Dictionary of Music - Birding America

tonality 433sections, used a few at a time, making for clearermusical textures (since the whole orchestra rarelyplays at the same time). This technique also appearsin his Concerto for Orchestra (1963), dedicated toBenjamin Britten. Tippett’s third opera, The KnotGarden (1970), is, like his first, symbolic in subject,but the music is much more spare and is in partbased on a twelve-tone theme (see SERIAL MUSIC).Here Tippett used QUOTATION in both music andtext. Blues and other elements of popular music alsoare present, and the third act contains charades onthemes from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. It was followedby The Ice Break (1977) and Triple Concerto(1979) for violin, viola, cello and orchestra. In TheMask of Time (1984), for solo quartet, mixed chorus,and large orchestra, the text, composed of metaphorsfrom many sources, is divided into ten scenes representingvarious stages of the creation of the cosmos,the appearance of human life, the development ofsociety and technology and its potential for selfdestruction.Quotations abound, from other composersand Tippett’s own works. In additions tothese large-scale vocal compositions, Tippett’s outputincludes four piano sonatas, five string quartets,four symphonies, the oratorio The Vision of St.Augustine, the opera New Year (1989), The RoseLake for large orchestra (1995; his final work), andnumerous madrigals, choral works, and solo songs.tiréSee TIREZ.tirez (tē rā′). Also, tiré. The French term fordown-bow (see under BOWING).toastingSee under RAP.toccata (tô kä′tä) Italian. A keyboard compositionfor harpsichord, clavichord, or organ that containsa great deal of elaborate and rapid passagework—runs, arpeggios, and ornaments—whichsometimes alternates with sections in imitativecounterpoint (a melody being taken up in turn by thedifferent voice-parts; see IMITATION). The toccatawas developed by Italian keyboard composers of thesixteenth century, mainly Andrea Gabrieli, and laterby Giovanni Gabrieli, Claudio Merulo, and GirolamoFrescobaldi. It was taken up by numerous Germankeyboard composers of the baroque period(1600–1750), among them Froberger, Pachelbel, andBuxtehude, and eventually by Bach, who oftenpaired an organ toccata with a fugue, the toccatareplacing the prelude that normally preceded afugue. In the nineteenth century the toccata becamea piece to show off the performer’s technical skill;such works were written by Schumann, Debussy,and others.tombeau (tôN bō′) French. A lament (seeLAMENT, def. 1).tom-tom 1 A general name for drum, used by variousIndian tribes of North America. Contrary topopular belief, tom-toms were always played withdrumsticks, never with the bare hands. 2 A type ofhigh-pitched drum employed in dance bands, usuallyin sets. Supposedly imitating African drums,they can be tuned to definite pitches. Some tomtomshave two heads, and others only one. See alsoTIMBALES, def. 1.tonada (tō nä′ dä).SONG.The Spanish word for tune ortonadilla (tô nä th⁄ ē′yä, tô nä th⁄ ēl′ya) Spanish. Atype of short comic opera that was popular in Spainfrom about 1750 to 1850. Replacing the older andmore complicated ZARZUELA, the tonadilla originatedmuch as the Italian comic opera did, that is, asa humorous interlude inserted in a serious play oropera that eventually became an independent work.tonal Describing music that is in a definite key;see KEY, def. 3; TONALITY. —tonal answer Seeunder ANSWER; see also under SEQUENCE.tonality (tō nal′i tē). The use of a central note,called the tonic, around which the other tonal materialof a composition—the notes, intervals, andchords—is built and to which the music returns for asense of rest and finality. Tonality refers particularlyto harmony, that is, to chords and their relationships.Nearly all music of the seventeenth to nineteenthcenturies is based on tonality (and often is describedas “tonal” or “diatonic”), but since about 1900 many