Dictionary of Music - Birding America

ancora 9the alto voice is from the F below middle C to thesecond D above middle C, and music for alto is writtenin the treble clef. In choral music for four voiceparts, the alto sings the second highest part (justbelow soprano). 2 Also, male alto, countertenor. Amale voice of similar range to the female alto, thehighest range of male voice, produced by using thehead register (see FALSETTO; VOICE, def. 2). Themale alto was especially popular in England duringthe sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 3 Amonginstruments that are built in various sizes, an instrumentthat has about the same range as the alto voice,such as the alto clarinet and the alto saxophone.4 The French and Italian word for the VIOLA, thesecond highest instrument of the violin family.alto clarinetalto clefalto flutealto hornalto oboealto saxophoneSee under CLARINET.See under CLEF.See under FLUTE.A TENOR HORN in E-flat.See under OBOE.See under SAXOPHONE.am For German musical terms beginning with am,such as am Frosch, see under the next word(FROSCH).amabile (ä mä′ bē le′′) Italian.perform tenderly, with feeling.fig. 5 p/u from p. 8A direction toAmati (ä mä′tē). The name of a family of violinmakers who worked during the sixteenth, seventeenth,and eighteenth centuries in Cremona, Italy.The most famous member of the family was NiccolòAmati, who lived from 1596 to 1684; he was theteacher of both Andrea Guarneri and the most celebratedof all violin makers, Antonio Stradivari.Today Amati violins are regarded as priceless treasures,and most of those still in existence are inmuseums.ambient musicSee SONIC ENVIRONMENT.ambitus (am′ bə təs) Latin. In Gregorian chant,the range of the melodies of the various chants, thatis, the interval (distance) between the highest andthe lowest note of each chant. In some chants thisinterval is only a fourth (four scale tones apart, suchas C–F, or G–C), but in others it is an octave (eighttones) or more. See also CHURCH MODES.Ambrosian (am brō′zhən) chant The collectionof church chants used in the Cathedral of Milan,Italy, also called Milanese chant. The collection isnamed for Saint Ambrose, who lived from c. 340 to397 and was Bishop of Milan. However, thesechants were composed long after Ambrose’s death,probably even later than Gregorian chant.Amen (ä men′) Hebrew: “so be it.” A word foundin various places in Christian church services,including the Roman Catholic Mass. In the seventeenthand eighteenth centuries, many composers,among them Bach, Handel, and Mozart, wrote longclosing sections for the Amen. These are calledAmen choruses or Amen fugues (since they oftenare in the form of a fugue), and their text consistssimply of the word “Amen” repeated over and over.One of the best-known Amen choruses is the onethat concludes Handel’s oratorio, the Messiah.American organSee under HARMONIUM.amplifier A device for increasing a sound signal,required in any sound-reproduction system.amplitudeLoudness; see under SOUND.amplitude modulation See MODULATION, def. 2.anacrusis (an′′ə kroo — ′sis). Another word for UPBEAT.ancora (än kôr′ä) Italian. 1 A direction to repeat.2 When combined with another term, ancora means“still,” as in ancora più piano (“still more softly”).