W
Waltz
The waltz (= French: valse;
German: Walzer), a dance in triple time, became the most popular of all
ball-room dances in the 19th century, typified in Vienna by the compositions
and performances of the Strauss family. As a purely instrumental form,
the waltz provided an apt vehicle for composers from Chopin to Ravel.
Whole-tone Scale
A scale consisting entirely of whole tones.
This scale is completely uniform in that all scale degrees are equidistant
from each other and there are no semitones to suggest the V- I harmonic
progression. There are only two different whole-tone arrangements
in the chromatic scale (C D E F# G# A#; C# D# F G A B)
Woodwind
The woodwind section of the modern orchestra includes
flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons and related instruments, although
flutes are generally no longer made of wood. These instruments are all
aerophones, blowing instruments, the sound produced by blowing across an
aperture in the case of the flute, by the vibration of a single reed in
the case of the clarinet and by the vibration of double reeds in the case
of the oboe and the bassoon.