Dictionary of Music - Birding America

Kodály, Zoltán 209The kithara consisted of a shallow wooden box withtwo thick, armlike extensions connected by a crossbar.A number of gut strings, all of equal length,were stretched between the crossbar and box. Thekithara probably was quite heavy and bulky, sincethe player held it upright, partly supporting it withthe body; often it was further supported by leatherbands passed either around the shoulder or over thewrist. The earliest kitharas, dating from the eighthcentury B.C., had five strings, a number that waseventually increased to eleven. The kithara was usedboth to accompany the epic songs of the bards andas a solo instrument, the performer plucking thestrings with a plectrum.fig. 141 p/u from p. 214Klarinette (klä′′rē net′ə).CLARINET.The German word forKlavier (klä vēr′). 1 The German word for piano(see PIANO, def. 2). 2 See CLAVIER.kleine Flöte (klī′nə flŒ′tə).PICCOLO.kleine Trommel (klī′nə trô′məl).term for SNARE DRUM.The German term forThe Germanklezmer (klez′mər) pl. klezmorim (klez mərēm′) Yiddish: “vessel of music.” An East Europeanitinerant Jewish folk musician and, by extension,a kind of dance music played by bands of suchmusicians. Brought to America by Jewish immigrantsin the 1880s, it combines the rhythms andimprovisational style of folk music with instrumentsand techniques borrowed from both classical andpopular music, including jazz and rock. At first usedonly for special festive occasions, such as weddings,it is now also performed in concert form.Knarre (knä′rə).The German word for RATTLE.klagend (klä′gənt) German. A direction to performin a mournful, plaintive manner.Klangfarbenmelodie (kläng ′fär′′bən me lō dē′ə)German: “tone-color melody.” A term invented byArnold Schoenberg to describe the device of creatinga melody from different tone colors instead ofdifferent pitches. He illustrated this device in a numberof works, such as the fifth of his Five OrchestralPieces, op. 16, in which a single melody is taken upby different instruments throughout the entire piece.Klangfarbenmelodie particularly intrigued Schoenberg’spupil, Anton Webern, who used tone color asa structural element, and later, from the 1960s on,appealed also to Lutoslawski, Penderecki, Xenakis,Kagel, Ligeti, and Crumb, among others.klar (klär) German.clear, bright manner.A direction to perform in aKöchel-Verzeichnis (kŒ′KHəl fer tsīKH′nis)German. See K.Kodály (kō dä′yē), Zoltán (zôl tän′), 1882–1967.A Hungarian composer, who combined in his musicthe Hungarian folk tradition with elements of conventionalnineteenth-century romanticism. A closefriend and colleague of Béla Bartók’s, Kodály succeededBartók as the leader of his country’s musicallife. Compared to Bartók’s works, Kodály’s compositionsare much more traditional in melody, harmony,and rhythm. He was at his best in vocal compositions—infact, he emphasized singing as themost important kind of music education, believingthat all children should take part in choral singing,and intended many of his own vocal works for studentsand amateurs. Kodály also wrote a great deal ofchamber music, including two fine string quartets, aSonata for unaccompanied cello, and a Serenade fortwo violins and viola. Outstanding among his choralworks is Psalmus Hungaricus, a setting of Psalm 55