Aria is the Italian word for "air." In musical circles, an aria is a melodic vocal solo. The soloist portrays the feelings or mood of the characters in an opera or oratorio, thereby expressing the emotions of the characters in the story. The aria offers the singer the...
Concerto comes from the Latin word 'concertare' which can mean both opposing or in accord. This tells us that the concerto carries a primary principle of orchestral parts working together or in dispute with one another. Emerging from...
The origin of the oratorio is Italian, based on the Latin oratorium oratory. Another of the large scale musical forms, the oratorio stems from the music composed during the 16th century for the Church of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri...
The sonata as known today is a 19th century Romantic development which was literally a couple hundred years in the making. It has become the primary norm in large scale orchestral concert works. William Newton noted this referring to the term 'symphony' as a 'sonata for orchestra' He coined this notion 'the sonata idea.'
