Dictionary of Music - Birding America

cassette 65Carissimi (kä rēs′sē mē), Giacomo (jä′kô mô),1605–1674. An Italian composer rememberedchiefly for his contributions to the development ofthe ORATORIO. Shortly after 1600, religious themes,such as Bible stories, were made the subjects ofoperas and performed on the stage. Carissimi treatedsuch themes as concert works, which were notstaged and were usually performed in church. Themusic still resembled that of early opera, but Carissimiincluded more sections for the chorus andadded one or more narrators who told the story inrecitatives (speechlike sections). His oratorios, allwith Latin texts, include Jephte, Judicium Salomonis(“The Judgment of Solomon”), Jonas, and Baltazar.carol 1 A song for Christmas, the English counterpartof the French NOËL and German Weihnachtslied.In England the term was originally applied toany song having a fixed refrain, called a burden, andsung by the entire group, that alternated with a seriesof more or less uniform stanzas sung by soloists; thisform grew out of one or more medieval dances.Most carol texts were religious; some were inEnglish, others in Latin, and still others combinedboth languages and occasionally also includedFrench. The music was polyphonic (with severalvoice-parts), a feature that differentiates the carolfrom the ballad, another kind of popular songderived from dance and having stanzas and a refrain.A famous carol was the so-called Agincourt carol,Deo gratias Anglia (“England thanks God”), thatcelebrated the English victory of 1415. During thesixteenth century, carols came to be associated withChristmas. Today, Christmas carols come from avariety of sources, chiefly folk songs and other secular(nonreligious) music. Some, such as Stille Nacht(“Silent Night”) by Franz Gruber (1787–1863),were especially composed as Christmas carols.Others, such as “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen,”are based on older music (in this case, a sixteenthcenturyhymn). 2 A similar song associated withanother religious holiday, such as Easter.Carter (kär′tər), Elliott, 1908– . An Americancomposer who until about 1951 wrote music in aneoclassic style (see NEOCLASSICISM), largely tonaland with hints of jazz influence, but then turned to avariety of newer techniques, culminating in atonal,densely textured music, most of it instrumental.Carter was especially concerned with the dramaticcontrasts and interplay of different kinds of instrument,and also with the complex interaction ofrhythms, tempos, dynamics, pitches, and other elements.One of his favorite techniques, which hecalled metric modulation, superimposes opposingrhythms, such as triplets on quintuplets, and shiftsthe basic pulse from one to another. Works fromCarter’s early period include Symphony no. 1 andthe ballets The Minotaur and Pocahantas. His PianoSonata and Sonata for cello and piano indicate atransition to his later style, which emerges in StringQuartet no. 1 and Variations for Orchestra and isfully realized in later chamber works and especiallysuch orchestral works as the Double Concerto forharpsichord and piano, Piano Concerto, Concertofor orchestra, and A Symphony of Three Orchestras.In 1975 Carter returned to writing his first vocalmusic since the 1940s, setting poems by ElizabethBishop (A Mirror on Which to Dwell, 1975), JohnAshbery, and Robert Lowell. A later vocal work isthe song cycle Of Challenge and Love (1995), a settingof five poems by John Hollander. Other outstandingworks of his are the Brass Quintet (1974),Triple Duo (1983) for violin, cello, flute, clarinet,piano, and percussion, String Quartets no. 4 (1986)and 5 (1995), Oboe Concerto (1988), Clarinet Concerto(1997), Piano Quintet (1997), Symphonia fororchestra (1997), What Next? (1999; his first opera),Cello Concerto (2001), and Boston Concerto(2003).cassa rullante (kä′sä roo — län′te). The Italian termfor TENOR DRUM.cassation (ka sē′shən). An eighteenth-centuryinstrumental composition in several movements thatis designed for outdoor performance, particularlyduring the evening. A cassation is usually scored forwind instruments but otherwise it is identical to theSERENADE and DIVERTIMENTO.cassette (ka set′). A small plastic housing containingmagnetic tape and two reels for supply andtakeup.