Dictionary of Music - Birding America

esponsory 347fifteenth century, the earliest surviving examplebeing a Requiem by Ockeghem. Until the seventeenthcentury the sequence “Dies irae” was alwaysleft in the original plainsong. Outstanding settings ofthe Requiem include those of Palestrina (1554),Lasso (1589), Victoria (1603), Jommelli (1756),Mozart (1791), Berlioz (1838), Bruckner (1849),Verdi (1873), Fauré (1887), Dvořák (1890), Pizzetti(1922), Duruflé (1947), Ligeti (1969), Schnittke(1975), Imbrie (1981), Penderecki (1985), and Harbison(2003). A few compositions bearing the title“Requiem” are not actually Masses. Brahms’s Eindeutsches Requiem (“A German Requiem”) is a cantatabased on biblical texts, while Delius’s Requiem(1916) is to texts by the German philosopher Nietzsche,and Britten’s A War Requiem (1961) includespoems by Wilfrid Owen along with portions of theliturgy.rescue opera An opera in which the hero (orheroine) is rescued from death at the last minute.Very popular at the time of the French Revolution,rescue operas were written by, among others, Cherubini(Les Deux Journées), and Beethoven (Fidelio).resolution In classical harmony, the movement ofa dissonant interval or chord to either a less dissonantone or a consonant one. Dissonance impliestension, and consonance the release of tension, orrest. For example, suppose chord C–E–B♭, in whichthe minor seventh (C–B♭) is dissonant, is followedby E–G–C, a consonance; the B♭, from the firstchord is said to resolve into the C of the secondchord, or the first chord itself is said to resolve intothe second chord, and the succession of the twochords is called a resolution.resonator 1 The part of a musical instrument thatis made to vibrate, and hence produce sound, forexample, the strings of the violin, the air columninside a clarinet, the skin of a drumhead, etc. 2 Anobject or material that reinforces the vibrations ofsound, such as the piano’s soundboard and the violin’sbelly, which both strengthen the vibrations ofthe instrument’s strings by vibrating along withthem. 3 Specifically, a hollow body attached below avibrating material, such as the gourd attached to aSITAR or the tubes placed under the bars of theorchestral MARIMBA. (See also SYMPATHETICSTRINGS; SOUND.)Respighi (res pē′gē), Ottorino (ô tô rē′nô),1879–1936. An Italian composer who is famouslargely for three symphonic poems, Le Fontane diRoma (“The Fountains of Rome”), I Pini di Roma(“The Pines of Rome”), and Feste romane (“RomanFestivals”). Although he composed many otherworks, including numerous operas (all failures),cantatas, chamber music, and songs, they are rarelyperformed. Respighi studied with several eminentmusicians, among them Rimsky-Korsakov and MaxBruch. His music combines an enormous number ofstyles, including elements from impressionism,medieval plainsong, and late romanticism (RichardStrauss, in particular), subjected to Respighi’s ownmasterful orchestration.respondSee RESPONSE.response Also, respond, responsory. In theRoman Catholic and various Protestant church services,an answer by the congregation or choir to achant, prayer, lesson, or other statement made by thepriest or a soloist. In the Roman Catholic rites, thepsalms were often performed in this way, a stylecalled responsorial psalmody (see PSALM). In theMiddle Ages, composers frequently gave the soloportions of such chants a polyphonic setting (withseveral voice-parts), sung by several soloists, whilethe responses sung by the choir remained in plainsong(with one voice-part, with the choir singing inunison). This practice persisted in some of themotets based on responses that were written duringthe Renaissance, such as those by the English composerThomas Tallis. In the Anglican rites, responsescontinued to be used for portions of the service. Inother Protestant churches, however, the responsecame to mean simply a short musical piece (usuallyno more than ten or twelve measures long) sung bythe choir after the minister’s prayer or after the benediction(closing blessing). Also see CALL ANDRESPONSE.responsorySee RESPONSE.