Composer Profile - Activefolio

158 Glossary
Sacre du printemps, Le The Rite of Spring ballet, composed by Igor Stravinsky.
sacred Music relating to the church, religious in nature.
Sanctus The fourth section of the Ordinary of the Mass.
sarabande Baroque dance from Spanish origins, in triple meter, typical movement
from a Baroque suite.
saxophone A single-reed member of the woodwind family.
scale A series of ascending or descending notes in order.
scherzo Fast triple meter composition, typically found as the third movement of a
symphony; replaced the minuet and trio form in nineteenth century.
secular Music not relating to the church or religious in nature.
segue Going directly from one movement or section to another without a break.
semitone See half step, it is the smallest interval used in traditional Western music.
sequence A restating of a motive or musical idea starting on a different pitch.
serenade This term is used to depict a piece that fuses the ideas of symphonies and
chamber music into a classical instrumental work.
serialism Type of compositional style whereby musical elements of pitch, tempo,
dynamics, rhythm and others are set into a fixed series.
shawm Medieval woodwind instrument that is the ancestor of the modern day
oboe.
sinfonia Found in Baroque opera, this term refers to a short instrumental piece
played during scene changes.
single reed Used by clarinets and saxophones, it is the mechanism attached to a
mouthpiece to focus air into the instrument.
singspiel German comic opera with spoken words, led to Romantic German opera.
snare drum Member of the percussion family, it is a small cylindrical drum with two
heads played with drumsticks.
sonata Instrumental work typically comprised of three movements, for soloist or
small ensemble.
sonata allegro form The compositional form (used for every first movement of a
piece in the Classical period having more than one movement) that is comprised
of three sections: exposition, development and recapitulation. Also called the
first-movement form.
sonata da camera Baroque chamber sonata, it refers to a typical suite of dances.
sonata da chiesa Baroque instrumental piece usually performed in a church, it has
four movements and a tempo scheme of slow-fast-slow-fast.
song cycle Term referring to a grouping of songs that are tied together by the text
or by musical ideas.
soprano Highest pitched vocal range.
sousaphone Largest and lowest member of the brass family, used as a marching
version of a tuba, having a forward-facing bell.