De basso continuo
Example: In de barokmuziek speelt de basso continuo een cruciale rol.
Definition
The term "de basso continuo" refers to a continuous bass part played throughout a musical piece, especially in Baroque music, providing harmonic structure and support for the melody above. It typically involves instruments like the harpsichord or cello playing a written bass line with improvised chords.
Etymology
"De basso continuo" comes from Italian, where 'basso' means 'bass' and 'continuo' means 'continuous.' The phrase was adopted into Dutch and other languages to describe this continuous bass practice in Baroque music. Did you know? This technique revolutionized musical accompaniment in the 17th and 18th centuries.
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"De basso continuo" appears in the Vocaplus list "Dutch - Music - (C2) - set 1", containing 99 commonly used words.
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the basso continuo