Definition of opus Opus
/owˈpʌs/ - [owpus] - o•pus
We found 7 definitions of opus from 6 different sources.
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What does opus mean?
WordNet
Noun |
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| opus - a musical work that has been created; "the composition is written in four movements" | ||
| musical composition, composition, piece, piece of music | ||
| music musical activity (singing or whistling etc.); "his music was his central interest" | ||
| morceau a short literary or musical composition | ||
| sheet music a musical composition in printed or written form; "she turned the pages of the music as he played" | ||
| musical arrangement, arrangement a piece of music that has been adapted for performance by a particular set of voices or instruments | ||
| realisation, realization something that is made real or concrete; "the victory was the realization of a whole year's work" | ||
| coda, finale the concluding part of any performance | ||
| intermezzo a short piece of instrumental music composed for performance between acts of a drama or opera | ||
| allegro a musical composition or musical passage to be performed quickly in a brisk lively manner | ||
| allegretto a musical composition or musical passage to be performed at a somewhat quicker tempo than andante but not as fast as allegro | ||
| andante a musical composition or musical passage to be performed moderately slow | ||
| introit a composition of vocal music that is appropriate for opening church services | ||
| solo a flight in which the aircraft pilot is unaccompanied | ||
| duette, duo, duet a musical composition for two performers | ||
| trio a musical composition for three performers | ||
| quartette, quartet a musical composition for four performers | ||
| quintette, quintet a musical composition for five performers | ||
| sextette, sestet, sextet a rhythmic group of six lines of verse | ||
| septette, septet a musical composition written for seven performers | ||
| octette, octet a musical composition written for eight performers | ||
| bagatelle a table game in which short cues are used to knock balls into holes that are guarded by wooden pegs; penalties are incurred if the pegs are knocked over | ||
| divertimento, serenade a musical composition in several movements; has no fixed form | ||
| canon a collection of books accepted as holy scripture especially the books of the Bible recognized by any Christian church as genuine and inspired | ||
| etude a short composition for a solo instrument; intended as an exercise or to demonstrate technical virtuosity | ||
| pastorale, idyl, idyll, pastoral a musical composition that evokes rural life | ||
| toccata a baroque musical composition (usually for a keyboard instrument) with full chords and rapid elaborate runs in a rhythmically free style | ||
| fantasia a musical composition of a free form usually incorporating several familiar themes | ||
| musical passage, passage the act of passing from one state or place to the next | ||
| movement the act of changing the location of something; "the movement of cargo onto the vessel" | ||
| largo (music) a composition or passage that is to be performed in a slow and dignified manner | ||
| larghetto (music) a composition or passage played in a slow tempo slightly faster than largo but slower than adagio | ||
| suite apartment consisting of a series of connected rooms used as a living unit (as in a hotel) | ||
| symphonic poem, tone poem an orchestral composition based on literature or folk tales | ||
| medley, pastiche, potpourri a musical composition consisting of a series of songs or other musical pieces from various sources | ||
| nocturne, notturno a pensive lyrical piece of music (especially for the piano) | ||
| adagio a slow section of a pas de deux requiring great skill and strength by the dancers | ||
| vocal, song the act of singing; "with a shout and a song they marched up to the gates" | ||
| study a room used for reading and writing and studying; "he knocked lightly on the closed door of the study" | ||
| capriccio an instrumental composition that doesn't adhere to rules for any specific musical form and is played with improvisation | ||
| motet an unaccompanied choral composition with sacred lyrics; intended to be sung as part of a church service; originated in the 13th century | ||
| program music, programme music musical compositions intended to evoke images or remind the listener of events | ||
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Wiktionary 
Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘
- opus (n.)
A work; specif. (Mus.), a musical composition.
Chambers DictionaryChamber's 20th Century Dictionary 📕
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opus
ō′pus, n. work, a work.—Opus magnum, the great work of one's life; Opus operantis (theol.), the effect of a sacrament ascribed chiefly, if not exclusively, to the spiritual disposition of the recipient, the grace flowing ex opere operantis—the Protestant view; Opus operatum, the due celebration of a sacrament necessarily involving the grace of the sacrament, which flows ex opere operato from the sacramental act performed independent of the merit of him who administers it—the R.C. view
Wikipedia 
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Opus or the shortened form op. after the title of a piece of music means “work”. It is followed by a number. When a composer writes his or her first piece of music it could be called “opus 1”. The next composition would then be called “opus 2” etc.
Giving pieces of music opus numbers helps us to know which piece of music it is. For example: Beethoven wrote lots of piano sonatas. His Piano sonata in A flat major op.26 is a sonata he wrote when he was a young man. Many years later he wrote another piano sonata which is also in A flat major, and that one has the opus number 110.
You cannot always tell from a composer’s opus numbers the order in which the works were composed. Until around the end of the 18th century opus numbers were only given to pieces of music which were published.
Some musicologists (people who study and write about music) have studied all the works by a famous composer and have given them a catalogue number. For example: Mozart’s music does not have opus numbers. Some of them are long operas, others are tiny little pieces for the piano he might have written in a hurry one day. A man called Köchel made a list of every single work by Mozart and gave them K numbers (K for Köchel). His numbering goes up to 622. This is useful, for example, to tell the difference between his Symphony in G minor K183 and his Symphony in G minor K550.
The plural of “opus” is “opuses” in English. This is because the Latin plural is “opera” which is rather confusing.
The word "opus"
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