Dictionary of Music - Birding America

ledger lines 213rina, one of the two greatest masters of Renaissancepolyphony. A choirboy in his youth, Lasso wasallegedly kidnapped three times because of his beautifulvoice. At the age of twelve he went to Italy,where he remained for ten years. Thereafter he traveledto Belgium and Germany, spending most of therest of his life in Munich, where he held variousposts. He was a master of every style and genre ofhis time—both secular and sacred Latin compositions(more than fifty Masses, more than five hundredmotets, a hundred Magnificats), Italian madrigals(150), French chansons (100), and Germanlieder (90). In the last two forms he often washumorous and sometimes bawdy. His music is especiallynotable for being highly expressive of the text.Technically, it combines the imitative counterpointperfected by the Flemish school with strong rhythmsand dramatic changes of mood.Lassus, Orlandus (Roland de) See LASSO,ORLANDO DI.Latin music A general term for the folk music,dance forms, and songs of Spain and Latin America,many of which have influenced both popular andserious music in North America and Europe. Amongthem are the Spanish BOLERO and FLAMENCO,Brazilian BOSSA NOVA, CHÔRO, and SAMBA, ColombianBAMBUCO and CUMBIA, Cuban HABANERA andRUMBA, Argentine TANGO, Dominican MERENGUE,Caribbean CALYPSO, REGGAE, and SALSA, and suchinstruments as the GÜIRO, CASTANETS, CLAVES,MARACA, BONGO DRUMS, MARIMBA, and steel drums(see STEEL BAND). Also see MARIACHI.lauda (lou′dä) pl. laude (lou′de) Italian:“praise.” A type of Italian hymn that probably originatedin the thirteenth century. Its text was Italianrather than Latin, the language customarily used forreligious music, and it was generally a song ofpraise. The earliest laude were simple songs withonly one voice-part; they consisted of a number ofstanzas alternating with a short refrain, which alsopreceded the first stanza. By the sixteenth centurylaude were often written with three or four voicepartsbut usually were still in a simple style, with allof the parts sounding together in the same rhythmand each syllable of the text set to one note. Somecomposers, however, treated them much the same asthe FROTTOLA (def. 1).LaudsSee under OFFICE.laut (lout) German.loudly, same as FORTE.Laute (lou′tə).lavoltadef. 2).A direction to performThe German word for LUTE.The English name for volta (see VOLTA,leader 1 The British term for CONCERTMASTER.2 In the United States, another term for conductor.3 Also, principal. In orchestral sections other thanthe first violins, the chief player of each section(violas, cellos, etc.); in the case of wind instruments,the first oboe, first horn, etc. 4 Also, sectionleader. In choruses, the principal singer in eachsection (bass, tenor, etc.). 5 Also, lead man. In jazzbands, the highest or leading voice of a section,most often the first trumpet.leading noteSee LEADING TONE.leading tone Also, leading note. The seventhdegree of the scale, that is, the seventh note in anymajor or minor scale, one half tone below the tonic(see SCALE DEGREES). In the key of C major theleading tone is B, in the key of D major it is C-sharp,in the key of A minor it is G-sharp, etc. Its namecomes from the fact that it has a tendency to lead tothe tonic note, which gives a sense of finality.lebendig (lā ben′diKH) German. Also, lebhaft(lāb′häft). A direction to perform in a lively manner.lebhaftSee LEBENDIG.ledger lines Also, leger lines. Short lines aboveor below the five-line staff, used for notes too highor too low in pitch to fit on the staff. Middle C,which lies exactly halfway between the highest noteon the bass staff and the lowest note on the treblestaff, is always shown with a ledger line. The ottava