Technical & Musical Terms & Abbreviations - Part 3: Voices & Instruments

Abbreviation	Full Words	Explanation	Source
S	Soprano
A	Alto
T	Tenor
B	Bass
Hp	Cembalo	The Harpsichord, very rarely used by Bach in the Church Cantatas	Robertson
Clar / Cla	Clarino	A High-pitched trumpet	Robertson
Cor / Cor da cacc / Cdc	Corno, corno da caccia	There is consensus of opinion to whether Bach used both these terms indifferently to indicate the Waldhorn, or French horn. C.S. Terry, in his book 'Bach's Orchestra', gives some evidence to the contrary, believing that at one time Bach in his use of these two terms distinguished the mellow tone associated with the Waldhorn from the more trident tone of the Jagdhorn.	Robertson
Cor da tirassi / Cdt	Corno sa tirassi	Terry suggests that this was not a particular instrument but tromba da tirassi (q.v.) with an adapted mouthpiece which produced horn tone	Robertson
Cnt	Cornetto	An antique curved wooden wind instrument with tone which has been likened to that of a well-trained choirster	Robertson
Fag	Fagotto. Bassoon		Robertson
Fl	Flute	In Bach’s scores this always indicated the flute à bec or Blockflöte, known in English as the recorder. The fact is often ignored in performance today (non-HIP performances)	Robertson
Fl à bec	Flute à bec	See flute	Robertson
Fl trav / Flt	Transverse flute	This is transverse or horizontal flute we have in modern orchestras	Robertson
Ob d’am / Oda	Oboe d’amore	An instrument with a pitch between the oboe and the oboe da caccia (q.v.)	Robertson
Ob da cacc / Odc	Oboe da caccia	An alto oboe, in tone similar to the so-called cor anglais, the latter word being a corruption of anglé	Robertson
Org	Organ		Robertson
Te / Tle	Taille	A tenor oboe	Robertson
Timp	Timpani		Robertson
Tr	Tromba (Trumpet)		Robertson
Tr da tirassi / Tdt	Tromba da tirassi	A slide trumpet with a mechanizm of a trombone	Robertson
Trb	Trombone		Robertson
Vlt	Violetta	Another term for viola	Robertson
Vno	Violone	An octave lower than the viol da gamba. Similar to the double bass	Robertson
Vla / Va	Viola		Robertson
Vla d’am / Vda	Viola d’amore	An instrument with six or seven strings an a number of wire strings beneath the fingerboard which vibrate in sympathy	Robertson
Vdg, VdG	Viola da gamba, gamba, or viol	Any of a family of fretted, bowed, stringed instruments in use from the 16^th through much of the 18th century. Possessing a clear, cutting and incisive voice (cf. the rich, thick, powerful tone of the cello), the viol (bass) was emplyed by Bach as as an obbligato instrument in a number of works, including arias in the Passions and several cantatas. Some consider the bass aria 'Komm, Seusses Kreuz' (SMP) to be Bach's most idiomatic writing for the bass viol, with the cello providing a poor substitute	Harvard / Fogliati / Oron
Vln / Vn	Violin		Robertson
Vln picc / Vnp	Violino piccolo	Smaller and higher in pitch than the violin	Robertson
V’cello /Vc	Violoncello		Robertson
V’cello picc / Vcp	Violoncello piccolo	A five-stringed instrument with a compass between the viola and the violoncello	Robertson

The technical terms & abbreviations in this page are mostly compiled from the following sources:

Common – Common use, especially in e-mail correspondence
Alec Robertson's book 'The Church Cantatas of J.S. Bach' (Cassell - London, 1972)
New Harvard Dictionary of Music
Thomas Braatz - Member of the BCML
Frank Fogliati - Member of the BCML
Aryeh Oron - Moderator of the BCML
Johan van Veen - Member of the BCML

Prepared by Aryeh Oron (December 2000 - March 2005)

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Last update: ýMarch 11, 2006 ý00:33:26