Dictionary of Music - Birding America

36 bayachange. —senza battuta (sen′dzä bä too — ′tä). Aphrase meaning “without beat,” used as a directionto perform a piece or section in very free rhythm.bayaSee under TABLAS.Bay Psalm Book The first book printed in BritishNorth America, published in 1640 in Cambridge,Massachusetts. Its exact title is The Whole Booke ofPsalms Faithfully Translated into English Metre, thepsalms being paraphrased in rhymed English versefor singing in Protestant worship services. The firstedition of the book contained no melodies, but therewere numerous later editions, and the ninth edition,published in 1698, contained thirteen tunes. Thisedition was the first book of music printed in NorthAmerica.Bayreuth (bī′roit).See under WAGNER.BB-flat bass (dub′əl bē′ flat′ bās′). 1 A valvedbugle with a very wide conical bore and a baritonerange, from D to A. It is used mainly in bands. 2 Aname for the orchestral tuba (see TUBA, def. 2; alsosee HELICON). 3 A name sometimes used for thecontrabass SAXHORN.b.c.TINUO).fig. 29 p/u from p. 38An abbreviation for basso continuo (see CON-Beach, Amy Marcy Cheney (Mrs. H. H. A.Beach), 1867–1944. An American pianist andcomposer, the first American woman to produce asymphony. Her Gaelic Symphony was performed bythe Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1896. The mostsuccessful of her other instrumental works, which arein a late romantic style that has been likened to thatof Brahms, include a piano concerto, violin sonata,and piano quintet. She also wrote about 100 songs,the best of which, such as “Ecstasy,” “The Year’s atthe Spring,” and “Ah, Love But a Day,” show hermelodic inventiveness and fine craftsmanship.beam Any of the thick, horizontal lines used toconnect the stems of groups of eighth notes, sixteenthnotes, etc. Eighth notes are connected by asingle beam, sixteenth notes by two beams, etc.beat The unit used to measure musical time, indicatedby the up-and-down movements of a conductor’shand or by tapping one’s foot in time to themusic. Beats tend to fall into groups of twos orthrees. It is these groups that are the basis for dividingmusic into the most common meters. The numberof beats in a measure of music depends on bothtime signature and tempo. A piece with a 4/4 timesignature (indicating that there are four beats permeasure and each beat falls on a quarter note) willhave four beats to the measure only when it isplayed in moderate tempo, neither very fast nor veryslow. The song “Yankee Doodle” has four beats tothe measure, the first and third of which are strongerthan the second and fourth (one tends to sing YankeeDoo-dle, the syllables in italics being slightlyemphasized). If the song is played fairly fast, onetends to miss the second and fourth beats—thereisn’t enough time to emphasize them—so that thereare, in effect, only two beats per measure. When thesong is played at the fastest possible tempo, the thirdbeat is skipped too, leaving only one beat per measure,the first. Alternatively, if the piece is playedvery, very slowly, one tends to give each of the fourbeats an extra beat (Ya-an-kee-ee Doo-oo-dle-le),making eight beats per measure. See also RHYTHM.beating reed A term used to distinguish singleand double reeds, which vibrate against another surface,from free reeds. See under REED.bebop (bē′bop). See BOP.Bebung (bā′boo nk) German.CHORD; VIBRATO.See under CLAVI-Becken (bek′ən). The German word for CYMBALS.Beethoven (bā′tō vən), Ludwig van (loo d′vigvän), 1770–1827. A German composer whosenine symphonies and numerous piano and chambercompositions mark him as one of the outstanding