A suite is an instrumental piece consisting of several shorter pieces. The Baroque suite generally contains a series of dance movements, in particular the allemande, courante, sarabande and gigue. Later suites of all kinds exist, some formed from extracts of a larger work—an opera, ballet or incidental music.

Time or metre, unlike the word tempo, which means speed or pace, are used in music for the metrical divisions or bar-lengths of a piece of music. These are indicated by two numbers at the beginning of a work or at the introduction of a changed time by two numbers that form a time signature. The higher of the two numbers shows how many beats there a [..]

A is the note of the musical scale used generally for tuning (= French, Italian, Spanish: la). Notes in English are given letter names: A, B, C, D, E, F and G.

A basso cantante (= French: basse chantante) is a singing bass, a bass singing a more lyrical melodic line, as, perhaps, in the title role of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov.

(see ‘Cor anglais’)

The word ensemble is used in three senses: it may indicate the togetherness of a group of performers (if ensemble is poor, the players are not together); it may indicate part of an opera that involves a group of singers; or it may mean a group of performers.

An elegy (= French: élégie) is a lament, either vocal or instrumental.

A duet is part of an opera intended for two voices. It has always been of importance in opera, from Cavalieri’s duet for Body and Soul in his Rappresentatione di anima e di corpo (‘Representation of Soul and Body’) in 1600 and Monteverdi’s famous closing duet for Nero and Poppaea in L’incoronazione di Poppea (‘The Coronation of Poppaea’) to Sous le [..]

Dramma per musica (drama for music) would appear to have been largely a term used by librettists for their work, particularly in contributions to what became known as opera seria, in the first part of the 18th century.

The form of drum generally found in the orchestra is the kettledrum or, in incorrect Italian, timpani (incorrect in that the Italian singular timpano seldom appears in English usage). Other smaller and larger drums may also be used, including the snare drum, a smaller instrument with a vibrating strip that can be switched on or off, and the bass dr [..]