Dictionary of Music - Birding America

340 reelreel A lively dance for two or more couples. Themusic is in duple meter (any meter in which thereare two basic beats per measure, such as 2/2 or 2/4),usually 2/4 or 4/4 meter, and consists of regularfour- or eight-measure phrases that are repeated overand over. The reel originated in northern Europe,mainly in Great Britain and Scandinavia. The Americanversion known as Virginia reel is modeled onthe Irish and Scottish reel.reform operaWILLIBALD.See under GLUCK, CHRISTOPHrefrain 1 Also, chorus. In a poem or song, certainlines that are repeated at regular intervals, bothwords and music remaining the same each time. Thechanging portions of the poem or song are calledverses or stanzas, and they alternate with theunchanging refrain. (When the music for the versesremains the same as well, the form is calledSTROPHIC.)The idea of a refrain stems from early churchmusic, with its responses (first by the congregationand later by the choir) to solo chants (see ANTIPHON,def. 1; PSALM). Songs with refrains began to be writtenearly in the Middle Ages. Particularly importantwere three French forms, the ballade, rondeau, andvirelai. In these the text of the refrain was oftentaken from a well-known poem or song. Sometimesthe refrains from several poems were used in a singlesong, so that actually each refrain was different.Such borrowed refrains were also to be used inone voice-part of a motet, usually in the highest part.2 In instrumental music, a term occasionally usedfor a periodically recurring section. The most importantmusical form with a section repeated over andover is the RONDO.regal (rē′gəl). A small portable organ of the lateMiddle Ages and Renaissance. It had only reedpipes, which are made to sound by the vibrations ofa flexible strip of metal (see under REED). Earlyregals had only a single rank of pipes; later morewere added. In the course of the fifteenth century,reed pipes began to be used in the larger churchorgans, which until then had had only flue pipes, andthese reed pipes themselves were called regals. Oneversion of regal was small enough to be folded inhalf like a book; for this reason it was called bibleregal. See also ORGAN.Reger (rā′gər), Max (mäks), 1873–1916. A Germancomposer who composed an enormous numberof works in almost every form except opera, particularlya great deal of organ and chamber music. Regerrejected the ROMANTICISM of the late nineteenth century,turning for inspiration to the works of Bach. Heused numerous baroque forms—prelude and fugue,toccata, suite, sonata for unaccompanied violin—andhe emphasized counterpoint and rapid movement,resulting in a texture like that of many baroque concertos.However, Reger’s treatment of harmony, thepiling up of chord after chord in rapid succession, isa feature that belongs more to his own time than toBach’s. Notable among Reger’s orchestral works areSinfonietta, op. 90; Eine Lustspielouvertüre (“AComedy Overture”), op. 120; and Variations andFugue on a Theme by Mozart, op. 132.reggae (rā′gā, re′gā). A kind of popular dancemusic that developed in Jamaica in the late 1960sand spread first to Great Britain and then throughoutAmerica and Europe. An outgrowth of earlierJamaican popular forms melded with elements ofLatin music and American rhythm and blues, reggaeis vocal music, either a solo or harmonized (by three,four, or more voices) song, usually strophic (in stanzas),supported by the driving melodies and rhythmsof guitars, percussion (especially hi-hat cymbals,snares, and bass drum), and sometimes electricorgan, mouth organ, piano, and/or winds. The mostimportant instrument by far is the electric bass. Likemany popular genres, reggae is in 4/4 time. However,as in most other Jamaican music, the strongly feltbeats are not 1 and 3 but 2 and 4. The bass drumplays a definite rhythm and also may play a distinctmelody line; reggae bass lines are called riddims (acorruption of “rhythms”). They complement thechords, melody, and lyrics of the song but, because oftheir distinct pattern, can stand as a separate composition.The name “reggae” itself comes from aJamaican street expression meaning “raggedy, everydaystuff,” and initially the music served as anexpression of protest for the island’s urban poor. The