydian
Lydischer Modus
(German) Lydian mode
Lydo-mixian
see 'lydian dominant'
lyhyesti
(Finnish) staccato
Lyke-wake
the vigil over the body on one or more nights between death and interment, possibly associated with festivities including games
the valuable seventeenth-century testimonial of John Aubrey attests to the fact that the "custom of watching and sitting up all night ... by the corpse" in Yorkshire also involved the performance of what he calls "mimical plays and sports"
a bank of earth that builds up on the downslope of a field ploughed over a long period of time
Lynching
execution of a presumed offender by a mob without trial, under the pretense of administering justice. It sometimes involves torturing the victim and mutilating the body. Lynching has often occurred under unsettled social conditions. The term derives from the name of Charles Lynch, a Virginian who headed an irregular court to persecute loyalists during the American Revolution
Lynx
(English, French m.) any of four medium-sized short-tailed wildcats with usually tufted ears, valued for their fur
lyömäsoittimet
(Finnish) percussion (instruments)
Lyon
(French n.) in English, Lyons, a city in east-central France on the Rhone River, the capital of the Rhône-Alpes région, a principal producer of silk and rayon
First Council of Lyons - the council of the Western Church in 1245 that excommunicated Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and planned a new crusade against the Holy Land
Second Council of Lyons - the council in 1274 that effected a temporary reunion of the Greek Orthodox with the Roman Catholic Church
Lyonnais (m.), Lyonnaise (f.)
(French) an inhabitant or native of the French city of Lyon
lyonnais (m.), lyonnaise (f.)
(French) of or pertaining to the French city of Lyon
Lyonnaise
anything cooked this style contains chopped and sautéed onions, cooked in butter until golden, as its main ingredient (named after the French city, Lyons, which is famous for its onions)
Lyonnaise blanc
or Melon de Bourgogne, a variety of white grape grown in the Loire Valley region of France and best known through its use in the wine Muscadet
Lyonnaise sauce
brown sauce with sauteed chopped onions and parsley and dry white wine or vinegar
Lyons
see Lyon
lyophiliser
(French) to freeze-dry (for example, coffee)
Lyra
(English, German f.) or lyre, a Greek harp with two projecting arms supporting a crossbar, from which strings are stretched to a soundbox. In ancient Greece, the lyre and related kithara were plucked with a plectrum
(English, German f.) the Cretan lyra is a small, pear-shaped, three-string fiddle, similar to the Turkish kemençe, held upright and played by stopping the strings from the side with fingernails, widespread in Crete and the Dodecanese. The island of Crete has been the centre of the transformation of the old lyraki, a smaller lyra used only for the performance of dances, into the modern lyra, commonly found today throughout the island. The modern lyra is tuned in fifths, like the violin, uses no drone string, and all strings (the space between which has become wider) may be fingered and used as melody strings. This results in a different way of performing old dance melodies, the player now using the first and second strings (new lyra) for the melody instead of first and third (lyraki)
the old lyra, or lyraki, was tuned to the intervals 5-1-4. The performer played melody on the first string, i.e, first on player's left (psilí, kandí or kandini) and third string (vourgara), using the second string (mesakí) as a drone. The player always played on two of strings (the first + the second, or the second + the third) at the same time and could easily perform the melody on the first and third strings while holding the second one. While the second and third strings were played only as open strings, the lyrist played the first one by touching his nails from the left side, obtaining five notes (one note on the open string plus four stopped notes). With the addition of the unstopped note of the third string, the melodic range of the lyraki was a sixth
Lyra mendicorum
(Latin) hurdy-gurdy
Lyra, Pontic
see kamanche
Lyra-viol
or playing the viol 'lyra way', describes virtuoso playing on the viol of solo music in a chordal fashion became known in England as "lyra-viol" technique. Although this highly virtuosic playing involves chords, it can also incorporate divisions. It demands great athletic dexterity from the performer, requiring him to leap from string to string. The tuning of the viol could be altered, from the standard tuning of d, a, e c, G, D, to play in a particular key and the music would be read from tablature. To avoid having to cope with 60 different sets of fingerings, one for each of the tunings then in use, lyra-viol composers wrote down their music in French lute tablature. Music exists for one as well as for ensembles of viols known as "lyra consorts" played in the "lyra-way". Composers such as Hume, Coperario, Jenkins, Lawes, Simpson and the obscure Ditrich Stöffken among many, many others contributed to a repertoire which numbers almost 5000 pieces
Lyre
as applied to the piano, the lower central member of a grand piano. It carries the pedals and pedal rods. The slanting braces have been called 'monkey tails' ever since the days when these were ornately carved and convoluted wooden features
in a military band, a lyre is an instrument formed of a series of loosely suspended steel bars which are struck with a hammer
see lyra
Lyre
(English, French f.) believed to have been invented by the Greek god Hermes (the Roman equivalent was Mercury), string instrument with a rounded sound box at the bottom, traditionally made from the shell of a tortoise, and thin curving arms forming the uprights of the frame, used by ancient Greeks for accompaniment
lower central member of a grand piano, designed to carry the pedals and pedal rods
Lyre guitar
six-string lyre-guitars were popular on the Continent early in the nineteenth century, built with a flat bottom so that they could serve, as well, as a piece of decorative art
(meaning 'pertaining to the lyre') a term indicating 'appropriate to song', in distinction from epic (narrative) and dramatic. Thus, 'lyric drama' is synonymous with 'opera' and 'lyric stage' is synonymous with 'operatic stage'
often, the lyric is subdivided into various genres, including the aubade, the dramatic monologue, the elegy, the epithalamion, the hymn, the ode, and the sonnet
a title applied by some composers to music that is neither epic nor narrative
when used to describe a voice, 'lyric' implies some lightness in the sound
the words to a popular song
Lyrical
pertaining to the lyre
suitable for or related to singing
Lyric drama
see 'lyric'
Lyric-dramatic opera
an Italian opera style of the second half of the nineteenth century most associated with Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) and characterised by magnificent, sustained melodies in the standard forms of aria, recitative and choral numbers
Lyrichord
a ancient instrument of the lyre species
Lyricism
an intense personal quality, expressive of feeling or emotion, expressed in poetry or music
Lyricist
the person who writes the words to a popular song or musical play
Lyric moment
(from Greek lyra, "song") a timeless period of introspection or memory in which a poetic speaker describes or recounts his or her feelings, impressions, and thoughts. This moment contrasts with the flow of events in a narrative poem. In contrast with these narrative poems, non-narrative poems, which seem to take place outside of time without a clearly established sequence of events, are said to take place in the "lyric moment." Such poems are often called lyric poems
a form of poetry that does not attempt to tell a story, as do epic poetry and dramatic poetry, but is of a more personal nature instead. Rather than portraying characters and actions, the lyric poet addresses the reader directly, portraying his or her own feelings, states of mind, and perceptions. Most lyric poetry is made in a singable and rhymable way, although some lyric poems can be excepted. Lyrical poetry is often used in songs
Lyric poetry from which this extract has been taken
Lyrics
the words to a song, samples of lyric poetry
Lyric song
song form from ancient Greece, sometimes performed in combination with dance
form
occasion
dithyramb
choral song at the Dionysia festival, with the chorus dressed like animals (goats) from which tragedy (Greek for 'song of goats') developed
enkomion
praise for some person
epinikion
song for victory, athletic or military
erotikon
love songs
hymenaios
wedding songs
hymn
praise for a god
hyporcheme
song and dance during sacrifice around an altar
paean
praise song
partheneion
songs by chorus of maidens
prosodion
liturgic, thanksgiving
skolion
banquet song
threnos
funeral song
Lyric soprano
a female singer with a slightly higher range than a dramatic soprano
Lyric stage
the operatic stage
Lyric tenor
a male singer with a slightly higher range than a dramatic tenor
LyricWiki
a free site which is a source where anyone can go to get reliable lyrics for any song from any artist without obtrusive advertising