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Music Terms Glossary - O
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

octave The interval in which one pitch is doubled (or halved) in frequency by another pitch. The octave is found in virtually all music systems.

ondes martenot An early electronic instrument invented in the late 1920s by Maurice Martenot.

opera A drama set to music; the dominant form of Western music from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries.

opera buffa A comic form of eighteenth-century Italian opera featuring everyday characters involved in outlandish plot intrigues.

opera seria A serious, heroic form of eighteenth century opera featuring historical or mythological figures in stereotypical plots stressing the tension between love and duty.

operetta A light, entertaining version of Romantic opera with spoken dialogue between numbers.

opus A "work"; opus numbers were introduced by publishers in the seventeenth century to identify each of a composer's works.

oratorio (English) A musical entertainment usually on a sacred subject and including recitatives, arias, choruses, and an overture.

orchestration The designation of what instruments are to play what voices or notes in a composition. The process of orchestrating is often referred to as scoring.

Ordinary of the Mass In the Roman Catholic liturgy, the five items (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei) that arc part of every celebration of the Mass.

organ An instrument in which air forced through pipes by mechanical means is controlled by one or more keyboards, including a foot-operated pedal keyboard.

organum The earliest type of medieval polyphonic music, in which voices were added above a plainchant.

ornament An embellishment, such as a trill, used to decorate a melodic line.

ostinato A brief pattern repeated over and over again at the same pitch, often in the bass.

overtones The spectrum of the higher-pitched frequencies that accompany the fundamental of any pitch and determine its tone color (also called  harmonic or partials).

overture An instrumental piece that precedes a dramatic work such as an opera (some overtures are nevertheless independent compositions).

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