Dictionary of Music - Birding America

Bull, John 51Bruch (broo KH), Max (mäks), 1838–1920. AGerman composer remembered primarily for thefirst of his three violin concertos (Concerto no. 1, inG minor, op. 26), Scottish Fantasy for violin andorchestra, and Kol Nidrei, op. 47, a setting of aHebrew melody for cello and orchestra. Arenowned teacher, Bruch also wrote three symphonies,two operas, and numerous choral andchamber works. His music is quite traditional andtechnically sound. His pupils included VaughanWilliams and Respighi.Bruckner (broo k′n ə r), Anton (än′tōn), 1824–1896.An Austrian composer and organist whose symphoniesand choral works won widespread recognitiononly after his death. Born in the village of Ansfelden,Bruckner earned a living by teaching andplaying the organ. In 1867 he went to Vienna ascourt organist and taught organ and theory at theConservatory there for the next twenty-four years.Most of his major works—nine symphonies (the lastunfinished), a Requiem Mass, three Masses, and aTe Deum—were written quite late in life and werenot well received by the public. Bruckner greatlyadmired Wagner, whose methods of orchestrationand harmony he tried to apply in his own works.Bruckner’s symphonies, which tend to be very long,contain some simple, charming melodies reminiscentof peasant songs and also give evidence of thecomposer’s profound religious sentiment.bruscamenteSee BRUSCO.brusco (broo — s′kô) Italian. Also, bruscamente(broo — s′′kä men′te). A direction to perform in abrusque, abrupt manner, with harsh accents.B-sharp One of the musical tones (see PITCHNAMES), one half tone above B and one half tonebelow C-sharp. On the piano, B-sharp is identicalwith C (see ENHARMONIC for an explanation; for thelocation of B-sharp on the piano, see KEYBOARD).Buchla (buk′lə).A kind of SYNTHESIZER.buffa (boo — ′fä) Italian: “comic.” A word used insuch terms as OPERA BUFFA (“comic opera”).buffo (boo — ′fô) Italian: “comic.” A word used insuch terms as basso buffo (“comic bass”).bugle (byoo — ′gəl). A simple brass instrument thatcan produce only the overtones of a single tone. AB-flat bugle, for example, might sound the notes B♭b♭-f′-b♭′′-d′′,as shown in the accompanying example.It could not, however, sound any of the notes inbetween. For this reason, bugles long were usedlargely for signaling (bugle calls) in the armedforces, although sometimes they were included inbrass bands. In the United States today, however,this simple bugle has been largely replaced by amore trumpetlike instrument pitched in G and providedwith one valve or piston and one rotary valve,enabling it to produce almost all notes from the Abelow middle C to the G above high C. (See alsoDRUM AND BUGLE CORPS.) Further, such bugles areavailable in numerous sizes.fig. 39 p/u from p. 55Like the other brass instruments, the bugle is madeof metal, usually brass or copper but sometimes silver,and has a cup-shaped mouthpiece; its bore isconical. Most bugles are keyed in B-flat or C. In theearly nineteenth century the bugle was given valvesor keys (see KEY BUGLE) in order to permit playingthe complete scale.fig. 40 p/u from p.55bugle à pistons (bY′ gl ə A pēs tôN′). The Frenchterm for FLUGELHORN.Bull (boo l), John, c. 1562–1628. An Englishcomposer who, like Sweelinck, whom he knew, hadgreat influence on the development of contrapuntalkeyboard music (in which several melodies or fragmentsof melodies are played at the same time). Bull