Glossary

Lament
Any music signifying grief, but particularly used of bagpipe music played at Scottish funerals
Landler
A slow Austrian dance similar to a Waltz popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries
Largamente
Italian for 'broad' or 'broadly'
Larghetto
Italian for 'a little Largo', and meaning not quite as slow as Largo
Largo
Italian term meaning 'broad' and implying a slow tempo
Lebhaft
German for 'lively'
Legato
Italian for 'smoothly'
Leggiero, Leggieramente
Italian for 'light' or 'lightly'
Legno
Italian for 'wood'. The instruction 'Col Legno' directs string players to hit the strings with the wooden part of the bow
Leitmotif
German for 'leading motif', and describes a recurring theme symbolising a character, emotion or object. Particularly used when describing Wagner's music
Lento
Italian for 'slow'
Libretto
Italian for 'booklet', and meaning the text of an Opera, Oratorio or Musical
Lied
The German for song, and particularly describing a style of German song of the Romantic era, in which the piano accompaniment plays an especially important role. Famous composers of Lied include Schubert, Schumann and Brahms
Loud Pedal
A common term for the 'Sustain Pedal', the rightmost on the piano
Lunga
Italian for 'long'
Lustig
German for 'cheerful' or 'playful'
Lyrics
The words to a song