Dictionary of Music - Birding America

gehalten 157a fiddle called the RABAB. Both male and femalevoices are used but they do not predominate, merelyserving as one of numerous melodic components.Some twentieth-century Western composershave shown interest in the gamelan. Messiaen scoredfor similar groups of vibrating metal instruments inmany of his works from the mid-1940s on, and composersas diverse as Boulez, Stockhausen, and Brittenwere influenced by this kind of sound. Moredirectly, Lou Harrison wrote a Double Concerto forviolin, cello, and Javanese gamelan (1981). Also,numerous gamelan ensembles have been formed inAmerica and Europe.gamut (gam′ət). The entire RANGE of a voice,instrument, or scale, that is, all the notes it can produceor includes. The term comes from a contractionof gamma and ut; gamma was used to represent thelowest note in the medieval scale and ut the first note(later changed to do).gapped scale Any scale that is made up of only aselection from the notes of a larger scale and thereforecontaining at least one interval larger than awhole tone. For example, the PENTATONIC SCALE is agapped scale, since it is made up of only five of theseven tones of the diatonic (major or minor) scale.(See also SCALE.)garbato (gär bä′tô) Italian. Also, con garbo (kôngär′bô). A direction to perform in a graceful, elegantmanner.garbo, conSee GARBATO.gauche (gōsh) French: “left.” A direction to playa note or passage with the left hand. Abbreviated g.gavotte (gA vôt′) French. A popular seventeenthcenturydance, which in the eighteenth centurycame to be used as a movement in instrumentalsuites. It is normally in duple meter, in moderatetempo, and tends to begin on the third beat of ameasure. Bach used the gavotte in several suites,among them his English Suites nos. 3 and 6, and hisOrchestral Suite no. 1. Sometimes two gavotteswere used, one after another (marked Gavotte 1 and2), in which case the first was usually repeated afterthe second. The second gavotte frequently was inthe form of a musette, having a bass part that imitatedthe drone of a bagpipe.G clef Another name for treble clef, the sign forwhich is derived from the letter G (see under CLEF).Gebrauchsmusik (gə brouKHs′moo — zēk′′) German:“music to be used,” “utility music.” A terminvented in the 1920s for music to be played(“used”) at home by amateurs instead of in a concerthall by professional performers. (The term was firstcoined for dance music to dance to, as opposed todance music to be listened to.) To make home performanceeasier, such compositions call for smallgroups of players and are not too lengthy or technicallydifficult. Moreover, they often allow for substitutingdifferent instruments when the ones called forare not available. Among those who wrote suchworks was Paul Hindemith, whose Gebrauchsmusikcompositions include a children’s opera, Wir baueneine Stadt (“We Are Building a City,” 1930); Spielmusik(“Music for Playing”) for strings, flutes, andoboes, op. 43, no. 1; and a set of easy duets for twoviolins.gebunden (gə boo n′d ə n) German. A direction toplay a series of notes in a connected, legato fashion.gedämpft (gə demft′) German. A direction toproduce a muted, muffled tone. In wind instrumentssuch as the French horn, this can be effected byusing a mute.gedehnt (gə dānt′) German. A direction to performin a slow, stately manner, drawing out eachnote.Gefühl, mitSee GEFÜHLVOLL.gefühlvoll (gə fYl′fôl) German. Also, mit Gefühl(mit gə fYl′). A direction to perform expressively,with feeling.gehalten (gə häl′t ə n) German. A direction tohold (sustain) each note to its full value.