thorough bass

American  

[beys] / beɪs /

noun

Music.

1. figured bass.

2. continuo.

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thorough bass British  

/ beɪs /

noun

1. 1. Also called: basso continuo.   continuo.  (esp during the baroque period) a bass part underlying a piece of concerted music. It is played on a keyboard instrument, usually supported by a cello, viola da gamba, etc See also figured bass

   2. ( as modifier )

      a thorough-bass part

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Etymology

Origin of thorough bass

First recorded in 1655–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

thorough bass

Not fatigued by his radicalisation of both musical texture and technique, Corelli added another flourish to his work: a musical shorthand called figured bass, or thorough bass, inherited from Monteverdi and universally adopted after him.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

The first explosion over, the squall, still pursuing the hooker, began to roar in thorough bass.

From The Man Who Laughs by Hugo, Victor

Some, if not all of the Psalms of David, had vocal compositions set to them by William and Henry Lawes, with a thorough bass, for an Organ, in four large books or volumes in 4to.

From The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753) Volume I. by Cibber, Theophilus

The innovations of the Florentine reformers included also the invention of thorough bass, or the basso continuo, as the Italians call it.

From Some Forerunners of Italian Opera by Henderson, W. J. (William James)

I ought also to mention that Herr Drechsler is the unsalaried professor of thorough bass at St. Anna's, and has been so for the last ten years.

From Beethoven's Letters 1790-1826, Volume 2 by Nohl, Ludwig