Glossary of Musical Terms

Our glossary of musical terms lets you look up any musical term unfamiliar to you, and comes to us courtesy of our good friends at Naxos.

E is a note of the scale (= Italian, French: mi).

Elegy

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

English horn

The English horn is more generally known in England as the cor anglais. It is the tenor oboe.

Ensemble

The word ensemble is used in three senses. It may refer to 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. It can also mean a group of performers.

Entr'acte

As the word suggests, an entr'acte (= German: Zwischenspiel) is music between the acts of a play or opera.

Etude

An Etude is a study, intended originally for the technical practice of the player. Chopin, Liszt, and later composers elevated the tude into a significant piece of music, no mere exercise.

Exposition

The exposition in sonata-allegro form is the first section of the movement, in which the principal thematic material is announced. In the exposition of a fugue (a fugal exposition) the voices (= parts) enter one by one with the same subject: the exposition ends when all the voices have entered.

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Glossary of Musical Terms