Dictionary of Music - Birding America

100 Cui, Césarflat (see ENHARMONIC for an explanation). Thescales beginning on C-sharp are known as C-sharpmajor and C-sharp minor. A composition based onone of these scales is said to be in the key of C-sharp major or the key of C-sharp minor, the keysignatures (see KEY SIGNATURE) for these keysbeing seven sharps and four sharps, respectively.For the location of C-sharp on the piano, see KEY-BOARD.Cui (kY ē′), César (sā zAr′), 1835–1918. ARussian composer, one of the group called the Five(see FIVE, THE). Though he wrote a number ofoperas (including several for children) and numerousorchestral and chamber works, it is his songsand piano compositions that are most played today.In these Cui’s style is closer to that of Schumann andother German and French composers of the timethan to the typically Russian style he and his compatriotswere hoping to develop.cuivré (kwē vrā′) French. A direction for Frenchhorn players, indicating they are to produce a forced,brassy tone.cuivres (kwē′vr ə ).INSTRUMENTS.The French term for BRASScumbia (koo m′byä) Spanish. Colombian dancemusic that is an amalgam of Andean Indian, African,and European musical styles. Cast in a mediumtempo, the rhythm is basically 1, 1-2, 1, 1-2, and themelodies, often in a minor key, are sensual andmelancholy.curtal (kûr′t ə l). Also, dulcian, fagotto. A lowpitchedwind instrument of the sixteenth and seventeenthcenturies, a forerunner of the modern bassoon.It had a double reed and a conical bore(cone-shaped inside) that was, owing to its length,doubled back on itself. It was built in several sizes.cut timeBREVE).Another term for alla breve (see undercymbales (saN bAl′). The French word forCYMBALS.fig. 78 p/u from p. 104cymbals A percussion instrument that consists ofa pair of thin metal plates, usually made of brass andabout fourteen to twenty inches in diameter, usedeither singly or in pairs. For playing in pairs, cymbalsare held by leather handles and are struck orrubbed together. For playing singly, a cymbal is suspendedfrom its center and is struck with one or twohard- or soft-headed drumsticks. The kinds and volumeof tone that cymbals can produce varies greatly.The ordinary orchestral and band cymbals are nottuned to a definite pitch. In military bands one cymbalis usually fixed to the side of the bass drum; thebass drummer plays it by clashing the other cymbalagainst it (at the same time playing the bass drumwith a two-headed stick). Along with several otherpercussion instruments, the cymbals were introducedinto the European orchestra by eighteenthcenturycomposers seeking to imitate Turkish militarymusic (see JANISSARY MUSIC). —fingercymbals In ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, muchsmaller cymbals, about two inches in diameter andmade of thicker metal, were used. A pair was usuallyheld by the finger and thumb and played in the mannerof castanets. Unlike the orchestral cymbal theseancient cymbals were tuned, the members of eachpair usually being pitched about one half tone apartto produce a characteristic clashing sound. Fingercymbals are still used by Greek, Turkish, and NorthAfrican dancers, and occasionally by serious composerssuch as Nicholas Maw in Ghost Dances(1988). —hi hat cymbals A pair of small cymbals,set one above the other on a stand, and strucktogether by means of a pedal. The lower cymbal isstationary, the upper movable. They are used in jazzand other popular music. —ride cymbal A singlefree-hanging cymbal, used in jazz and other popularmusic, mainly to outline the basic rhythmic patterns.