ADVANCED HIGHER MUSIC CONCEPTS

Question 1

Renaissance

Answer 1

Renaissance means ‘rebirth’ and denotes a period in history where there was a resurgence of interest in culture and learning based on the ideas of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

The period runs from around 1400 to 1600.
The music was often, although not always, modal. Popular styles in this period were: pavan, galliard, motet, ayre, ballett, madrigal, anthem etc.

Sacred choral music remained the most important music but composers started to take a much greater interest in composing secular music - music for use out with the church.

Question 2

Pavan

Answer 2

A Renaissance court dance linked with the galliard. The pavan is slow and stately with two beats in the bar.

Question 3

Galliard

Answer 3

A Renaissance court dance which follows the pavan. A galliard is quick and lively with three beats in a bar.

Question 4

Motet

Answer 4

In the Renaissance era (although sometimes written in other periods too) this was a sacred choral work with Latin text and polyphonic texture. It was usually sung A cappella.

Question 5

Ayre / Air

Answer 5

Ayre / Airs were songs that were generally in strophic form or verse repeating with a homophonic texture. The composition was written for a solo voice with an accompaniment, often the lute.

Question 6

Ballett

Answer 6

A type of madrigal in strophic form which was originally danced to. It is usually sung in English, usually a cappella, and features a ‘fa-la-la’ refrain at the end of each verse.

Question 7

Madrigal

Answer 7

In the Renaissance era, this was a non-religious work, polyphonic in style, using imitation.

Features of madrigal include text in English, use of word painting, through-composed music, usually sung a cappella.

Question 8

Anthem

Answer 8

Short sacred choral piece sung in English. Sometimes sung by a choir unaccompanied (a cappella) and sometimes accompanied by organ and featuring solo parts. The anthem is the Protestant equivalent of the Motet.

Question 9

Chorale

Answer 9

A German hymn tune. Written in four parts for soprano, contralto (alto), tenor and bass, some of these chorales were used by Bach in his oratorios and cantatas. Usually homophonic in texture.

Question 10

Nationalist

Answer 10

Music which incorporates elements of folk music of the composer’s country. It emerged about the second half of the 19th century and was a type of Romanticism. Composers include Glinka, Smetana and Grieg.

Question 11

Neo-classical

Answer 11

New classicism. From about 1929 onwards this style in music came about when composers reacted against Romanticism and wanted to return to the structures and styles of earlier periods but combined with dissonant, tonal and even atonal harmonies.

The composers started to write for smaller orchestras. Stravinsky and Prokofiev were two of the composers of this style.

Question 12

Serial

Answer 12

A 20th-century method of musical composition invented by Schoenberg in which the 12 notes of the Chromatic scale are organised into a series or tone row. This row can be transposed, inverted or played in retrograde, and forms the material basis for an entire work or movement.

Question 13

Contemporary Jazz

Answer 13

Contemporary jazz is an umbrella term for all kinds of jazz music being played now - as well as jazz music of the 80s, 90s, 00s & 10s – which can feature some or all of the following:

*sophisticated
*highly chromatic harmonies (verging on impressionist or atonal)
*rhythmic experimentation (cross rhythms, changing time signatures)
*development of a groove based on just two or three chords
*instruments used in experimental ways (melodic instruments used in percussive roles, harmonics and other virtuoso performing techniques)
*world music and avant garde influences and inclusion of instruments never used seriously in jazz before (flugelhorn, flute or oboe)

Question 14

Electronic Dance Music (EDM)

Answer 14

Electronic dance music is normally heard in clubs where the DJ combines tracks electronically into one smooth mix. Electronic dance music originally featured drum machines, synthesisers and sequencers but is currently now mostly produced using computers and software that contains sampling, effects, and multitrack recording features.

Electronic music can encompass music of different genres including house music, dubstep, drum and bass.

Question 15

Appoggiatura

Answer 15

An ornament which sounds like a leaning note. It takes half the value of the main note which follows it or two-thirds if the main note is dotted.

Question 16

Turn

Answer 16

Four notes which turn round the main note with the note above, the main note, the note below, and the main note again. An inverted turn starts with the note below reversing the process.

Question 17

Tritone

Answer 17

Interval of an augmented 4th, e.g. C–F# or F–B. It is made up of three whole tones hence the name tritone.

Question 18

Augmented Triad

Answer 18

This chord is formed by a major triad in which the 5th degree is raised by a semitone. This makes the intervals in the triad two major thirds - a major third describes two notes which are five semitones apart e.g. D-F# or G-B. An example of C augmented triad is: C, E, G#.

Question 19

Suspension

Answer 19

This effect occurs when a note from one chord is held over to the next chord creating a discord, and is then resolved by moving one step to make a concord.

Question 20

Chords I, IV, V, VI in major and minor keys

Answer 20

Chords I, IV, V and VI are important as, between them, we can form any of the four cadences.

In a major key, it is normal for chords I, IV and V to be major chords. Chord VI is normally a minor chord.

In a minor key, it is normal for chords I and IV to be minor chords. Chords V and VI are normally major chords.

The easiest way to remember this is to think of the following rules for Chords I, IV, V and VI:

Chord I - Tonality: defined by key
Chord IV - Tonality: same as chord I
Chord V - Tonality: always major
Chord VI - Tonality: opposite of chord I

So, if the key were F major, then chord I would be F major, chord IV would be Bb major (same), chord V would be C major (always major), chord VI would be D minor (opposite).

And if the key were D minor, then chord I would be D minor, chord IV would be G minor (same), chord V would be A major (always major), chord VI would be Bb major (opposite).

Question 21

Chord II and its first inversion (major keys only)

Answer 21

In a major key, chord number two tends to be a minor chord. To explain, let’s look at the scale below:

Chord II in a major key is a minor chord. This is because the note which tells us if a chord is a major or minor (the 3rd) in this case, is a minor 3rd.

The scale of C major is: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C.
Therefore Chord II is built on the note of D. As noted above, in a major, Chord II is minor. Therefore this will a chord of D minor which contains the notes D, F, A.

A first inversion occurs when the 2nd note of the chord appears in the bass / as the lowest note in the chord. Therefore, in the case of D minor, if we put the note of F in the bass, that would mean we have a D minor chord in 1st inversion.

Question 22

Polytonality / Bitonality

Answer 22

The use of two (bitonality) or more keys (polytonality) played or sung at the same time, e.g. the melody might be in the key of C major whilst the accompaniment might be in E major. This device was used by many 20th-century composers, eg Bartok, Ives, Holst and Stravinsky.

Question 23

Tone Row / Note Row

Answer 23

An arrangement of the 12 chromatic notes of the octave which forms the basis of a Serial composition.

Each note is as important as another; there are no important notes such as the tonic and dominant. The row can also be used in inversion or retrograde. The composition will be atonal.

Question 24

Hemiola

Answer 24

A rhythmic device giving the impression of a piece of music changing from duple (2) to triple (3) time, or vice versa. Sometimes placed at the end of a piece to act as a kind of rallentando.

Question 25

Fugue

Answer 25

A contrapuntal piece based on a theme (subject) announced in one voice part alone, then imitated by other voices in close succession.

The main (short) tune that the composition is based on is called the subject. The second time this melody enters, played by another voice/part, it is called the answer. As the answer plays, the first part sometimes continues by playing a melody called the countersubject above. This pattern of playing the subject and then playing the answer continues throughout the composition.

Question 26

Countersubject

Answer 26

In a fugue, after the subject or answer is played, the tune that is then played by that same instrument or voice is sometimes called the countersubject (if all instruments / parts go on to perform this same melody).

Question 27

Subject

Answer 27

The main theme in a composition.

This then could be the main theme in Sonata form. It could also identify the main theme on which a Fugue and other forms are based etc.

Question 28

Answer

Answer 28

1. A short musical phrase that follows on from a ‘question’ phrase. The phrases are usually the same length and often have similar note values.
2. In a fugue, after the subject is played, the same tune appears in another voice or part in the dominant (a 5th higher or a 4th lower). This is called the answer.

Question 29

Stretto

Answer 29

Where voices or instruments enter very quickly one after the other, as in fugue. In stretto, the subject is presented in one voice and then imitated in one or more other voices, with the imitation starting before the subject has finished. The subject is therefore superimposed upon itself contrapuntally.

Question 30

Antiphonal

Answer 30

Dialogue between voices or instruments - one group of voices or instruments answers the other. This is a bit like an old-fashioned version of stereo.

Question 31

Bridge

Answer 31

A link between two themes. In sonata form the bridge (or transition) links the first subject-group to the second subject-group and also modulates to the key of the second subject.

Question 32

Song Cycle

Answer 32

A group of songs linked by a common theme or with a text written by the same author, usually accompanied by piano but sometimes by small ensembles or full orchestra. This was quite popular in the Romantic Period and could be a set a lieder (lied) - German art song where the voice and piano are both equally important.

Question 33

Leitmotif / Leitmotiv

Answer 33

A musical theme occurring throughout a work which represents a person, an event or an idea, etc. The first composer to use leitmotiv extensively was Wagner, in his operas.

Question 34

Inversion

Answer 34

1. When a musical shape is mirrored (like in serial music when the tone / note row is played “upside down”).
2. An inverted chord is formed when a note other than the root is in the bass.

Question 35

Retrograde

Answer 35

To go backwards. A melody or a section of music can be written or performed from the end to the beginning.

The texture of the music including the harmonies can be written or performed from the end to the beginning. Retrograde inversion means the music can be written or performed backwards and upside-down at the same time. These are called serial techniques.

Question 36

Consort

Answer 36

In the Renaissance Period in England, a consort was the name given to a group of instruments of the same family playing together. For example, a consort of viols, a consort of recorders etc.

It was also a common practice to perform music with a ‘broken consort’, a collection of different instruments which blended together.

Question 37

Countertenor

Answer 37

A male adult voice whose range is higher than a tenor’s. The strong and pure tone is produced by resonances mainly in the head. This type of voice was very popular until the end of the 18th century.

Question 38

Piano Trio

Answer 38

A piano trio is a chamber music ensemble comprising of three instruments; the most common form comprises of a piano, violin and cello.

Other combinations of instruments can be found, but this is less common than the typical piano, violin and cello grouping.

Question 39

Sprechgesang

Answer 39

A technique used in vocal music where the singer is required to use the voice in an expressive manner half-way between singing and speaking.

It appears in a number of pieces by Schoenberg and Berg (early 20th century). If you want to listen to an example, listen to Pierrot Lunaire by Schoenberg.