Dictionary of Music - Birding America

210 Kontrabassfor chorus and orchestra. Also well known are hisfolk opera Háry János and an orchestral suite derivedfrom it; two suites of folk dances (Marosszék Dancesand Dances of Galanta); and Variations on a HungarianFolksong (Peacock Variations) for orchestra.Kontrabass (kôn′trä bäs′′) German. 1 The word forDOUBLE BASS. 2 The word for CONTRABASS (def. 2).Kontrafagott (kôn′trä fä gôt′′). The Germanword for double bassoon (see under BASSOON).Konzertstück (kon tsârt′shtYk′′) German. Awork for one or more solo instruments and orchestra,usually shorter than a concerto and sometimes inone movement. An example is Weber’s Konzertstückin F major for piano and orchestra.kora (kô′rä). Also cora, korro. A large WestAfrican harp-lute that resembles a guitar in size andrange but sounds more like a zither. The body ismade of half a round calabash covered with cowhideand pierced by a wooden pole that forms the neckand tail piece. The twenty-one strings, at rightangles to the belly, divide on either side of a tall verticalbridge. The player plucks eleven strings withthe left hand and ten with the right, the thumbs creatinga bass line while the forefingers play a treblemelody. The instrument has a range of three octavesand a third. Native to Gambia, Mali, Senegal andGuinea, the kora is played by professional musiciansto accompany songs of praise or commemoration,which are sung either by the instrumentalist himselfor by another male or female singer.Kornett (kôr net′).The German word for CORNET.koto (kô′tô) Japanese. A Japanese zither that consistsof a rectangular wooden board, about six feetlong, over which are stretched from seven to thirteensilk strings. The player sets the instrument on thefloor and plucks the strings with the fingers, occasionallyassisted by three plectra of ivory, bamboo,or bone that are attached to fingers of the right handlike artificial fingernails. There are two main varietiesof koto. One, called sō, has thirteen strings,each tuned separately with its own movable bridge(a modern version of this type has seventeenstrings). The other, called kin, is virtually the sameas the Chinese CHYN and like it has seven strings.The koto was one of the non-Western instrumentsthat attracted Henry Cowell.kräftig (kref′tiKH) German. Also, mit Kraft (mitkräft′). A direction to perform in a forceful, vigorousmanner.Kraft, mitSee KRÄFTIG.krakowiak (krä kō′vē äk′′) Polish. Also, cracovienne.A lively Polish dance, in 2/4 meter, withsyncopated beats. Named for the city of Cracow, itwas popular in the early nineteenth century. Chopinused the form in a Rondo for piano and orchestra,op. 14.Kreisler (krīs′lər), Fritz (frits), 1875–1962. AnAustrian-American violinist and composer,acknowledged as one of the great violinists of alltime. Kreisler composed numerous pieces for hisinstrument, among them Caprice Viennois, TambourinChinois, Schön Rosmarin, and Liebesfreud.He also wrote a number of other works in the styleof such earlier composers as Vivaldi and Couperinand often played these works as encores, claimingthat they were actually by the masters whose stylehe had imitated.Krummhorn (kroo m′horn). The German termfor CRUMHORN.Kunstlied (koo nst′lēd).song (see LIED, def. 1).K.V. See K.The German term for artKyrie (kē′rē e′′) Greek. In the Roman Catholicrite, the first sung section of the Ordinary of theMass (see MASS). The full text is Kyrie eleison,Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison (“Lord have mercy,Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy”), repeatedthree times. The Kyrie is the only portion of theMass in which a Greek text is used, the rest being inLatin. See also LEISE, def. 2.