Genres

sidebar

a short news story presenting sidelights on a major story

 

pointillism

a genre of painting characterized by the application of paint in dots and small strokes; developed by Georges Seurat and his followers in late 19th century France

 

skiffle

a style of popular music in the 1950s; based on American folk music and played on guitars and improvised percussion instruments

 

trad

traditional jazz as revived in the 1950s

 

dithyramb

(ancient Greece) a passionate hymn (usually in honor of Dionysus)

 

square-dance music

music performed for square dancing

 

lead

a news story of major importance

 

concerto grosso

a baroque composition for orchestra and a group of solo instruments

 

tragicomedy

a dramatic composition involving elements of both tragedy and comedy usually with the tragic predominating

 

Hallel

(Judaism) a chant of praise (Psalms 113 through 118) used at Passover and Shabuoth and Sukkoth and Hanukkah and Rosh Hodesh

 

talking picture

a movie with synchronized speech and singing

 

classical

traditional genre of music conforming to an established form and appealing to critical interest and developed musical taste

 

interior monologue

a literary genre that presents a fictional character's sequence of thoughts in the form of a monologue

 

peepshow

a short pornographic film shown in a small coin-operated booth

 

funk

an earthy type of jazz combining it with blues and soul; has a heavy bass line that accentuates the first beat in the bar

 

chamber music

serious music performed by a small group of musicians

 

doxology

a hymn or verse in Christian liturgy glorifying God

 

three-D

a movie with images having three dimensional form or appearance

 

musical drama

opera in which the musical and dramatic elements are equally important; the music is appropriate to the action

 

opera comique

opera with a happy ending and in which some of the text is spoken