music
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mu·sic
(myo͞o′zĭk)n.
1. The art of arranging sounds in time so as to produce a continuous, unified, and evocative composition, as through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre.
2. Vocal or instrumental sounds possessing a degree of melody, harmony, or rhythm.
3.
a. A musical composition.
b. The written or printed score for such a composition.
c. Such scores considered as a group: We keep our music in a stack near the piano.
4. A musical accompaniment.
5. A particular category or kind of music.
6. An aesthetically pleasing or harmonious sound or combination of sounds: the music of the wind in the pines.
[Middle English musike, from Old French musique, from Latin mūsica, from Greek mousikē (tekhnē), (art) of the Muses, feminine of mousikos, of the Muses, from Mousa, Muse; see men- in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
music
(ˈmjuːzɪk)n
1. (Music, other) an art form consisting of sequences of sounds in time, esp tones of definite pitch organized melodically, harmonically, rhythmically and according to tone colour
2. (Music, other) such an art form characteristic of a particular people, culture, or tradition: Indian music; rock music; baroque music.
3. (Music, other) the sounds so produced, esp by singing or musical instruments
4. (Music, other) written or printed music, such as a score or set of parts
5. any sequence of sounds perceived as pleasing or harmonious
6. (Music, other) rare a group of musicians: the Queen's music.
7. face the music informal to confront the consequences of one's actions
8. music to one's ears something that is very pleasant to hear: his news is music to my ears.
[C13: via Old French from Latin mūsica, from Greek mousikē (tekhnē) (art) belonging to the Muses, from Mousa Muse]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
mu•sic
(ˈmyu zɪk)n.
1. an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and dynamics.
2. sounds organized to have melody, rhythm, harmony, and dynamics.
3. the written or printed score of a musical composition.
4. musical quality: the music of words.
[1200–50; < Latin mūsica < Greek mousikḕ (téchnē) (the art) of the Muse, feminine of mousikós=Moûs(a) Muse + -ikos -ic]
mu′sic•less, adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Music
the theory that accent within a musical phrase can also be expressed by modifying the duration of certain notes rather than only by modifying dynamic stress. — agogic, adj.
1. the composition of music without a definite key; dodecaphony.
2. the music so written. Also atonality. — atonalist, n. — atonal, atonalistic, adj.
2. the music so written. Also atonality. — atonalist, n. — atonal, atonalistic, adj.
1. the techniques of choral singing.
2. the composition of music for chorus illustrative of a cognizance of choral techniques and the possibilities and limitations of choral singing. — choralistic, adj.
2. the composition of music for chorus illustrative of a cognizance of choral techniques and the possibilities and limitations of choral singing. — choralistic, adj.
the use of the chromatic scale or chromatic halftones in musical compositions. Cf. diatonicism.
a performer on an ancient Greek form of lyre called a cithara.
1. a composer of music employing counterpoint figures, as fugues.
2. a performer of music employing counterpoint figures. Also contrapuntalist.
2. a performer of music employing counterpoint figures. Also contrapuntalist.
the use of the diatonic scale of five whole tones and two halftones in the composition of music. Also diatonism. Cf. chromaticism.
the composition of music employing the twelvetone scale. Also called dodecatonality, atonality. — dodecaphonist, n. — dodecaphonic, adj.
a short hymn expressing praise to God. — doxological, adj.
1. the study of the music of a particular region or people from the viewpoint of its social or cultural implications.
2. the comparative study of the music of more than one such region or people. — ethnomusicologist, n.
2. the comparative study of the music of more than one such region or people. — ethnomusicologist, n.
1. the composition of fugues.
2. the performance of fugues. — fuguist, n.
2. the performance of fugues. — fuguist, n.
a performer on the viola da gamba.
Obsolete, a person versed in Gregorian chant. Also called Gregorian.
a person skilled in the principles of harmony. See also literature
1. music in which one voice carries the melody, sometimes with a ehord accompaniment.
2. Obsolete, unison. Also called monody, monophony. — homophonous, adj.
2. Obsolete, unison. Also called monody, monophony. — homophonous, adj.
1. the singing of hymns; hymnology.
2. the composition of hymns.
3. a study of hymns and their composers.
4. the preparation of expository material and bibliographies concerning hymns; hymnography. — hymnodist, n.
2. the composition of hymns.
3. a study of hymns and their composers.
4. the preparation of expository material and bibliographies concerning hymns; hymnography. — hymnodist, n.
the act or art of playing the lyre. — lyrist, n.
the branch of music theory that deals with melody.
a person who composes or sings melodies.
the writing of romantic, sensational stage plays interspersed with songs and orchestral music. — melodramatist, n. — melodramatic, adj.
an abnormal liking for music and melody. — melomaniac, n., adj. — melomane, n.
an instrument for marking time in music, producing regular ticking sounds at a variety of settings. — metronomic, metronomical, adj.
1. the art of minstrels.
2. their occupation.
3. a group of minstrels.
4. a collection of their music and songs.
2. their occupation.
3. a group of minstrels.
4. a collection of their music and songs.
1. music composed of a single melody with no accompaniment or harmony. Cf. homophony, polyphony.
2. monody. — monophonic, adj.
2. monody. — monophonic, adj.
the science of musical notation.
the scholarly and scientific study of music, as in historical research, theory of composition, etc. — musicologist, n. — musicological, adj.
a mania for music.
a music lover.
an intense dislike of music.
a juke-box, record-player, or player piano operated by the insertion of a nickel or other coin. See also films.
a performer on the ophicleide, an instrument, developed from the wooden serpent in the brass section of the orchestra.
1. the composition of music using all seven notes of the diatonic scale in a manner free from classical harmonie restrictions.
2. the music written in this style. — pandiatonic, adj.
2. the music written in this style. — pandiatonic, adj.
the technique of playing the piano. — pianist, n. — pianistic, adj.
a humorous performance at the piano, sometimes with a verbal accompaniment by the performer.
the combination of a number of separate but harmonizing melodies, as in a fugue. Cf. homophony. — polyphonic, polyphonous, adj.
the practice of using combinations of notes from two or more keys in writing musical compositions. Also polytonality. — polytonalist, n. — polytonal, adj.
1. the art, practice, or act of singing psalms in worship services.
2. a collection of psalms. — psalmodist, n. — psalmodial, psalmodie, psalmodical, adj.
2. a collection of psalms. — psalmodist, n. — psalmodial, psalmodie, psalmodical, adj.
any series of four related works, literary, dramatic, operatic, etc.
song, musical composition, or literary work created to honor or commemorate the dead; a funeral song. — threnodist, n. — threnodic, adj.
a composer who pays special attention to the tonal qualities of music. See also art.
the artistic use of commonplace, everyday, and contemporary material in opera, especially some 20th-century Italian and French works, as Louise. — verist, n., adj. — veristic, adj.
1. the musical theory and practice of Richard Wagner, characterized by coordination of all musical and dramatic components, use of the leitmotif, and departure from the conventions of earlier Italian opera.
2. influence or imitation of Wagner’s style. — Wagnerian, n., adj.
2. influence or imitation of Wagner’s style. — Wagnerian, n., adj.
-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Music
See Also: SINGING
- As music takes up the thread that language drops, so it is where Shakespeare ends that Beethoven began —Sidney Lanier
- The band wound up the tune like a train rushing into a station —Donald McCaig
- The cello is like a beautiful woman who has not grown older but younger with time, more slender, more supple, more graceful —Pablo Casals
- Composing is like making love to the future —Lukas Foss
- Composing is like organizing a meal. The different dishes must be so arranged as to rouse the appetite and renew the pleasure with each course —Moses Ibn Ezra
- A concert is like a bullfight, the moment of truth —Artur Rubinstein
- The conductor … flapped his arms like a rooster about to crow —Katherine Mansfield
- Each musician looks like mumps from blowing umpah umpah umps —Ogden Nash
- Fiddles tuning up like cats in pain —Harvey Swados
- Good music, like land and machines, had no people in sight —Will Weaver
In Weaver’s novel, Red Earth, White Earth, this simile is used to explain a character’s liking for music.
- A great burst of music gushed up like a geyser —Mary Lavin
- In came a fiddler, and tuned like fifty stomach aches —Charles Dickens
- In music as in love, pleasure is the waste product of creation —Igor Stravinsky
- It is like eating vanilla ice cream in Paradise, listening to beautiful music —Camille Lemmonnier
- Musical as the holes of a flute without the flute —O. Henry
- Music as loud as the roar of traffic —Marge Piercy
See Also: NOISE
- The music rushed from the bow [of fiddle] like water from the rock when Moses touched it —Henry Van Dyke
- The music enchanted the air … like the south wind, like a warm night, like swelling sails beneath the stars —Erich Maria Remarque
- Music is a big sublime instinct, like genius of all kinds —Ouida
- Music is a sort of dream architecture which passes in filmy clouds and disappears in nothingness —Percy A. Scholes
- Music is auditory intercourse without benefit of orgasm —Aldous Huxley
- Music is essentially useless, as life is —George Santayana
- Music is like wine … the less people know about it, the sweeter they like it —Robertson Davies
- Music is like a fickle, tantalizing mistress; one is rarely happy with her, but it is sheer tormented hell ever to be long away —Robert Traver
- Music is … like mathematics, very nearly a world by itself. It contains a whole gamut of experience, from sensuous elements to ultimate intellectual harmonies —George Santayana
- Music is not water, but it moves like water; it is not fire, but it soars as warm as the sun —Delmore Schwartz
- Music is the arithmetic of sounds as optics is the geometry of light —Claude Debussy
- Music, like balm, eases griefs smarting wound —Samuel Pordage
- (Drum, drum, drum, the) music like footsteps —T. Coraghessan Boyle
- Music may be regarded as a thermometer that makes it possible to register the degree of sensibility of every people, according to the climate in which they live —André Ernest Grétry
- Music throbbed like blood —T. Coraghessan Boyle
- Music yearning like a god in pain —John Keats
- Opera in English makes about as much sense as baseball in Italian —H. L. Mencken
- The opera is like a husband with a foreign title: expensive to support, hard to understand, and therefore a supreme social challenge —Cleveland Amory
- The orchestra sounds like fifty cats in agony —J. B. Priestly
- Our musicians are like big canisters of gas. Light a match too close to them, and they will explode —Yevgeny Svetlanov, New York Times, October 20, 1986
Svetlanov, the Moscow State Symphony conductor, thus described Russian musicians in an article by Bernard Holland.
- The plaintive sound of saxophones moaning softly like a man who has just missed a short putt —P. G. Wodehouse
- Playing ‘bop’ is like playing ‘scrabble’ with all the vowels missing —Duke Ellington, quoted in New York Herald Tribune, July 9, 1961
- Pulled music from his violin as if he were lifting silk from a dressmaker’s table —Pat Conroy
- Saxophones wailing like a litter of pigs —Lawrence Durrell
- The string section sounded like cats in heat —Mary Hedin
- (Wade and Beth could hear) the subterranean thudding of his rock music turned low, like a giant heart beating in a sub-cellar —John D. MacDonald
- A symphony must be like the world, it must embrace everything —Gustav Mahler
Mahler’s comment was addressed to Jean Sibelius.
- To some people music is like food; to others like medicines; to others like a fan —Arabian Nights
- Tuneless and atonal, like the improvised songs of children caught up in frantic play —Robert Silverberg
- The written note is like a strait jacket, whereas music like life itself is constant movement, continuous spontaneity, free from restriction —Pablo Casals
Similes Dictionary, 1st Edition. © 1988 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
music
– musical1. 'music'
Music is the sound that people make when they sing or play instruments. Music is an uncount noun. You use the singular form of a verb after it.
Their music is uplifting and fun.
You do not call a musical composition a 'music'. You call it a piece of music.
The only pieces of music he knew were the songs in the school's songbook.
2. 'musical' used as an adjective
Musical can be an adjective or a noun. You use it as an adjective to describe things which are connected with the playing or studying of music.
...musical instruments.
...a musical career.
...one of London's most important musical events.
Someone who is musical has a natural ability and interest in music.
He came from a musical family.
However, a student who studies music is called a music student, not a 'musical student'. Someone who teaches music is a music teacher, not a 'musical teacher'. Here is a list of nouns in front of which you use music, not 'musical':
| business | critic | department | festival | industry |
| lesson | library | room | shop | student |
| teacher | video | |||
3. 'musical' used as a noun
A musical is a play or film that uses singing and sometimes dancing as part of the story.
She appeared in the musical 'Oklahoma'.
Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012
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| Noun | 1. |  music - an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous mannertransposition - (music) playing in a different key from the key intended; moving the pitch of a piece of music upwards or downwards tone ending, release - (music) the act or manner of terminating a musical phrase or tone entr'acte, interlude, intermezzo - a brief show (music or dance etc) inserted between the sections of a longer performance music - musical activity (singing or whistling etc.); "his music was his central interest" recapitulation - (music) the repetition of themes introduced earlier (especially when one is composing the final part of a movement) tuning - (music) calibrating something (an instrument or electronic circuit) to a standard frequency audio CD, audio compact disc - compact discs used to reproduce sound (voice and music) barrel organ, grind organ, hand organ, hurdy gurdy, hurdy-gurdy, street organ - a musical instrument that makes music by rotation of a cylinder studded with pegs electric organ, electronic organ, Hammond organ, organ - (music) an electronic simulation of a pipe organ soundboard, sounding board - (music) resonator consisting of a thin board whose vibrations reinforce the sound of the instrument stop - (music) a knob on an organ that is pulled to change the sound quality from the organ pipes; "the organist pulled out all the stops" string - a tightly stretched cord of wire or gut, which makes sound when plucked, struck, or bowed synthesiser, synthesizer - (music) an electronic instrument (usually played with a keyboard) that generates and modifies sounds electronically and can imitate a variety of other musical instruments unison - (music) two or more sounds or tones at the same pitch or in octaves; "singing in unison" registration - (music) the sound property resulting from a combination of organ stops used to perform a particular piece of music; the technique of selecting and adjusting organ stops timbre, tone, quality, timber - (music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound); "the timbre of her soprano was rich and lovely"; "the muffled tones of the broken bell summoned them to meet" crescendo - (music) a gradual increase in loudness fortissimo, forte - (music) loud decrescendo, diminuendo - (music) a gradual decrease in loudness pianissimo, piano - (music) low loudness fermata - (music) a prolongation of unspecified length on a note or chord or rest register - (music) the timbre that is characteristic of a certain range and manner of production of the human voice or of different pipe organ stops or of different musical instruments pyrotechnics - (music) brilliance of display (as in the performance of music) music - (music) the sounds produced by singers or musical instruments (or reproductions of such sounds) section, subdivision - a self-contained part of a larger composition (written or musical); "he always turns first to the business section"; "the history of this work is discussed in the next section" inscription, dedication - a short message (as in a book or musical work or on a photograph) dedicating it to someone or something exposition - (music) the section of a movement (especially in sonata form) where the major musical themes first occur musical notation - (music) notation used by musicians sheet music - a musical composition in printed or written form; "she turned the pages of the music as he played" musical scale, scale - (music) a series of notes differing in pitch according to a specific scheme (usually within an octave) tucket, fanfare, flourish - (music) a short lively tune played on brass instruments; "he entered to a flourish of trumpets"; "her arrival was greeted with a rousing fanfare" swoop, slide - (music) rapid sliding up or down the musical scale; "the violinist was indulgent with his swoops and slides" gamut - the entire scale of musical notes roulade - (music) an elaborate run of several notes sung to one syllable supertonic - (music) the second note of a diatonic scale mediant - (music) the third note of a diatonic scale; midway between the tonic and the dominant subdominant - (music) the fourth note of the diatonic scale dominant - (music) the fifth note of the diatonic scale submediant - (music) the sixth note of a major or minor scale (or the third below the tonic) leading tone, subtonic - (music) the seventh note of the diatonic scale |
| 2. | music - any agreeable (pleasing and harmonious) sounds; "he fell asleep to the music of the wind chimes" auditory sensation, sound - the subjective sensation of hearing something; "he strained to hear the faint sounds" music of the spheres - an inaudible music that Pythagoras thought was produced by the celestial reharmonise, reharmonize - provide with a different harmony; "reharmonize the melody" orchestrate - write an orchestra score for instrumentate, instrument - write an instrumental score for transcribe - rewrite or arrange a piece of music for an instrument or medium other than that originally intended | |
| 3. | music - musical activity (singing or whistling etc.); "his music was his central interest" activity - any specific behavior; "they avoided all recreational activity" carillon playing, carillon, bell ringing - playing a set of bells that are (usually) hung in a tower instrumental music - music produced by playing a musical instrument intonation - the production of musical tones (by voice or instrument); especially the exactitude of the pitch relations percussion - the act of playing a percussion instrument vocal music - music that is vocalized (as contrasted with instrumental music) singing, vocalizing - the act of singing vocal music whistling - the act of whistling a tune; "his cheerful whistling indicated that he enjoyed his work" music - an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner beats per minute, bpm, M.M., metronome marking - the pace of music measured by the number of beats occurring in 60 seconds interlude - perform an interlude; "The guitar player interluded with a beautiful improvisation" scamp - perform hastily and carelessly churn out - perform in a mechanical way sightread, sight-read - perform music from a score without having seen the score before; "He is a brilliant pianist but he cannot sightread" rap - perform rap music concertise, concertize - give concerts; perform in concerts; "My niece is off concertizing in Europe" prelude - play as a prelude jazz - play something in the style of jazz rag - play in ragtime; "rag that old tune" bugle - play on a bugle play - perform music on (a musical instrument); "He plays the flute"; "Can you play on this old recorder?" register - manipulate the registers of an organ skirl - play the bagpipes symphonise, symphonize - play or sound together, in harmony tweedle - play negligently on a musical instrument pipe - play on a pipe; "pipe a tune" slur - play smoothly or legato; "the pianist slurred the most beautiful passage in the sonata" pedal - operate the pedals on a keyboard instrument bang out - play loudly; "They banged out `The star-spangled banner'" play along, accompany, follow - perform an accompaniment to; "The orchestra could barely follow the frequent pitch changes of the soprano" modulate - change the key of, in music; "modulate the melody" bow - play on a string instrument with a bow sing - produce tones with the voice; "She was singing while she was cooking"; "My brother sings very well" psalm - sing or celebrate in psalms; "He psalms the works of God" minstrel - celebrate by singing, in the style of minstrels solmizate - sing using syllables like `do', `re' and `mi' to represent the tones of the scale; "The voice teacher showed the students how to solmizate" sing - deliver by singing; "Sing Christmas carols" troll - sing the parts of (a round) in succession hymn - sing a hymn carol - sing carols; "They went caroling on Christmas Day" madrigal - sing madrigals; "The group was madrigaling beautifully" drum - play a percussion instrument harp - play the harp; "She harped the Saint-Saens beautifully" conduct, direct, lead - lead, as in the performance of a composition; "conduct an orchestra; Barenboim conducted the Chicago symphony for years" conduct - lead musicians in the performance of; "Bernstein conducted Mahler like no other conductor"; "she cannot conduct modern pieces" fiddle - play the violin or fiddle trumpet - play or blow on the trumpet clarion - blow the clarion double tongue, triple-tongue - play fast notes on a wind instrument tongue - articulate by tonguing, as when playing wind instruments | |
| 4. | music - (music) the sounds produced by singers or musical instruments (or reproductions of such sounds) auditory sensation, sound - the subjective sensation of hearing something; "he strained to hear the faint sounds" piano music - the sound of music produced by a piano; "he thought he heard piano music next door" music - an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner syncopate - modify the rhythm by stressing or accenting a weak beat chord, harmonise, harmonize - bring into consonance, harmony, or accord while making music or singing key - regulate the musical pitch of clarion - blow the clarion double tongue, triple-tongue - play fast notes on a wind instrument tongue - articulate by tonguing, as when playing wind instruments | |
| 5. | music - punishment for one's actions; "you have to face the music"; "take your medicine" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
music
nounQuotations
"Music has charms to soothe a savage breast" [William Congreve The Mourning Bride]
"There's no passion in the human soul,"
"But finds its food in music" [George Lillo The Fatal Curiosity]
"Great music is that which penetrates the ear with facility and leaves the memory with difficulty" [Thomas Beecham]
"Bach gave us God's word"
"Mozart gave us God's laughter"
"Beethoven gave us God's fire"
"God gave us music that we might pray without words" from a German Opera House poster
"Music is a beautiful opiate, if you don't take it too seriously" [Henry Miller The Air-Conditioned Nightmare]
"The opera ain't over till the fat lady sings" [Dan Cook]
"It is cruel, you know, that music should be so beautiful. It has the beauty of loneliness and of pain: of strength and freedom. The beauty of disappointment and never-satisfied love. The cruel beauty of nature, and everlasting beauty of monotony" [Benjamin Britten letter]
"Such sweet compulsion doth in music lie" [John Milton Arcades]
"The greatest moments of the human spirit may be deduced from the greatest moments in music" [Aaron Copland Music as an Aspect of the Human Spirit]
"My music is best understood by children and animals" [Igor Stravinsky]
"When I get those really intense moments it doesn't feel like it's the violin that's giving them to me, it's like I'm in touch with some realm of consciousness which is much bigger than I am ... It's the music which takes over" [Nigel Kennedy]
"Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn" [Charlie Parker]
"Hell is full of musical amateurs; music is the brandy of the damned" [George Bernard Shaw Man and Superman]
"Music is feeling, then, not sound" [Wallace Stevens Peter Quince at the Clavier]
"Music is spiritual. The music business is not" [Van Morrison]
"If music be the food of love, play on;"
"Give me excess of it" [William Shakespeare Twelfth Night]
"Without music life would be a mistake" [Friedrich Nietzsche The Twilight of the Idols]
"I have been told that Wagner's music is better than it sounds" [Mark Twain]
"Music is essentially useless, as life is" [George Santayana Little Essays]
"Music is a memory bank for finding one's way about the world" [Bruce Chatwin The Songlines]
"Music is the healing force of the universe" [Albert Ayler]
"All music is folk music, I ain't never heard no horse sing a song" [Louis Armstrong]
"The only sensual pleasure without vice" [Dr. Johnson]
"Classic music is th'kind that we keep thinkin'll turn into a tune" [Kin Hubbard Comments of Abe Martin and His Neighbours]
"There are two golden rules for an orchestra: start together and finish together. The public doesn't give a damn what goes on in between" [Thomas Beecham]
"If the music doesn't say it, how can the words say it for the music?" [John Coltrane]
"Extraordinary how potent cheap music is" [Noël Coward Private Lives]
"What passion cannot music raise and quell?" [John Dryden A Song for St. Cecilia's Day]
"Music and women I cannot but give way to, whatever my business is" [Samuel Pepys Diary]
"Music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance... poetry begins to atrophy when it gets too far from music" [Ezra Pound The ABC of Reading]
"[Rock music] is still only certain elements in the blues isolated, coarsened and amplified. It may affect audiences more strongly but this is only to say that home-distilled hooch is more affecting than château-bottled claret, or a punch on the nose than a reasoned refutation under nineteen headings" [Philip Larkin]
"In memory everything seems to happen to music" [Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie]
"Music has charms to soothe a savage breast" [William Congreve The Mourning Bride]
"There's no passion in the human soul,"
"But finds its food in music" [George Lillo The Fatal Curiosity]
"Great music is that which penetrates the ear with facility and leaves the memory with difficulty" [Thomas Beecham]
"Bach gave us God's word"
"Mozart gave us God's laughter"
"Beethoven gave us God's fire"
"God gave us music that we might pray without words" from a German Opera House poster
"Music is a beautiful opiate, if you don't take it too seriously" [Henry Miller The Air-Conditioned Nightmare]
"The opera ain't over till the fat lady sings" [Dan Cook]
"It is cruel, you know, that music should be so beautiful. It has the beauty of loneliness and of pain: of strength and freedom. The beauty of disappointment and never-satisfied love. The cruel beauty of nature, and everlasting beauty of monotony" [Benjamin Britten letter]
"Such sweet compulsion doth in music lie" [John Milton Arcades]
"The greatest moments of the human spirit may be deduced from the greatest moments in music" [Aaron Copland Music as an Aspect of the Human Spirit]
"My music is best understood by children and animals" [Igor Stravinsky]
"When I get those really intense moments it doesn't feel like it's the violin that's giving them to me, it's like I'm in touch with some realm of consciousness which is much bigger than I am ... It's the music which takes over" [Nigel Kennedy]
"Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn" [Charlie Parker]
"Hell is full of musical amateurs; music is the brandy of the damned" [George Bernard Shaw Man and Superman]
"Music is feeling, then, not sound" [Wallace Stevens Peter Quince at the Clavier]
"Music is spiritual. The music business is not" [Van Morrison]
"If music be the food of love, play on;"
"Give me excess of it" [William Shakespeare Twelfth Night]
"Without music life would be a mistake" [Friedrich Nietzsche The Twilight of the Idols]
"I have been told that Wagner's music is better than it sounds" [Mark Twain]
"Music is essentially useless, as life is" [George Santayana Little Essays]
"Music is a memory bank for finding one's way about the world" [Bruce Chatwin The Songlines]
"Music is the healing force of the universe" [Albert Ayler]
"All music is folk music, I ain't never heard no horse sing a song" [Louis Armstrong]
"The only sensual pleasure without vice" [Dr. Johnson]
"Classic music is th'kind that we keep thinkin'll turn into a tune" [Kin Hubbard Comments of Abe Martin and His Neighbours]
"There are two golden rules for an orchestra: start together and finish together. The public doesn't give a damn what goes on in between" [Thomas Beecham]
"If the music doesn't say it, how can the words say it for the music?" [John Coltrane]
"Extraordinary how potent cheap music is" [Noël Coward Private Lives]
"What passion cannot music raise and quell?" [John Dryden A Song for St. Cecilia's Day]
"Music and women I cannot but give way to, whatever my business is" [Samuel Pepys Diary]
"Music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance... poetry begins to atrophy when it gets too far from music" [Ezra Pound The ABC of Reading]
"[Rock music] is still only certain elements in the blues isolated, coarsened and amplified. It may affect audiences more strongly but this is only to say that home-distilled hooch is more affecting than château-bottled claret, or a punch on the nose than a reasoned refutation under nineteen headings" [Philip Larkin]
"In memory everything seems to happen to music" [Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie]
Music
Classical music genres ars antiqua, ars nova, baroque, classical, early music, expressionist, galant, Gothic, impressionist, minimalist, music concrète, nationalist, neoclassical, post-romantic, Renaissance, rococo, romantic, salon music, serial music, twelve-tone or dodecaphonic
Types of composition air, albumblatt, allemande, anthem, aria, bagatelle, ballade, ballet, barcarole, barceuse, bolero, bourrée, canon, cantata, canticle, canzona, canzone, canzonetta, capriccio, cavatina, chaconne, chorale, chorus, concertante, concertino, concerto, concerto grosso, concertstück, contredanse or contradance, czardas, dirge, divertimento, divertissement, duet, dumka, duo, ecossaise, elegy, étude, fantasy or fantasia, farandole, fugue, galliard, galop, gavotte, gigue, grand opera, hornpipe, humoresque, impromptu, interlude, lament, ländler, lied, madrigal, march, mass, mazurka, medley, minuet, motet, nocturne, nonet, notturno, octet, opera, opera buffa, opera seria, operetta, oratorio, overture, partita, part song, passacaglia, passepied, Passion, pastiche, pastorale, pavane, phantasy, pibroch, polka, polonaise, prelude, psalm, quadrille, quartet, quintet, raga, reel, Requiem, rhapsody, ricercar or ricercare, rigadoon or rigadoun, romance, scherzo, schottische, septet, serenade, sextet, sinfonia concertante, sinfonietta, Singspiel, sonata, sonatina, song, song cycle, strathspey, suite, symphonic poem, symphony, toccata, tone poem, trio, trio sonata, waltz
Popular music types acid house, acid jazz, acid rock, ambient, bebop, bhangra, bluebeat, bluegrass, blues, boogie-woogie, bop, bubblegum, Cajun, calypso, cool jazz, country and western, country blues, country rock, Cu-bop, death metal, disco, Dixieland, doo-wop, dub, folk music, folk rock, free jazz, funk, fusion, gangsta rap, glam rock, gospel, Goth, grunge, hardbop, hardcore, harmolodics, heavy metal, hip-hop, House, Indie, industrial, jazz, jazz-funk, jazz-rock, jungle, mainstream jazz, Merseybeat, modern jazz, Motown (trademark), Muzak (trademark), New Age, New Country, New Orleans jazz, new romantic, New Wave, P-funk, pop, progressive rock, psychobilly, punk, ragga, rap, rave, reggae, rhythm and blues, rock, rockabilly, rock and roll, salsa, ska, skiffle, soul, surf music, swing, swingbeat, techno, thrash metal, trad jazz, world music, zydeco
Expression and tempo instructions
| Instruction | Meaning |
|---|---|
| accelerando | with increasing speed |
| adagio | slowly |
| agitato | in an agitated manner |
| allegretto | fairly quickly or briskly |
| allegro | quickly, in a brisk, lively manner |
| amoroso | lovingly |
| andante | at a moderately slow tempo |
| andantino | slightly faster than andante |
| animato | in a lively manner |
| appassionato | impassioned |
| assai | (in combination) very |
| calando | with gradually decreasing tone and speed |
| cantabile | in a singing style |
| con | (in combination) with |
| con affeto | with tender emotion |
| con amore | lovingly |
| con anima | with spirit |
| con brio | vigorously |
| con fuoco | with fire |
| con moto | quickly |
| crescendo | gradual increase in loudness |
| diminuendo | gradual decrease in loudness |
| dolce | gently and sweetly |
| doloroso | in a sorrowful manner |
| energico | energetically |
| espressivo | expressively |
| forte | loud or loudly |
| fortissimo | very loud |
| furioso | in a frantically rushing manner |
| giocoso | merry |
| grave | solemn and slow |
| grazioso | graceful |
| lacrimoso | sad and mournful |
| largo | slowly and broadly |
| larghetto | slowly and broadly, but less so than largo |
| legato | smoothly and connectedly |
| leggiero | light |
| lento | slowly |
| maestoso | majestically |
| marziale | martial |
| mezzo | (in combination) moderately |
| moderato | at a moderate tempo |
| molto | (in combination) very |
| non troppo or non tanto | (in combination) not too much |
| pianissimo | very quietly |
| piano | softly |
| più | (in combination) more |
| pizzicato | (in music for stringed instruments) to be plucked with the finger |
| poco or un poco | (in combination) a little |
| pomposo | in a pompous manner |
| presto | very fast |
| prestissimo | faster than presto |
| quasi | (in combination) almost, as if |
| rallentando | becoming slower |
| rubato | with a flexible tempo |
| scherzando | in jocular style |
| sciolto | free and easy |
| semplice | simple and unforced |
| sforzando | with strong initial attack |
| smorzando | dying away |
| sospirando | `sighing', plaintive |
| sostenuto | in a smooth and sustained manner |
| sotto voce | extremely quiet |
| staccato | (of notes) short, clipped, and separate |
| strascinando | stretched out |
| strepitoso | noisy |
| stringendo | with increasing speed |
| tanto | (in combination) too much |
| tardo | slow |
| troppo | (in combination) too much |
| vivace | in a brisk lively manner |
| volante | `flying', fast and light |
Musical modes
| Final note | |
|---|---|
| I Dorian | D |
| II Hypodorian | A |
| III Phrygian | E |
| IV Hypophrygian | B |
| V Lydian | F |
| VI Hypolydian | C |
| VII Mixolydian | G |
| VIII Hypomixolydian | D |
| IX Aeolian | A |
| X Hypoaeolian | E |
| XI Ionian | C |
| XII Hypoionian | G |
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
Translations
hudbahudebnínotacenotypartitura
musikmusik-
muziko
muusikanoodipaber
musiikkinuotti
glazba
kottazenemuzsika
tónlistnótur
音楽
음악
muzikamuzikaliaimuzikalusmuzikantasmuzikas
mūzikanotis
muzică
hudbanotyhudobnina
glasbanote
musik
ดนตรี
âm nhạc
music
[ˈmjuːzɪk]A. N → música f
to set a work to music → poner música a una obra
it was music to my ears → daba gusto escucharlo, me sonaba a música celestial
to face the music → afrontar las consecuencias
to set a work to music → poner música a una obra
it was music to my ears → daba gusto escucharlo, me sonaba a música celestial
to face the music → afrontar las consecuencias
B. CPD music box N (esp US) → caja f de música
music centre N → equipo m estereofónico
music critic N → crítico/a m/f musical
music director N → director(a) m/f musical
music festival N → festival m de música
music hall N → teatro m de variedades
music lesson N (instrumental) → clase f de música; (vocal) → clase f de solfeo
music lover N → aficionado/a m/f a la música, amante mf de la música
music paper N → papel m de música, papel m pautado
music stand N → atril m
music centre N → equipo m estereofónico
music critic N → crítico/a m/f musical
music director N → director(a) m/f musical
music festival N → festival m de música
music hall N → teatro m de variedades
music lesson N (instrumental) → clase f de música; (vocal) → clase f de solfeo
music lover N → aficionado/a m/f a la música, amante mf de la música
music paper N → papel m de música, papel m pautado
music stand N → atril m
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
music
[ˈmjuːzɪk] n (gen) → musique f
He wasn't listening to the music → Il n'écoutait pas la musique.
to be music to sb's ears → ravir qn
He wasn't listening to the music → Il n'écoutait pas la musique.
to be music to sb's ears → ravir qn
to face the music (= get punishment) → affronter les conséquences, affronter la tempête
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
music
n → Musik f; (of voice) → Musikalität f; (= written score) → Noten pl; I can’t read music → ich kann keine Noten lesen; do you use music? → spielen/singen Sie nach Noten?; to set or put something to music → etw vertonen; it was (like) music to my ears → das war Musik für mich or in meinen Ohren; to face the music (fig) → dafür gradestehen
music
in cpds → Musik-;music box
n → Spieldose f → or -uhr f
music centre
n → Kompaktanlage f, → Musikcenter nt
music drama
n → Musikdrama nt
music
:music paper
n → Notenpapier nt
music shop
n → Musikalienhandlung f
music stand
n → Notenständer m
music stool
n → Klavierstuhl m → or -hocker m
music video
n → Musikvideo nt
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
music
[ˈmjuːzɪk]1. n → musica
to set to music → mettere in musica or musicare
it was music to her ears (fig) → era musica per le sue orecchie
to set to music → mettere in musica or musicare
it was music to her ears (fig) → era musica per le sue orecchie
2. adj (teacher, lesson) → di musica
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
music
(ˈmjuːzik) noun1. the art of arranging and combining sounds able to be produced by the human voice or by instruments. She prefers classical music to popular music; She is studying music; (also adjective) a music lesson.
2. the written form in which such tones etc are set down. The pianist has forgotten to bring her music.
ˈmusical adjective1. of or producing music. a musical instrument.
2. like music, especially in being pleasant to hear. a musical voice.
3. (of a person) having a talent for music. Their children are all musical.
noun a film or play that includes a large amount of singing, dancing etc.
ˈmusically adverbmusician (mjuˈziʃən) noun
1. a person who is skilled in music. The conductor of this orchestra is a fine musician.
2. a person who plays a musical instrument. This show has ten singers, twenty dancers and fifty musicians.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
music
→ مُوسِيقَى hudba musik Musik μουσική música musiikki musique glazba musica 音楽 음악 muziek musikk muzyka música музыка musik ดนตรี müzik âm nhạc 音乐Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
| Music |
Collins Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009