S
Saltarello
The saltarello is a rapid Italian dance in
triple
metre, examples of which survive from the Middle Ages. The
rhythm and
energy
of the dance are similar to those of the tarantella. A well
known
example
appears in the final movement of Mendelssohn's 'Italian'
Symphony.
Sarabande
The sarabande is a slow dance in triple
metre, generally
found in the baroque instrumental suite. The dance seems to
have been
Latin
American in origin, imported from Latin America to Spain in
the 16th
century.
Saxophone
The saxophone, a single-reed instrument,
was
invented
in the middle of the 19th century by Adolphe Sax. It is used
widely in
jazz, and has never been a permanent member of the symphony
orchestra.
Notable use is made of the saxophone by Ravel in his Boléro
and
in his orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an
Exhibition, and
other
composers have used the instrument for special effects.
Scale
A scale is a sequence of notes placed in
ascending
or descending order by step.
A scherzo is a light-hearted movement
found
from
the early 17th century in various forms, but used by Beethoven
as an
alternative
to the minuet in symphonies, sonatas and other instrumental
forms.
Chopin
expanded the form very considerably. The diminutive scherzino
or
scherzetto
is occasionally found, while scherzando occurs as a direction
to
performers.
The scherzo, like the minuet, is generally used to frame a
trio section
of contrasted material.
Scordatura
Unconventional tuning of stringed
instruments, particularly
lutes and violins, used to facilitate or make available
otherwise
difficult
or impossible pitch combinations, alter the characteristic timbre
of the instrument to increase brilliance, reinforce certain
sonorities
or tonalities by making them available on open strings,
imitate other
instruments,
etc. Used in solo violin part of Mahlers'
Fourth Symphony and Saint-Saens
"Danse Macabre."
Score
A musical score is written music that
shows
all parts.
A conductor's score, for example, may have as many as thirty
different
simultaneous instrumental parts on one page, normally having
the
woodwind
at the top, followed below by the brass, the percussion and
the
strings.
A distinction is made between a vocal score, which gives voice
parts
with
a simplified two-stave version of any instrumental parts, and
a full
score,
which includes all vocal and instrumental parts generally on
separate
staves.
To score a work is to write it out in score. A symphony, for
example,
might
be sketched in short score, on two staves, and later
orchestrated or
scored
for the required instruments.
Secundal
Vertical sonorities (harmony) constrcuted
using intervals
of a second (half-step or whole-step)
Seguidilla
The seguidilla or seguidillas is a fairly
quick triple-metre
Spanish dance. There is a famous imitation of the form in
Carmen's
seguidilla
in the first act of Bizet's opera Carmen.
Semi-opera
The term semi-opera has been coined to
describe the
English dramatic works of the later 17th century that combined
spoken
drama
with a significant element of music, as in Purcell's King
Arthur, with
a text by Dryden, or in the same composer's The Fairy Queen,
an
adaptation
of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Sempre
Sempre (Italian: always) is found in
directions to
performers, as in sempre piano, always soft.
Senza
Senza (Italian: without) is found in
directions to
performers, particularly in phrases such as senza sordino,
without mute.
Septet
A septet is a composition for seven
players
or the
name for a group of seven players.
The repetition of a phrase of melody
(melodic
sequence)
and/or a harmonic progression (harmonic sequence) at different
pitch
levels,
the succession of pitch levels rising or falling by the same
or similar
intervals. In a melodic sequence (as distinct from
imitation),
the
repetition occurs within a single voice. Sequences are
often
employed
to bring about a modulation. Sequences occur frequently
in the
music
of Baroque composers
such as Handel
and in the development sections of works in sonata
form and similar modulatory passages of the Classical
period. The sequential treatment of leitmotifs
is a prominent feature of the musico-dramatic technique of Wagner.
Serenade
A serenade (= German: Serenade,
Ständchen) is
often similar in form to the divertimento. Etymologically a
piece for
evening
performance, usually outdoors, the counterpart of the morning
Aubade,
the
title came to have a much more general meaning, although it
often
suggests
a piece of music in honour of someone or something, an
extension of the
traditional performance of a lover beneath the window of his
mistress.
Serialism
Serialism is the important 20th century
compositional
technique that uses, as a basis of unity, a series of pitches
(the
original
concept was to use all twelve semitones in the octave) in a
certain
order,
which may then be taken in retrograde form, in inversion and
in
retrograde
inversion, and also in transposition. The technique, an
extension of
late
romantic chromaticism, was formulated by Arnold
Schoenberg in the 1920s followed by his pupils Alban
Berg and Anton
Webern, and
thereafter
by many other composers. Problems arise for the listener in
the
difficulty
of hearing the series, however visually apparent from the
written score.
Serialism may also extend to the other
elements
of musical construction, such as vertical sonorities
(harmony), rhythm,
dynamics, timber, etc.
(see Twelve-Tone
Music)
Sextet
A sextet is a composition for six players
or
the
name of a group of six players.
Sharp
A sharp, represented by the sign #, added
before
a note, raises its pitch by a semitone. In general terms music
that is
sharp may be simply out of tune, at too high a pitch.
Siciliana
The siciliana or siciliano (= French:
sicilienne)
had its probable origin in a Sicilian shepherd dance or song.
It came
to
be associated in the later 17th century with the pastoral,
particularly
in the Christmas Concerto of the period. The siciliana is
normally in
compound
dotted rhythm and is slow and sometimes melancholy in mood.
Side-drum
The side-drum or snare drum is military in
origin.
It is a small drum, played with two wooden sticks, with a band
of gut
strings
or wires that can be stretched across the under-surface of the
drum to
add a rattling effect when it is struck.
Sinfonia (Italian: symphony) in earlier
usage
indicated
a passage or piece of instrumental music, sometimes an
introductory
piece,
leading later to the Italian overture, known as the sinfonia
before the
opera, the origin of the Italian symphony.
Sinfonia concertante
The sinfonia concertante is a concerto
that
uses
two or more solo instruments. The title was used in the later
18th
century
by Mozart, Haydn and their contemporaries, and has
occasionally been
used
by composers since then.
Sinfonietta
A sinfonietta is a small symphony. The
word
is sometimes
used to indicate a small orchestra.
A Singspiel is a German form of play with
music.
The word is used to indicate a stage work that makes some use
of spoken
dialogue, even in a context of primarily musical interest.
Examples are
found in Mozart's The Magic Flute and in Beethoven's only
opera,
Fidelio.
The title sonata originally designated
music
that
was to be played rather than sung. The baroque sonata
developed in two
parallel forms. The first, the sonata da chiesa or church
sonata, was
generally
of four movements in the order slow-fast-slow-fast, the faster
movements
fugal in character. The second, the sonata da camera or
chamber sonata,
was in essence a dance suite. Sonatas of this kind might be
played by a
melodic instrument with basso continuo or with a realised
keyboard
part,
or in the form of trio sonatas, with two melody instruments
and basso
continuo,
therefore normally involving four players. The classical
sonata,
instrumental
music again generally in several movements, might involve one
or more
instruments.
There was in particular a development of the solo keyboard
sonata, from
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach to Beethoven. Duo sonatas, generally
using a
keyboard instrument and a melody instrument, developed from an
earlier
form in which the melody instrument predominated to a form in
which the
keyboard assumed greater importance, with an optional
accompaniment
from
a melody instrument. Greater degrees of equality between the
two were
achieved
in the later violin sonatas of Mozart and the violin sonatas
and cello
sonatas of Beethoven.
The 19th century brought an
expansion of
the sonata and greater freedom in the treatment of existing
forms,
often
with more considerable technical demands on performers, as
in the
violin
and piano sonatas and cello and piano sonatas of Brahms.
Sonata-form, otherwise known with similar
inaccuracy
as first movement form or sonata-allegro form, developed
during the
second
half of the 18th century as a principal form in instrumental
music,
from
Haydn onwards. The form is based on a triple division of a
movement
into
exposition, development and recapitulation. The first section
normally
contains two contrasting subjects, the first in the tonic key
and the
second
in the dominant key or in the relative major of a minor key
movement.
The
section ends with a coda or codetta. The middle section, the
development,
offers varied treatment of themes or parts of themes that have
already
been heard. The recapitulation brings back the first and
second
subjects
now in the tonic key. The movement ends with a coda. The form
is used
for
all kinds of instrumental music, from sonatas to symphonies,
and is
expanded
and varied in a number of ways.
As the name indicates, sonata-rondo is a
mixed form
incorporating the sonata
and rondo
principles in varying degrees. Typical sonata-rondos
follow
an
A B A C A B' A plan in which the first
A and B
are treated as the primary and secondary themes of an
exposition, the C
section becomes a development, and the second A and B (A B')
are
treated
as recapitulation.
Sonatina
A sonatina is a little sonata, simpler in
structure
and shorter in length than a sonata.
Soprano
The soprano is the highest kind of female
voice.
The word may be used as an adjective to describe instruments
of higher
range, such as the soprano saxophone, or to qualify the word
clef, the
soprano clef, now little used, puts a C clef on the bottom
line of the
stave.
Sostenuto
Sostenuto (Italian: sustained) is a
direction
to
performers to play smoothly.
Spinet
The spinet is a small form of harpsichord.
Sprechstimme
/ Sprechgesang
A type of voice production halfway between
song and
speech. It consists of recitation on higher or lower
pitches,
which,
however, are merely hinted at in a subdued manner.
Sprechstimme
is
usually notated on a staff by means of crosslike symbols
instead of
notes.
Both the method and notation were introduced by Humperdinck in
his
melodrama
"Königskinder" (1897). Schoenberg
used it in "Pierrot Lunaire" (1912) and "Die Glückliche Hand"
(1913),
and Alban Berg in
"Wozzeck" and
"Lulu".