third stream
third stream noun: a form of jazz created in the 1950s, performed in ensembles in a style influenced by Western classical music, such as by using musical notation and eschewing improvisation.
Noun (1)
third stream (uncountable)
- A form of jazz created in the 1950s, performed in ensembles in a style influenced by Western classical music, such as by using musical notation and eschewing improvisation.
- The movement they brought into existence, "Third Stream", was for the most part an effort by jazz composers and musicians to adopt some of the conventions […]2001, Ellen Koskoff, editor, The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: North America, Garland Publishing, page 335
Noun (2) capitalized: Third Stream
Third Stream (uncountable)
- Alternative form of third stream.
Forms of third stream
| alternative form | thirdstream |
|---|---|
| alternative form | Third Stream |
Origin of third stream
Coined by composer Gunther Schuller in 1957.
Questions about third stream
- What does third stream mean?
- Third stream means a form of jazz created in the 1950s, performed in ensembles in a style influenced by Western classical music, such as by using musical notation and eschewing improvisation.
- What part of speech is third stream?
- Third stream is a noun.
Words near third stream in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: third stream (page history and authors); Third Stream (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “third stream.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/third_stream. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.