Dictionary of Music - Birding America

auxiliary tone 17special gatherings or receptions in the morning, duringwhich an aubade might be played. See also ALB-ORADA.audition A hearing, tryout, or test performance, atwhich the musician’s skill is judged.augmentation Increasing the time values of allthe notes in a theme (short melody), so that, forexample, all the quarter notes become half notes andthe half notes become whole notes. (The oppositeprocess, in which, for example, all the quarter notesbecome eighth notes and the half notes becomequarter notes, is called DIMINUTION.) Both augmentationand diminution are common means of varyinga theme, and they are often used in fugues, as well asin sonatas and symphonies.augmented chord A chord that includes an augmentedinterval (a major or perfect interval enlargedby one half tone). Two kinds of chord are commonlyaltered in this way, the triad (see under CHORD) andthe SIXTH CHORD.augmented interval A major or perfect interval(see INTERVAL, def. 2) that is enlarged by one halftone, either by flatting the lower note or by sharpingthe upper note. Eight kinds of interval may bealtered in this way: the perfect intervals of the unison,fourth, fifth, and octave, and the major second,major third, major sixth, and major seventh. Exceptfor the augmented fourth, also known as the TRI-TONE, all the augmented intervals require the use ofa note foreign to their key.fig. 12 p/u from p. 17aulos (ou′los) pl. auloi (ou′loi) Greek. A windinstrument of ancient Greece that was similar to anoboe. Like the oboe, the aulos had a double reed anda number of finger holes. It was nearly alwaysplayed in pairs (that is, the performer played on twoinstruments at the same time, holding one in eachhand), which was possible because the reed was notheld between the lips, as the modern oboe’s is, butinside the mouth. Many pictures show the aulosplayer with a leather band tied around his head andcovering his mouth; this band probably served tosupport the performer’s cheeks, enabling him toblow harder. The aulos is thought to have had a veryshrill sound.Auric (ō rēk′), Georges (zhôrzh), 1889–1983.A French composer who became one of the groupknown as Les Six (see SIX, LES). Auric studied withthe composer Vincent d’Indy, and like many otherFrench musicians of his time, he rebelled againstthe influence of Wagner and late nineteenth-centuryGerman romanticism. Auric’s works includesongs, chamber music, ballets (Les Fâcheux, Phèdre),and music for motion pictures (MoulinRouge).authentic cadenceauthentic modesSee under CADENCE.See under CHURCH MODES.Autoharp An instrument much like a zither buthaving a series of chord bars fixed to the strings,which hold down all but the strings of the chord tobe played. The player strums the strings with the fingers,a pick, or a plectrum, and at the same timepresses a button activating the proper chord bar, sothat the desired chord alone sounds. The Autoharpwas invented in the late nineteenth century and isused mainly to accompany folk singing. It is quiteeasy to play. Small Autoharps can produce only fivechords, but larger instruments can sound as many asfifteen. It has become a standard instrument of oldtimecountry music.auxiliary toneTONE.fig. 13 p/u from p. 17Another term for NEIGHBORING