Dictionary of Music - Birding America

136 Fagottagainst the singer’s line. There are approximately100 fado melodies, which can be sung to traditionallyrics or to new words. The word fado means “fate,”and fado lyrics are mournful, concerning loss, theforce of destiny, and the like. Modern fado singerssometimes augment the traditional guitar accompanimentwith piano, accordion, and violin.Fagott (fä gôt′).The German word for BASSOON.fagotto (fä gôt′tô). Today, the Italian word forBASSOON. Formerly, the CURTAL.faiblement (fe bl ə mäN′) French.perform softly, feebly, or weakly.A direction tofake book A collection of standard popular andjazz tunes that are used by musicians as the basis forimprovisation. The tunes are reduced to key andtime signatures, melody, and chord symbols. Theiruse is perfectly legal because the publisher pays aroyalty to the original copyright owners. Some fakebooks, however, pirate the songs. One of these, TheReal Book, has been widely available in the UnitedStates since the 1960s, to the distress of legitimatemusic publishers, and is highly regarded by manyprofessional pop musicians.fa-la (fä lä′). Also, fa-la-la (fä′′lä lä′). A type ofsong popular in England during the late sixteenthand early seventeenth centuries, consisting of severalstanzas alternating with the refrain “falala, fa lala” or similar nonsense syllables (such as “heynonny nonny,” or “tan tan tarira”). The fa-la was alsocalled ballett, after the Italian BALLETTO, on whichit was modeled. The Christmas carol “Deck theHalls with Boughs of Holly” does not belong to thistype, since the “fa-la-la-la-la” refrain is repeatedboth in the middle and at the end of stanzas and themusic for it varies slightly, depending on its positionin the stanza.fa-la-laSee FA-LA.Falla, de (dā fä′yä), Manuel (mä nwel′),1876–1946. The foremost Spanish composer ofhis time. He is particularly known for his use of traditionalSpanish music, much of it very old, in hisown music. His first great success was the opera LaVida breve (“Life Is Short”), which won first prize ina contest held in Madrid in 1905. Beginning in 1915,de Falla began his most productive years with theballet El Amor brujo (“Love, the Sorcerer”) and awork for piano and orchestra, Noches en los jardinesde España (“Nights in the Gardens of Spain”); bothcombine Spanish folk elements with some of themethods of the French impressionist composers.Before 1915, de Falla had used the folk music andhighly colorful rhythms of the province of Andalusia,elements of which are found in the highly successfulballet, El Sombrero de tres picos (“TheThree-cornered Hat”). His El Retablo de MaesePedro (“Master Pedro’s Puppet Show”), an opera formarionettes, reflects the more formal and elegantelements of the folk music of Castile. Other importantworks of de Falla’s are the Concerto for harpsichordand chamber ensemble (1926), and his earlierSiete Canciones populares españolas (“Seven PopularSpanish Songs,” 1914), in which he used not onlythe rhythms and style of folk music but actual folkmelodies.false cadence Another name for deceptivecadence; see under CADENCE.false relationAnother name for CROSS RELATION.falsetto (fôl set′ō). A method of singing used,especially by tenors, to extend the upper end of asinger’s normal range. Falsetto is occasionally usedfor comic effect, as when Falstaff imitates thewomen in Verdi’s opera, Falstaff. In earlier times,however, it was deliberately cultivated by men so asto sing in the alto range, the so-called countertenoror male alto (see ALTO, def. 2). Today it is still soused for early music, as well as occasionally by bothmen and women for singing blues, country music,and other popular genres.falsobordone (fäl′′sô bôr dô′ne). 1 The Italianterm for the fifteenth-century fauxbourdon (seeFAUXBOURDON, def. 1). 2 A method for singingpsalms in four-part harmony, used in Spain and Italyduring the late fifteenth century. All the parts were