Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
3,897,145,344 visitors served.
forum Join the Word of the Day Mailing List For webmasters
?
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

Theorbo
(redirected from Theorboe)

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
theorbo (thēôr`bō), large lute lute, musical instrument that has a half-pear-shaped body, a fretted neck, and a variable number of strings, which are plucked with the fingers. The long lute, with its neck much longer than its body, seems to have been older than the short lute, existing very early
..... Click the link for more information.
 of the baroque period. It had an extra set of bass strings, not stopped on a fingerboard as the regular set are but plucked as open strings. These made it more suitable for playing baroque music than was the lute. It originated in the late 16th cent. and survived until the end of the 18th cent. Its name was also spelled theorbe, theorboe, or tiorba.
Theorbo 

a plucked musical instrument; a bass lute. Theorbos vary in the number of strings provided; in the 18th century, 12 paired and two single strings were used. The theorbo was used from the 16th to the 18th century to accompany vocal performances and as the bass instrument in ensembles.



Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Feedback
Mentioned in?   Encyclopedia browser?   Full browser?
No references found
 
 
 
Encyclopedia
?

Terms of Use | Privacy policy | Feedback | Advertise with Us | Copyright © 2012 Farlex, Inc.
Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.