Opera Vocabulary |
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1. Overture - |
An opening composition before the opera |
2. Adagio - |
Slow |
3. Allegro - |
Fast |
4. Coda - |
Special ending |
5. Theme - |
Reocurring melody in a piece of music |
6. Staccato - |
Short and detatched |
7. Legato - |
Smooth and connected |
8. Aria - |
Opera solo |
9. Soprano - |
The highest female voice |
10. Recitative - |
Conversation in an opera that is sung rather than spoken |
11. Duet - |
Two singers or instrumentalists singing or playing in harmony |
12. Trio - |
Three singers or instrumentalists singing or playing in harmony |
13. Repetition - |
A repeated melody or rhythm |
14. Contrast - |
A different melody or rhythm |
15. Tenor - |
The highest male singing voice |
16. Baritone - |
The middle male voice part between tenor and bass |
17. Bass - |
The lowest male voice part |
18. Contralto - |
The lowest female voice part |
19. Introduction - |
Music played for several measures before the soloist or group starts to playor sing |
20. Meter - |
The way beats are organized into measures |
21. Articulation - |
The style in which a piece is performed |
22. Tempo - |
How fast or slow the music is performed |
23. Dynamics - |
How loud and soft the music is performed |
24.Lyrics - |
The words of a song |
25. Libretto - |
The words of an opera |
26. Forte - |
Italian word for loud |
27. Piano - |
Italian word for soft |
28.Tone color - |
The characteristic sound of a voice or instrument |
29. Leitmotif - |
A specific melody associated with a specific character |
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