Dictionary of Music - Birding America

110 dissonant counterpointstrict rules governing their use and the ways inwhich they had to be resolved into consonances.In most music after 1900, these rules are largelyignored, and the traditional distinction between consonanceand dissonance is no longer made.dissonant counterpointSEEGER, RUTH.div.The abbreviation for DIVISI.See under CRAWFORDdivertimento (dē ver′′tē men′tô) pl. divertimenti(dē ver′′tē men′tē) Italian. In the late eighteenthcentury, a composition in several movements (usuallymore than four) scored for a small instrumentalgroup and intended chiefly to be entertaining (occasionallyeven humorous). The best-known composersof divertimenti are Haydn and Mozart, eachof whom wrote numerous works of this kind.Closely related to the divertimento in form are theSERENADE and CASSATION.divertissement (dē ver tēs mäN′). 1 The Frenchterm for DIVERTIMENTO. 2 A composition based onfamiliar tunes. 3 A ballet, dance, or instrumentalpiece inserted between the acts or elsewhere in aFrench opera of the baroque period (1600–1750),having no connection with the plot but servingpurely to entertain.Divine OfficeSee OFFICE.divisi (dē vē′sē) Italian: “divided.” A term used inscores to indicate that a group of instruments thatnormally play one part are to play two or more separateparts, often written on the same staff. The directionis most often given to a string section, such asthe first violins. The end of the divisi section, whenthe instruments are to resume playing one parttogether, is usually marked TUTTI or UNISONO. Oftenabbreviated div.division 1 In seventeenth- and eighteenth-centuryEnglish music, a variation on a basso ostinato orground bass (see OSTINATO), that is, a pattern ofnotes or chords that is repeated over and over in thebass. The divisions might be written down by a composeror improvised (invented on the spot) by a performer.The variations were most often played on abass viol (viola da gamba), although some sets existfor recorder and other treble instruments. The ostinatopart was played on a second bass viol, or a lute,organ, or harpsichord. 2 During the Renaissance,one of several names for the manner of free embellishment,which consisted of winding around thewritten notes, filling in leaps, and jumping to othernotes. The name comes from the fact that theembellishments most often were made around longheldnotes, which in effect were divided into seriesof shorter note values.division viol A bass viol of slightly smaller sizethan the normal bass and often used for playing divisions(see DIVISION, def. 1).Dixieland One of the earliest styles of JAZZ,established in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the early1900s and later taken over by white jazz musiciansin Chicago in the 1920s. The Original DixielandJazz Band was formed about 1911 by five blackmusicians from New Orleans, and their instrumentation—cornet,clarinet, trombone, piano, anddrums—also came to be identified as Dixieland.Also abbreviated Dixie.D.J.Abbreviation for DISK JOCKEY.do (dō). Also, doh. In the system of naming thenotes of the scale (see SOLMIZATION), the first noteof the scale (the others being re, mi, fa, sol, la, andti). —fixed do A system of solmization in whichdo always stands for C. —movable do A systemof solmization in which do stands for the first note ofany scale (D in the scale of D, E-flat in the scale ofE-flat, etc.). See also TONIC SOL-FA.dobro A steel guitar with a large, circular metalresonator attached under the bridge. It usually hassix metal strings and is used in country music and toaccompany blues singers.dodecaphonic (dō dek′′ə fon′ik). Also, dodecuple(dō dek′yū pəl). Another term for twelve-tone(see TWELVE-TONE TECHNIQUE; SERIAL MUSIC).