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Z
after Franklin B. Zimmerman (b.1923), an American musicologist, who produced a thematic catalogue (1963) of music by Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
after Benno Ziegler who catalogued the music of Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805) and Placidus Cajetan von Camerloher (1718-1782)
after Anita Zakin, the cataloguer of the music of Václav Pichl (1741-1805), her thematic catalogue being published in 1984
after Dieter Zimmerschied, the cataloguer of music by Johann (or Jan) Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837) - Thematisches Verzeichnis der Werke von Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Hofheim, 1971
abbrevation of Zoll (German: Customs m.), zone (English, French f.: zone, area), zona (Italian f., Spanish f.: zone, area)
z.
abbreviation of 'zone' (English, French f.: zone, area), 'zero' (English, Italian m.), zéro (French m.), zona (Italian f., Spanish f.: zone, area)
za
(Italian) an old solfeggio name for the note B flat, the seventh harmonic, so called by the Italian violinist Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770)
Zaabia
a small gourd rattle, with the seeds sealed inside rather than strung outside the gourd, from the Dagomba people (more properly called Dagbamba) of Northern Ghana, a region they call Dagbon
Zabaglione (s.), Zabaglioni (pl.)
(English from Italian m.) egg-flip
Zabaione
(Italian m.) egg-flip (a confection of egg-yolks, sugar and Marsala wine)
Zabumba
(Brazil) a large bass drum that is used in the bandas de pífanos, performers of traditional instrumental baião. The drum has skin on both sides. It is played with a mallet on one side to produce an open bass tone, and with a stick, striking the rim, on the other side to produce a higher pitched sound
Zabur
equated by some scholars with the Biblical Psalms, the Zabur is, according to Islam, one of the holy books revealed by Allah prior to the Qur'an (the others being the Tawrat and Injil). This term zabur is the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew zimra. The Hebrew word has the meaning 'song' ort 'music'. It, along with zamir (song) and mizmor (psalm), is a derivative of zamar, meaning 'sing', 'sing praise' or 'make music'
(Spanish) to escape, to get out of (an obligation)
Zaffata
(Italian f.) stench, whiff (of foul air, etc.)
Zafferano
(Italian m.) saffron
Zaffiro
(Italian m.) sapphire
zafio
(Spanish) coarse
Zafiro
(Spanish m.) sapphire
Zag.
abbreviation of 'Zagreb'
Zaga
(Spanish f.) rear
Zagaglia
(Italian f.) assegai, native spear
Zagara
(Italian f.) orange-blossom
Zagashira
the lead actor of a group performing kabuki who, traditionally, would act also as the director
zaghaft
(German) timid, timidly, tentative, tentatively
Zaghareet
in the Middle East, a ululation performed to honour someone
Zagreb church service
Cithara octochorda seu Cantus Sacri Latino-Croatici, quos in octo partes pro diversis anni temporibus distributos ac chorali methodo adornatos, pia sua munificentia in lucem prodire jussit alma et vetustissima cathedralis ecclesia Zagrabiensis (Zagrabia, Antonius Reiner, 1757) is the most significant old collection of Latin-Croatian church songs, published in 1701 in Vienna, reprinted in 1723 again in Vienna, and in 1757 in Zagreb. This impressive, monumental book contains 235 Croatian songs in the Kajkavian dialect. The songs were part of the so called 'Zagreb church service', a rite that was cancelled in 1878
a reed-pipe that takes its name from the material from which it was made, sambucus wood
Zambomba
a clay vessel covered with animal skin - usually goat - or some sort of thin material, in the centre of which a long cane is secured which produces a deep sound when rubbed with the hand and this is what forms the rhythmic basis for the villancicos, Christmas songs from ancient Spain
(Italian m.) a spurt, a jet (of water), a squirt, a stream
Zampino
(Italian m.) a little paw, a finger (figurative)
Zampogna
(Italian f. - the word zampogna is etymologically related to the Greek simponia, the plural of simponi meaning single beating reed; also to the Greek island bagpipe tsampouna. Its Romanian counterpart is cimpoi, which means 'symphony' or "many sounds played together) bagpipe, Sackpfeife (German f.), biniou (French m.), gaita (Spanish f.)
(Italian f.) a generic term for a number of Italian double chantered pipes that can be found as far north as the southern part of the Marche, throughout areas in Abruzzo, Latium, Molise, Basilicata, Campania, Calabria, and Sicily
(Italian f.) Neapolitan bagpipe with 2 drones and 2 conical chanters (called chantares), a reed pipe
(Spnaish) South American end-blown tubular aerophone (panpipe) consisting of several closed pipes of cane, ceramic, stone or wood, fastened together in two sections, the upper part (consisting of 7 pipes) commonly called the ira and the lower part (consisting of 6 pipes) called the arca, that produces a sound by blowing across the ends of the pipes. Zampoñas are played in pairs and come in a family of sizes ranging from approximately 5 inches to 5 feet in length. The smallest are known as chillis or icas and the largest are toyos
(Italian f.) a basket, a credle, a niche, a recess, a cheat (figurative), a fraud (figurative)
Zanahoria
(Spanish f.) carrot
Zancada
(Spanish f.) stride
Zancadilla
(Spanish f.) trip (cause someone to fall)
Zanco
(Spanish m.) stilt
zancudo
(Spanish) long-legged
Zandlopertrom
(Dutch) hourglass-shaped drum
Zandunga
songs and dances of southern Mexico often with amusing lyrics
Zanfona
see zanfoña
Zanfoña
Spanish hurdy gurdy, an instrument with 5 strings (3 chanters and 2 drones), with a guitar-shaped body and a peghead carved with a scroll like a violin
ancient Uzbeck instrument made in the form of bracelets with small brass or copper bells. Such bracelets are put on the wrists and ankles of a dancing girl performing ancient Sogdian dance-pantomime zang
(Italian, clown) a stock character in the commedia dell'arte, a buffoonish servant, a jester, a butt of jokes
Zanja
(Spanish f.) ditch
zanjar
(Spanish) to settle (figurative)
Zank
(German m.) squabble
zanken
(German) to squabble
zänkisch
(German) quarrelsome
Zanna
(Italian f.) fang, tusk (elephant)
Zannaj
or wannaj, the Arabic harp, the name a loose phonectical prounciation from Syriac-Greek dialect word for 'phoenix'
Zannata
(Italian f.) a blow with a tusk
Zanni
(Italian m.) a clown, a zany, a buffoon
zannuto
(Italian) tusked, fanged
Zanpoña
(Spanish) bagpipe
Zanz.
abbreviation of 'Zanzibar'
Zanza
(German f.) sansa
Zanzara
(Italian f.) mosquito
Zanzariera
(Italian f.) a mosquito-net
Zapapico
(Spanish m.) pickaxe
Zapateado
(Spanish m.) syncopated solo Spanish clog-dance in triple meter where heel stamping replaces castanets
tapping or foot stomping used in Spanish flamenco
in Mexican dancing, the performers drive the heels of their boots into the dance-floor, pounding out swift, often syncopated rhythms which complement that of the musical instruments
zapatear
(Spanish) to tap with one's feet
Zapateo
flamenco-derived folk dance once popular throughout Cuba but now confined mostly to rural Oriente and associated with guajira music. It is also found as part of a male Afro-Peruvian tap dancing tradition, zapateo criollo which is particularly energetic
above: world Zapateo champion, Freddy "Huevito" Lobaton's master class at the Lima Jazz Festival
(German n.) Plättchen (German n.), talon (French m.), bouton (French m.), nocetta (Italian f.), on a violin, etc., the small semicircular extension (called the button) of the back that provides extra gluing surface for the crucial neck joint, and is neglected when measuring the length of the back. Occasionally a half-circle of ebony surrounds the button, either to restore material lost in resetting the neck of an old instrument, or to imitate that effect
Zapfen
(German m.) cone (from fir tree), bung, icicle
zapfen
(German) to tap, to draw
Zapfenstreich
(German m.) tattoo (drum roll)
Zapfhahn
(German m.) tap
Zapfsäule
(German f.) petrol-pump
Zappa
(Italian f.) hoe, mattock
zappare
(Italian) to hoe, to dig
Zappatore (m.), Zappatrice (f.)
(Italian) one who hoes or digs
zappelig
(German) fidgety, jittery
zappeln
(German) to wriggle, to fidget (child)
Za' pwè
(Burmese) a troup of entertainers that present a mix of melodrama, music, dance and clowning
(Spanish) Mexican dances associated with negro slaves
Zaranda
(Spanish f.) sieve
zarandear
(Spanish) to sieve, to shake (agitate)
Zarathustra
or Zerdusht, founder of religious system known as Zoroastrianism. The Parsis of India, who are emigrants from Persia, are followers of this prophet
Zarb
wooden, Iranian single-skinned, lap drum, also known as a dumbek, a name that comes from the two principle notes that the drum produces, a deep thump, dum and a tight snap, bek
(Arabic) a breast-work made of thornbushes for defence against enemies or wild animals
zargc
abbreviation of zarzuela género chico (Spanish)
Zarge
(German f.) shell of a drum
Zarge (s.) Zargen (pl.)
(German f.) or Zargenkranz, éclisse (French f.), fascia (Italian), armazón (Spanish), rib or side that is bent to shape and then attached to the belly and back of the instrument
Zargenkranz (s.), Zargenkränze (pl.)
(German m.) see Zarge
Zarpa
(Spanish f.) claw, paw
zarpar
(Spanish) to weigh anchor (boat, ship)
Zarrabete
(from the Basque word charrabeta, or rabel (rebec) in the Larramendi, Aizkibel and Novia dictionaries, although zarrabete is quite different from the rabel, which is played with a bow) also known as the blind man's organ, a musical instrument consisting of a rectangular box with strings. An iron crank turns a wheel located in the centre of the box, which strikes the strings. On one side are several keys which when pressed with the left hand, produce the different notes
(Spanish, from zarza, literally 'bramble' although actually named after the Palacio Real de la Zarzuela, a royal hunting lodge in the secluded wooded outskirts of Madrid where fiestas de zarzuela where performed in the 17th-century) traditional, comic, even satirical opera from Spain with spoken dialogue, songs and choruses. In the 17th-century, the zarzuela was not unlike the ballet de cour, dramatic and sophisticated court entertainment for the Spanish king and an elite, invited audience, but its revival in the mid 19th-century saw it, in its one-act género chico or 'small style' format, parody contemporary Italian opera and French opera comique, while, in its larger three-act género grande or 'large style' format, it acted as a focus for resurgent Spanish nationalism combining the traditional tonadilla with the older courtly form
or zarzuelta, a genre and integral part of Filipino music. It was brought during the period of Spanish colonization by the settlers and friars, and quickly spread to the natives, who adapted it to their tastes
(German f., literally 'magic flute') 8 foot pitch organ stop: the pipes are plugged at the end and pierced so that they produce their 3rd harmonic, the pipe length adjusted to bring the sounding note at 8 foot pitch
zauberhalf
(German) enchanting
Zauberkünstler
(German m.) conjuror
zaubern
(German) to do magic
Zauberoper
(German f., literally 'magic opera) a more developed form of Zauberposse
Zauberposse
(German f.) see posse
Zauberstab
(German m.) magic wand
Zaubertricks ausführen
(German) do conjuring tricks, produce as if by magic
zaudern
(German) to delay, to hesitate
Zäune
(German m.) fence
Zäunekönig
(German m.) wren
Zavorra
(Italian f.) ballast
zavorarre
(Italian) to ballast
Zazzera
(Italian f.) mop of hair, shock of hair, mane, long hair
zazzeruto
(Italian) wearing one's hair long
z.B.
abbreviation of zum Beispiel (German: for example, e.g.)
Zbójnicki
an energetic men's folk-dance from the Skalne Podhale area (the rocky foothills of the Tatra Mountains and the Tatras themselves, located in southern Poland, bordering on Slovakia and Moravia). The name is an adjective created from the noun zbójnik - a brigand or a robber; plural - zbójnicy. In the 17th- and 18th-centuries, bands of such robbers thrived in the Tatra Mountains; they came from Górale villages of the area
Zbójnicki from which this short extract has been taken
Zebra
(Italian f.) zebra
Zebrastreifen
(German m.) zebra-crossing
Zebre
(Italian f. pl.) zebra-crossing
Zèbre
(French m.) zebra
zébré
(French) striped
Zecca
(Italian f.) mint, tick (parasite)
Zecchino
(Italian m.) sequin
Zeche
(German f.) bill, pit
zechen
(German) to drink
Zeder
(German f.) cedar
Zeffiro
(Italian m.) a zephyr (a wind, a breeze), a light breeze
zeffiroso
(Italian) zephyr-like
Zeh
(German m.) toe
Zehe
(German f.) toe
Zehennagel
(German m.) toenail
Zehn
(German f.) ten
zehn
(German) ten
zehnte
(German) tenth
Zehntel
(German n.) tenth
Zeïbeikos
Greek rebetic solo dances for men, typically performed in a tense and restricted manner with sudden releases of energy. The improvisations consisted of turns around the body axis, squats, leaps in the air, etc.
the term can also describe the music which accompanies the zeibekiko dance, played in a 9/8 rhythm (occasionally in 9/4), a rhythm that is common in Turkish music where it is called zeybegi
(German f.) design, drawing, draft, portrayal, markings (on an animal skin)
Zeigefinger
(German m.) index finger or forefinger
zeigen
(German) to show
Zeiger
(German m.) pointer, (hour-) hand
Zeile
(German f.) line, row
Zeilenstil
(German m.) a poetic style in which the natural breaks in the sense fall at the ends of the lines
Zeit
(German f.) time
Zeitalter
(German n.) age, era
Zeitarbeit
(German f.) temporary work
Zeiterlebnis
(German n.) the experience of time
Zeitgeist
(German m.) also Geist der Zeit, Geist der Zeiten, the spirit of the age, the climate of opinion of a given period or age, the preferences, fashions, and trends that characterize the intangible essence of a specific historical period
(German n.) or Zeitmass, speed, tempo, time, measure
Zeitmass
(German n.) see Zeitmaß
Zeitmesser
(German n.) chronometer, metronome
Zeitnot
(German f.) slavery to the clock, the necessity in modern administrative work of adhering closely to a timetable
Zeitoper
(German f.) German opera of the 1920s and 1930s, with strong political themes, part of the movement towards the creation of 'socially relevant art'. Kurt Weill (1900-1950) created 'topical opera' with urban settings and imitations of American dance music and jazz. The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) was his finest contribution to this genre
according to Jaime Gonzáles Quiñones, in his scholarly publication Villancicos y cantatas del siglo XVIII, the Arabic zéjelis a poem "written entirely in vulgar Arabic [whose] first strophe was preceded by a short poem (refrain) of two lines. The last line in each strophe followed the rhyme of the refrain." From the zéjel descended a type of vernacular Spanish (and Galician-Portuguese) poetic form known as the cantiga de estribillo (or cantiga de refram). Gonzáles finds that the zéjel and the cantiga de estribillo, common in the 15th-century, were most apparently similar in the occurrence of refrains (estribillo) and strophes (mudanza) which included a second part, turns (vuelta). The estribillo was especially important to the villancico style
(singular zemer) Jewish hymns, usually sung in the Hebrew or Aramaic languages, but sometimes also in Yiddish or Ladino. The best known zemirot are those sung around the table during on Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath) and Jewish holidays. Some of the Sabbath zemirot are specific to certain times of the day, such those sung for the Friday evening meal, the Saturday noon meal, and the third Sabbath meal just before sundown on Saturday afternoon. In some editions of the Jewish prayerbook (siddur), the words to these hymns are printed after the opening prayer (kiddush) for each meal. Other zemirot are more generic and can be sung at any meal or other sacred occasion
Zemstvo
(Russian) a provincial council in Russia elected for local government
Zenana
(Hindi from Persian) the part of an Indian house in which the women live in seclusion
Zend Avesta
Zoroastrian scriptures
Zenidaiko
from Japan, perforated coins that are strung onto strings attached to the inside of the bamboo tubes that, one held in each hand, are shaken or struck together
on a guitar, an additional fret which sits exactly where the nut should sit. The strings lie directly on this fret and it (not the nut) determines the height of the strings from the fingerboard in the first position
zerplatzen
(German) to burst
zerquetschen
(German) to squash, to crush, to mash (potatoes)
Zerrbild
(German n.) caricature
zerreißen
(German) to tear, to tear up (in pieces)
zerren
(German) to drag, to pull (a muscle)
zerrend
(German) tugging, stiracchiando, en tiraillant
zerrissen
(German) torn
zerrütten
(German) to ruin, to wreck, to shatter (nerves)
zerrüttete Ehe
(German) broken marriage
zerschlagen
(German) to smash, to smash up
zerschmettern
(German) to smash
zerschneiden
(German) to cut, to cut up (into pieces)
zersetzen
(German) to corrode, to undermine
zersplittern
(German) to shatter, to burst
Zerstäuber
(German m.) atomiser
zerstreut
(German) dispersed, extended
zerstreute Harmonie
(German f.) extended harmony
zerstören
(German) to destroy, to wreck
Zerstörer
(German m.) destroyer
zerstreut
(German) dispersed, spread, scattered
Zerstörung
(German f.) destruction
zerstreuen
(German) to scatter, to disperse, to dispel
zerstreut
(German) absent-minded, absent-mindedly
zerstreute Harmonie
(German f.) dispersed or extended harmony
Zerstreuung
(German f.) entertainment
zerstückeln
(German) to cut up into pieces
zerteilen
(German) to divide up
Zertifikat
(German n.) certificate
zertreten
(German) to stamp on, to crush
zertrümmern
(German) to smash, to smash up, to wreck (building)
zerzausen
(German) to tousle
zerzaust
(German) tousled (hair), dishevelled
zes
(Dutch) six
zesde
(Dutch) sixth
zes-kwart Noot
(Dutch) hemidemisemiquaver, sixty-fourth note
Zeste
(French m.) peel (of a fruit)
zestiende Noot
(Dutch) a semiquaver (sixteenth note) a note one sixteenth the time value of a semibreve (whole note)
zestiende Rust
(Dutch) a semiquaver rest (sixteenth rest), a rest one sixteenth the time value of a semibreve rest (whole rest)
zestig
(Dutch) sixty
Zeta
(Italian f.) zed (the last letter of the English alphabet)
Zettel
(German m.) piece of paper, note, notice, leaflet
(German m.) étiquette (French f.), etichetta (Italian f.), label - as found in a violin, etc., showing the date of completion, the name of the maker, the number of the instrument, and so on
Zetting voor muziek
(Dutch) musical setting
Zeug
(German n.) stuff, things, gear
Zeuge
(German m.) witness
zeugen
(German) to testify
Zeugenaussage
(German f.) testimony
Zeugenstand
(German m.) witness box (court)
zeugen von
(German) to show (figurative), to father (a child)
Zeugin
(German f.) witness
Zeugma
(Italian m. from Greek, 'yoking', 'bonding') a rhetorical device whereby a single word is to be construed with two other words in the same sentence, usually in a slightly different sense. For example, using a single verb to refer to two different objects grammatically, or using an adjective to refer to two separate nouns, even though the adjective would logically only be appropriate for one of the two
zeugma is also known as synezeugmenon. Some rhetoricians subdivide zeugma according to the location of the verb that functions as the shared connector, referring to a zeugma as a prozeugma or protozeugma if the connector comes before the various subsequent components (for example, "Kill the boys and the luggage"). They refer to the figure as a mesozeugma if the connector appears in the middle of a phrase (for example, "And now a bubble burst, and now a world"). Rhetoricians refer to the figure as a hypozeugma if the connector appears at the end. (for example, "Hours, days, weeks, months, and years do pass away")
