Ossia
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Ossia
() is a musical term for an alternative passage which may be played instead of the original passage. The word ''ossia'' comes from the Italian for "alternatively" and was originally spelled ''o sia'', meaning "or be it". ''Ossia'' passages are very common in opera and solo-piano works. They are usually an easier version of the preferred form of passage, but in Mily Balakirev's ''Islamey'', for instance, the urtext has ossia passages of both types (simpler and more difficult). Bel canto vocal music also frequently uses ''ossia'', also called ''oppure'', passages to illustrate a more embellished version of the vocal line. On the other hand, an ''ossia'' marking does not always indicate a change in difficulty; the piano solo music of Franz Liszt is typically full of alternative passages, often no easier or more difficult than the rest of the piece. This reflects Liszt's desire to leave his options open during a performance. Many of his ''ossia'' passages are cadenzas. An unusual u ...
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Ossia
() is a musical term for an alternative passage which may be played instead of the original passage. The word ''ossia'' comes from the Italian for "alternatively" and was originally spelled ''o sia'', meaning "or be it". ''Ossia'' passages are very common in opera and solo-piano works. They are usually an easier version of the preferred form of passage, but in Mily Balakirev's ''Islamey'', for instance, the urtext has ossia passages of both types (simpler and more difficult). Bel canto vocal music also frequently uses ''ossia'', also called ''oppure'', passages to illustrate a more embellished version of the vocal line. On the other hand, an ''ossia'' marking does not always indicate a change in difficulty; the piano solo music of Franz Liszt is typically full of alternative passages, often no easier or more difficult than the rest of the piece. This reflects Liszt's desire to leave his options open during a performance. Many of his ''ossia'' passages are cadenzas. An unusual u ...
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Oppure
() is a musical term for an alternative passage which may be played instead of the original passage. The word ''ossia'' comes from the Italian for "alternatively" and was originally spelled ''o sia'', meaning "or be it". ''Ossia'' passages are very common in opera and solo-piano works. They are usually an easier version of the preferred form of passage, but in Mily Balakirev's ''Islamey'', for instance, the urtext has ossia passages of both types (simpler and more difficult). Bel canto vocal music also frequently uses ''ossia'', also called '' oppure'', passages to illustrate a more embellished version of the vocal line. On the other hand, an ''ossia'' marking does not always indicate a change in difficulty; the piano solo music of Franz Liszt is typically full of alternative passages, often no easier or more difficult than the rest of the piece. This reflects Liszt's desire to leave his options open during a performance. Many of his ''ossia'' passages are cadenzas. An unusu ...
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Islamey
''Islamey: Oriental Fantasy'' (russian: Исламей: Восточная фантазия), is a composition for piano by Russian composer Mily Balakirev written in 1869. Harold C. Schonberg noted that ''Islamey'' was "at one time…considered the most difficult of all piano pieces and is still one of the knucklebusters." Its difficulty has led to the creation of numerous ossias (alternative passages) and made it popular as a virtuosic showpiece. Composition Balakirev, a committed nationalist whose music was influenced by Russian traditions, was inspired to write the piece after a trip to the Caucasus, as he relates in a letter: ...the majestic beauty of luxuriant nature there and the beauty of the inhabitants that harmonises with it – all these things together made a deep impression on me... Since I interested myself in the vocal music there, I made the acquaintance of a Circassian prince, who frequently came to me and played folk tunes on his instrument, that was something l ...
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Musical Terminology
A variety of musical terms are likely to be encountered in Sheet music, printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms Italian musical terms used in English, are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special musical meanings of these phrases differ from the original or current Italian meanings. Most of the other terms are taken from French language, French and German language, German, indicated by ''Fr.'' and ''Ger.'', respectively. Unless specified, the terms are Italian or English. The list can never be complete: some terms are common, and others are used only occasionally, and new ones are coined from time to time. Some composers prefer terms from their own language rather than the standard terms listed here. 0–9 ; 1′ : "sifflet" or one foot organ stop ; I : usually for Violin family, orchestral string instruments, used to indicate that the player should play the passage on the h ...
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Cadenza
In music, a cadenza (from it, cadenza, link=no , meaning cadence; plural, ''cadenze'' ) is, generically, an improvisation, improvised or written-out ornament (music), ornamental passage (music), passage played or sung by a solo (music), soloist or soloists, usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing virtuoso, virtuosic display. During this time the accompaniment will rest, or sustain a note or chord. Thus an improvised cadenza is indicated in written notation by a fermata in all parts. A cadenza will usually occur over the final or penultimate note in a piece, the lead-in (german: Eingang, link=no) or over the final or penultimate note in an important subsection of a piece. It can also be found before a final coda (music), coda or ritornello. In concerti The term ''cadenza'' often refers to a portion of a concerto in which the orchestra stops playing, leaving the soloist to play alone in free time (music), free time (without a strict, regular pulse) and can be wr ...
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Concertmaster
The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most significant leader in an orchestra, symphonic band or other musical ensemble. Orchestra In an orchestra, the concertmaster is the leader of the first violin section. There is another violin section, the second violins, led by the principal second violin. Any violin solo in an orchestral work is played by the concertmaster (except in the case of a concerto, in which case a guest soloist usually plays). It is usually required that the concertmaster be the most skilled musician in the section, experienced at learning music quickly, counting rests accurately and leading the rest of the string section by their playing and bow gestures. The concertmaster sits to the conductor's left, closest to the audience, in what is called the "first chair," " ...
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Violin Concerto (Berg)
Alban Berg's Violin Concerto was written in 1935 (the score is dated 11 August 1935). It is probably Berg's best-known and most frequently performed instrumental piece, in which the composer sought to reconcile diatonicism and dodecaphony. The work was commissioned by Louis Krasner, and dedicated by Berg to "the memory of an angel", Manon Gropius. It was the last work that Berg completed. Krasner performed the solo part in the premiere at the Palau de la Música Catalana, Barcelona, on 19 April 1936, after the composer's death. Conception and composition The piece stemmed from a commission from the violinist Louis Krasner. When he first received the commission, Berg was working on his opera ''Lulu'', and he did not begin work on the concerto for some months. The event that spurred him into writing was the death by polio of 18-year-old Manon Gropius, the daughter of Alma Mahler (once Gustav Mahler's wife) and Walter Gropius. Berg set ''Lulu'' aside to write the concerto, which ...
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Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( , ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively small ''oeuvre'', he is remembered as one of the most important composers of the 20th century for his expressive style encompassing "entire worlds of emotion and structure". Berg was born and lived in Vienna. He began to compose only at the age of fifteen. He studied counterpoint, music theory and harmony with Arnold Schoenberg between 1904 and 1911, and adopted his principles of ''developing variation'' and the twelve-tone technique. Berg's major works include the operas ''Wozzeck'' (1924) and ''Lulu'' (1935, finished posthumously), the chamber pieces '' Lyric Suite'' and Chamber Concerto, as well as a Violin Concerto. He also composed a number of songs ('' lieder''). He is said to have brought more "human values" to the twelve-tone system, ...
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Bel Canto
Bel canto (Italian for "beautiful singing" or "beautiful song", )—with several similar constructions (''bellezze del canto'', ''bell'arte del canto'')—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing. The phrase was not associated with a "school" of singing until the middle of the 19th century, when writers in the early 1860s used it nostalgically to describe a manner of singing that had begun to wane around 1830. Nonetheless, "neither musical nor general dictionaries saw fit to attempt definition f bel cantountil after 1900". The term remains vague and ambiguous in the 21st century and is often used to evoke a lost singing tradition. History of the term and its various definitions As generally understood today, the term ''bel canto'' refers to the Italian-originated vocal style that prevailed throughout most of Europe during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Late 19th- and 20th-century sources "would lead us to believe that ''bel canto'' was restricted to ...
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Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simply "c" in all words except surnames; this has led to Liszt's given name being rendered in modern Hungarian usage as "Ferenc". From 1859 to 1867 he was officially Franz Ritter von Liszt; he was created a ''Ritter'' (knight) by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, Francis Joseph I in 1859, but never used this title of nobility in public. The title was necessary to marry the Princess Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein without her losing her privileges, but after the marriage fell through, Liszt transferred the title to his uncle Eduard in 1867. Eduard's son was Franz von Liszt., group=n (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz L ...
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Urtext Edition
An urtext edition of a work of classical music is a printed version intended to reproduce the original intention of the composer as exactly as possible, without any added or changed material. Other kinds of editions distinct from urtext are facsimile and interpretive editions, discussed below. Preparing urtext editions The sources for an urtext edition include the autograph (that is, the manuscript produced in the composer's hand), hand copies made by the composer's students and assistants, the first published edition, and other early editions. Since first editions often include misprints, a particularly valuable source for urtext editions is a copy of the first edition that was hand-corrected by the composer. Typically, an urtext edition will include a preface indicating what sources were consulted by the editor. In the case of manuscripts, or first editions that have become rare, the editor will indicate the scholarly library or other repository in which they are kept. W ...
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