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involves the use of a kind of melodious declamation, the development of leitmotif, great orchestral elaboration, and a fusion of poetry, music, action, and scene into an organic whole. The term is applied esp. to the later works of Wagner: "Tristan und Isolde," "Die Meistersinger," "Rheingold," "Walküre," "Siegfried,"…

r a certain graceful and expressive form of instrumental composition, as the nocturne for orchestra in Mendelsohn's "Midsummer-Night's Dream" music.

One of the higher wind instruments in the modern orchestra, yet of great antiquity, having a penetrating pastoral quality of tone, somewhat like the clarinet in form, but more slender, and sounded by means of a double reed; a hautboy. Oboe d'amore Etym: [It., lit., oboe of love], and Oboe di caccia Etym: [It., lit., ob…

olly or mostly sung, consisting of recitative, arials, choruses, duets, trios, etc., with orchestral accompaniment, preludes, and interludes, together with appropriate costumes, scenery, and action; a lyric drama.

A large brass wind instrument, formerly used in the orchestra and in military bands, having a loud tone, deep pitch, and a compass of three octaves; -- now generally supplanted by bass and contrabass tubas. Moore (Encyc. of Music).

elaborately set to music, in recitative, arias, grand choruses, etc., to be sung with an orchestral accompaniment, but without action, scenery, or costume, although the oratorio grew out of the Mysteries and the Miracle and Passion plays, which were acted.

See Orchestra.

See Orchestra.

Orchestral.

A large music box imitating a variety of orchestral instruments.

A composition, for a full orchestra, designed as an introduction to an oratorio, opera, or ballet, or as an independent piece; -- called in the latter case a concert overture.

A body of seats on the floor of a music hall or theater nearest the orchestra; but commonly applied to the whole lower floor of a theater, from the orchestra to the dress circle; the pit.

eats at the rear of the parquet and beneath the galleries; -- called also, esp. in U. S., orchestra circle or parterre.

part of a theater, on the floor of the house, below the level of the stage and behind the orchestra; now, in England, commonly the part behind the stalls; in the United States, the parquet; also, the occupants of such a part of a theater.

, as of rivet holes in boiler plates. Concert pitch (Mus.), the standard of pitch used by orchestras, as in concerts, etc. -- Diametral pitch (Gearing), the distance which bears the same relation to the pitch proper, or circular pitch, that the diameter of a circle bears to its circumference; it is sometimes described…

A player in the ripieno portion of an orchestra. See Ripieno.

numerary; -- a term applied to those instruments which only swell the mass or tutti of an orchestra, but are not obbligato.

Sax (known as Adolphe Sax), of Belgium and Paris, and much used in military bands and in orchestras.

To write down in proper order and arrangement; as, to score an overture for an orchestra. See Score, n., 9.

and coarse tone, formerly much used in military bands, and sometimes introduced into the orchestra; -- so called from its form. Pharaoh's serpent (Chem.), mercuric sulphocyanate, a combustible white substance which in burning gives off a poisonous vapor and leaves a peculiar brown voluminous residue which is expelled…