A word used to indicate the chronological order in which a composer's music was written.

A word used to indicate the chronological order in which a composer's music was written.

• A. Meno
• B. Opus
• C. M.D.
• D. Marcato

Answer: (B)

Opus is the label used to designate a composer’s works in roughly the order they were published, giving a reference to their place in the composer’s output. The idea is to group pieces into numbered sets so performers can identify where a work sits in the sequence of works. It isn’t a perfect timestamp—sometimes pieces are published long after they’re written, or revisions alter the apparent order—but opus numbers are the standard shorthand for ordering a composer’s works. The other terms are not about cataloging a piece’s place in a composer’s output: meno is a tempo/dynamic instruction meaning “less,” marcato is an articulation marking meaning to play notes with marked emphasis, and M.D. isn’t a recognized term for indicating publication or composition order.

Opus is the label used to designate a composer’s works in roughly the order they were published, giving a reference to their place in the composer’s output. The idea is to group pieces into numbered sets so performers can identify where a work sits in the sequence of works. It isn’t a perfect timestamp—sometimes pieces are published long after they’re written, or revisions alter the apparent order—but opus numbers are the standard shorthand for ordering a composer’s works. The other terms are not about cataloging a piece’s place in a composer’s output: meno is a tempo/dynamic instruction meaning “less,” marcato is an articulation marking meaning to play notes with marked emphasis, and M.D. isn’t a recognized term for indicating publication or composition order.