| Opera Vocabulary | |
|---|---|
| back | |
| 1. Overture - | An opening composition before the opera |
| 2. Adagio - | Slow |
| 3. Allegro - | Fast |
| 4. Coda - | Special ending |
| 5. Theme - | Reocurring melody in a piece of music |
| 6. Staccato - | Short and detatched |
| 7. Legato - | Smooth and connected |
| 8. Aria - | Opera solo |
| 9. Soprano - | The highest female voice |
| 10. Recitative - | Conversation in an opera that is sung rather than spoken |
| 11. Duet - | Two singers or instrumentalists singing or playing in harmony |
| 12. Trio - | Three singers or instrumentalists singing or playing in harmony |
| 13. Repetition - | A repeated melody or rhythm |
| 14. Contrast - | A different melody or rhythm |
| 15. Tenor - | The highest male singing voice |
| 16. Baritone - | The middle male voice part between tenor and bass |
| 17. Bass - | The lowest male voice part |
| 18. Contralto - | The lowest female voice part |
| 19. Introduction - | Music played for several measures before the soloist or group starts to playor sing |
| 20. Meter - | The way beats are organized into measures |
| 21. Articulation - | The style in which a piece is performed |
| 22. Tempo - | How fast or slow the music is performed |
| 23. Dynamics - | How loud and soft the music is performed |
| 24.Lyrics - | The words of a song |
| 25. Libretto - | The words of an opera |
| 26. Forte - | Italian word for loud |
| 27. Piano - | Italian word for soft |
| 28.Tone color - | The characteristic sound of a voice or instrument |
| 29. Leitmotif - | A specific melody associated with a specific character |