Born: February 17, 1653, FusignanoDied: January 8, 1713, Rome (age 59)
glossary
adagio [It]—slow tempo, often implying a lyrical, poignant character
balletto [I], ballo, bal—dance; ballet; More specifically, a term for a late Renaissance / early Baroque Italian instrumental dance with the term typically suggesting a dance of foreign (e.g. non-Italian) origin. From Grove: The Italian instrumental balletto appeared from about 1561 to 1599 (mainly for lute) and from 1616 to 1700 (for chamber ensemble). During the second half of the 16th century, ‘bal’, ‘ballo’ or ‘balletto’ was a generic name in Italy for various foreign dances, such as the bal boemo, ballo francese and baletto polaco.
camera [I], da camera, per camera—room; chamber. Used in "Sonata da camera" to distinguish a "chamber" sonata from a "church" sonata (Sonata da chiesa). A chamber sonata tends to include dance movements whereas a church sonata emphasizes counterpoint. Such distinctions are often quite blurry in practice.
chamber music, Kammermusik [G], musique de chambre [F], musica da camera [I], musica cameralis [L]—"Classical Music" for a small ensemble, generally 8 or fewer players with a canonical emphasis on 3-6 players. explore
continuo, basso continuo, b.c., figured bass, thorough bass, basse chifrée—During the Baroque Era, a term for an improvised (realized) instrumental accompaniment specified by a symbolic notation for chords and a written bass line (i.e. figured bass). A continuo "part" usually implies multiple (but typically unspecified) instruments, e.g. one for a strong bass line (e.g. cello) and another for chords (e.g. lute, keyboard, organ). A continuo part may be realized by keyboard alone, and sometimes played by a bass melody instrument alone (without harmonies). wiki
gigue, jig, giga, gigg—A lively dance (of English origin); often the finale of a Baroque suite. Compound meters exhibit both duple and triple meter rhythms.
opus [L], opera[pl], Op., Opp, WoO, Op. posth—work, as in a work of art. For unique identification, publishers/composers often assign an "opus number", abbreviated as "Op." (e.g. Op. 1). A range of works by opus number, uses the plural "opp." (e.g. "Opp. 1-3"). A single opus number may refer to a collection of works (e.g. a set of quartets) giving rise to designations like "Op. 1, No. 4". For misc. works without opus numbers, "WoO" is often used (e.g."Without Opus"). Posthumously assigned numbers may use "Op. posth". Opus numbers may not precisely reflect chronology (publication vs. composition), can be erroneous, sparse or duplicative. Thus, the works of some historically important composers may use separate catalog numbers (e.g. Bach, Haydn, Schubert). See wiki