Dictionary of Music - Birding America

étouffez 131erlöschend (er lŒ′shənt) German. A direction toperform more and more softly, as though the musicwere fading away.ermattend (er mä′tənt) German. A direction toperform more and more softly and gently, becominggradually weaker.ernst (ernst) German. Also, ernsthaft (ernst′häft).A direction to perform in a sober, serious manner.ernsthaftSee ERNST.ersterbend (er shter′bənt) German. A directionto perform more and more softly, as though themusic were dying away.escaped note See CAMBIATA, def. 1.escapement In pianos, the mechanism that permitsthe hammer to fall an appreciable distanceaway from the strings after striking them, even whenthe key is still held down. Many early pianos had noescapement at all, which made it impossible to playthem very loudly or very softly. Instruments with asingle escapement were easier to play, but it was difficultto play rapidly repeated notes. This problemwas eliminated in the early 1820s by a Frenchbuilder, Sébastien Érard, who invented the doubleescapement, in which the hammer does not fall allthe way back to its original position. This enablesthe player to strike the same key again and again,very rapidly.esercizio (e′′ser chē′tsyô) Italian: “exercise.”A piece designed to improve the performer’stechnique.E-sharp One of the musical tones (see PITCHNAMES), one half tone above E and one half tonebelow F-sharp. On the piano, E-sharp is identicalwith F (see ENHARMONIC for an explanation). Forthe location of E-sharp on the piano, see KEYBOARD.espr.Also, espress. Abbreviation for ESPRESSIVO.espressione, conSee ESPRESSIVO.espressivo (es′′pres sē′vô) Italian. Also, conespressione (kôn es′′ pres syô′ ne). A direction toperform in an expressive manner, with feeling.estampidaThe Spanish name for ESTAMPIE.estampie (es täN pē′) French. Also, Spanish,estampida (es′′ täm pē′ th⁄ ä); Italian, istampita(ē′′stäm pē′tä), istanpita (ē′′stän pē′tä). An instrumentaldance form of the thirteenth and fourteenthcenturies. The estampie consisted of stanzas calledpuncta, each of which was repeated, but with a differentending. There were numerous puncta, usuallyfour or five, and often the same pair of endings wasused throughout, a pattern like that of stanza andrefrain. The estampies that survive all are monophonic(have one voice-part).estinto (e stēn′tô) Italian. Also, French, éteint (ātaN′). A direction to perform as softly as possible.éteintSee ESTINTO.ethnomusicology (eth′′nō myoo — ′′zi kol′ə jē).The study of music in relation to the culture thatproduced it. The subject of such studies is frequentlyoutside the Western (European and American)tradition, such as the music of China, Japan,the Arab countries, or various peoples of Africa.Until the nineteenth century the music of non-Western cultures was regarded mainly as a curiosityand was not taken seriously; indeed, for manyyears all such music, despite its enormous variety,was lumped together into one category called“exotic music.” Toward the end of the nineteenthcentury, however, scholars began to apply to non-Western music the same careful methods of studythey had been using for music of their own culture.One result has been the increasing influenceof non-Western music on Western music, seenboth in popular music—for example, raga, ROCK,and REGGAE—and in serious music, as in the useof various non-Western scales, instruments, andrhythms.étouffez (ā too — fā′) French. A direction to playersof French horns, violins, harps, cymbals, drums, and