D

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D

The key of D.

da capo

Da capo (Italian: from the beginning), abbreviated to the letters D.C. at the end of a piece of music or a section of it, means that it should be played or sung again from the beginning (De capo al fine) or from the beginning up to the sign (Da capo al segno). A da capo aria, often found in the later baroque period, is an aria in three sections, the third an ornamented repetition of the first.

deceptive cadence

A cadence with a progression where the dominant chord (V) resolves into a chord other than the tonic (I). Especially the progression V-vi.

decrescendo

Decrescendo (Italian: growing less) is used as a direction to performers, meaning becoming softer.

degree

A note of a scale, identified by number.

descant

Soprano or tenor voice. A melodic line or counterpoint accompanying an existing melody. The upper part of a polyphonic composition.

descriptive music

Program music.

development

The elaboration of melodic, thematic, harmonic or rhythmic material.

diatonic

The notes indigenous to a key in a major or minor scale.

Dies Irae

“Day of Wrath.” The sequence for the Requiem Mass.

diminished

Lowered, or reduced.

diminished seventh chord

A chord made up of a root, a minor third, a diminished fifth, and a diminished seventh.

diminished triad

A triad which contains a root, a minor third, and a diminished fifth.

diminuendo

Diminuendo (Italian: becoming less) is used as a direction to performers to play softer.

diminution

Shortening the duration of note values in a theme.

dirge

A piece that is performed at a funeral or memorial service.

dissonance

Notes that conflict, or sound outside of a chord in which they occur. Such notes usually fall outside of the overtones which are being generated by the note or chord that is sounding.

divertimento

An entertaining instrumental piece of short movements.

divertissement

The French word divertissement (= Italian: divertimento) is used in English principally to indicate the additional dance entertainment that is often a part of classical ballet. A well known example would be the series of characteristic dances that entertain the heroine towards the end of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker.

dodecaphonic

Twelve-tone music.

dominant

The fifth degree of the diatonic major or minor scale.

Dorian

A medieval mode whose half- and whole-step pattern is that of playing D to D on the white keys of a piano.

Double Bass

The double bass is the largest and lowest of the instruments of the string section of the orchestra. It has generally four or five strings and its music sounds an octave (eight notes) lower than it is written. If, as often in music before 1800, the double bass plays the same music as the cello, the sound will be an octave lower.

Double Bassoon

A double bassoon plays an octave lower than the bassoon.

double concerto

A concerto for two solo instruments and ensemble.

double counterpoint

Invertible Counterpoint.

double flat

An accidental that lowers the note it precedes by one whole step.

double fugue

A fugue with two themes that occur at the same time.

double sharp

An accidental that raises the note it precedes by one whole step.

dramatic soprano

A female singer with a slightly lower range than a lyric soprano.

dramatic tenor

A male singer with a slightly lower range than a lyric tenor.

drum

The form of drum generally found in the orchestra is the kettledrum or, in incorrect Italian, timpani, since 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 drum. Timpani are tunable, nowadays usually by means of pedals that loosen or tighten the drum-skin.

duet

A duet is a piece of music written for two performers. On the piano such a piece would involve two players on one instrument.

duo

A duo is a piece of music for two performers. Written for the piano such a piece would need two performers and two pianos.

dynamics

The degrees of loudness or softness in a musical work, and their symbols.