Glossary N - Z

Neumatic - A style of plainchant that sets one syllable of text to one neume. A neume is a symbol that denotes two to four notes in the same symbol, thus each syllable is sung to two to four notes. This style is opposed to syllabic, in which each syllable has one note, and melismatic, where one syllable has many notes.

Oratorio - Large-scale dramatic composition originating in the 17th century with text usually based on religious subjects. Oratorios are performed by choruses and solo voices with an instrumental accompaniment, and are similar to operas but without costumes, scenery and actions.

Organum - Term referring to the earliest kind of polyphonic music. Organum developed from the practice of adding voices above a plainchant (cantus firmus); these added voices at first ran parallel to the plainchant at an interval of a fourth or fifth. Later they began to move about more freely. Organum was in use from about the 12th through the 13th centuries.

Plainsong - Also called "Old Roman chant" and Gregorian chant, this is one of the earliest surviving styles of music in Western Europe attributed to Pope Gregory the Great. Gregory probably had little to do with the surviving chant, as the chants that survive in manuscripts date from the 11th to the 13th centuries, and Gregory died in the year 604. The surviving chants are modal with monophonic melodies with freely flowing, unmeasured vocal lines. Most chants belong to the Mass or to the daily offices.

Polyphonic - A style of composition that has many voices, each with its own melody, thus creating a rich texture of sound.

Psalmody - One of the oldest Christian liturgical forms of music is the singing of Psalms. Often in psalmody, one group of singers will sing one verse of the psalm to a simple Anglican chant, then a second group of singers responds with the next verse.

Psaltry - One of the ancestors of the dulcimer, the psaltry was a medieval instrument, consisting of a soundbox over which a varying number of strings were stretched; these strings were plucked or bowed. The psaltry was similar to the modern zither.

Rondeau - Medieval and Renaissance style of courtly love song. The music was derived from the rotundellum, which was a circle dance. The definitive characteristic of the rondeau was its structure: A-B-A-A-A-B-A-B.

Sanctus - The oldest item of the Ordinary of the Mass, the eighth item, following the Offertory and preceding the Agnus Dei.

Sequence - A style of chant used in the Medieval Church. It was usually syllabic, and the text, which was in Latin, was wide-ranging and extensive.

Stanza - One of the divisions of a poem or song composed of two or more lines usually characterized by a common pattern of meter, rhyme, and number of lines.

Strophic Form - Song structure in which every verse (strophe) of the text is sung to the same musical tune.

Syllabic - The style of chant which sets one note to each syllable of text.

Troubadour - One of a school of poets and musicians popular in southern France, Provence, and northern Italy between the 11th and late 13th centuries.

Vernacular - The standard native language of a country or locality.
 

Virelai - A Medieval and Renaissance form of French poetry and song, written in an ABBA form with a courtly text. The origin of the word "virelai" is the Old French word "Virer ", meaning "to turn" or "to twist", indicating that the song form originated from a dance form.

Wait - The shawm or the player of the shawm, especially a watchman who used it in his duties. Later (c. 1500 - 1700) the term was applied to civic minstrels. The term is also used for Christmas singers, after the civic musicians of earlier times.