Baroque and Classical Flashcards
Affections
Emotional states or moods conveyed through music, a concept prominent in Baroque music theory.
Unity of Mood
A characteristic of Baroque music where a piece maintains a consistent emotional atmosphere throughout.
Camerata
A group of intellectuals, musicians, poets, and scholars who gathered in Florence, Italy, in the late 16th and early 17th centuries to discuss and promote the arts, particularly opera.
Opera
A form of musical theater in which a dramatic work is set to music, often accompanied by orchestration, singing, and sometimes dance.
Overture
An instrumental composition that precedes an opera, ballet, or other large-scale vocal work, setting the mood and themes of the piece to follow.
Recitative
A vocal style used in opera and oratorio that imitates the natural inflections of speech, often used to advance the plot or convey dialogue.
Aria
A solo vocal piece within an opera, typically expressing the emotions or thoughts of a character.
Libretto
The text or script of an opera, oratorio, or musical, containing the words to be sung or spoken.
Dido and Aeneas
An opera by English composer Henry Purcell, based on the tragic love story from Virgil’s Aeneid.
Fugue
A contrapuntal composition technique in which a short musical theme, called the subject, is introduced and then developed through imitation in multiple voices.
Subject
The main theme or musical idea upon which a fugue is based.
Retrograde
A technique in which a musical theme is played backward, reversing the order of its notes.
Classical period dates
Approximately 1750 to 1820, characterized by composers such as Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven.
Baroque period dates
Approximately 1600 to 1750, known for its ornate style and composers such as Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi.
Chamber music
Music composed for small ensembles, typically one player per part, designed to be performed in a chamber or intimate setting.
Minuet and Trio (ABA, triple meter)
A form of dance music popular in the Baroque and Classical periods, consisting of two contrasting sections (the minuet and trio), each in triple meter.
Cantata
A vocal composition with instrumental accompaniment, often based on a religious or secular text, consisting of several movements including recitatives, arias, and choruses.
Symphony
A large-scale orchestral composition typically consisting of several movements, each with its own distinct character and form.
Sonata Cycle chart
A diagram illustrating the structure and progression of movements in a multi-movement sonata, such as a sonata for piano or chamber ensemble.
Basso continuo
A form of musical accompaniment consisting of a bassline, often played by a cello or bass instrument, and a keyboard instrument providing harmonies based on figured bass notation.
Figured bass
A system of musical notation used in the Baroque period, where numbers or symbols are placed below the bassline to indicate the chords to be played by the keyboardist.
Concerto grosso
A concerto form popular in the Baroque period, featuring a small group of soloists (concertino) contrasted with a larger ensemble (ripieno).
Tutti
Italian for “all,” indicating that the entire ensemble should play together.
Terraced dynamics
A characteristic of Baroque music where changes in volume are abrupt rather than gradual, creating a contrast between loud and soft passages.
Cadenza
A virtuosic solo passage in a concerto or other work, often improvised or written out by the performer to showcase their technical skill.
Ode to Joy
A famous choral movement from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, setting the text of Friedrich Schiller’s poem “Ode to Joy.”
Sonata form (aka sonata-allegro
A musical form used in the first movement of many Classical sonatas, symphonies, and concertos, characterized by its three main sections: exposition, development, and recapitulation.
Development
The second section of sonata form, where the thematic material from the exposition is developed, fragmented, and transformed through various keys and harmonic progressions.
Exposition
The first section of sonata form, where the main thematic material is presented, typically featuring two contrasting themes in different keys.
Recapitulation
The final section of sonata form, where the thematic material from the exposition is restated, often with modifications, and resolved in the tonic key.
Handel’s Messiah (genre):
An English-language oratorio composed by George Frideric Handel, featuring a libretto compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer.
Well-Tempered Clavier
A collection of keyboard compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of preludes and fugues in all major and minor keys, designed to demonstrate the possibilities of well-tempered tuning systems.
Sequence
A melodic or harmonic pattern that is repeated at a higher or lower pitch level.
Vienna
The capital city of Austria, renowned as a cultural center and a significant hub for Classical music during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Don Giovanni (character):
The title character of Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni,” a libertine nobleman known for his seductive exploits and eventual downfall.
Movement
A self-contained section of a larger musical work, typically characterized by its tempo, key, and form.
Fidelio
Beethoven’s only opera, known for its themes of freedom and justice.
Mozart’s 3 opera masterpieces
“The Marriage of Figaro,” “Don Giovanni,” and “The Magic Flute,” considered among the greatest operas ever composed.
Oratorio vs. opera
Oratorio is a large-scale musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists, often with a religious theme and performed without staging or costumes, whereas opera is a staged drama set to music.
Cantata vs. oratorio
Cantata is a shorter vocal composition with instrumental accompaniment, often performed in a church service, whereas oratorio is a larger, more dramatic vocal work typically performed in concert settings.
Trill
A rapid alternation between two adjacent notes in a musical composition.
Baroque melodies
Melodies characterized by ornamentation, virtuosity, and contrapuntal complexity, typical of the Baroque period.
Castrato
A male singer who was castrated before puberty to preserve his high singing voice, prominent in Baroque opera.
Countertenor
A male singer who sings in a vocal range higher than that of a typical male voice, often using falsetto or a mixed voice.
Suite
A collection of instrumental pieces, often dances, performed as a cohesive unit, typically in the same key or tonal center.
Rondo
A musical form featuring a recurring main theme (refrain) interspersed with contrasting sections (episodes).
Scherzo vs. minuet
Both are musical forms in triple meter often used as the third movement in Classical symphonies and sonatas. A scherzo is typically faster and more playful than a minuet.
Motive
A short musical idea, typically consisting of a few notes, that forms the basis of a musical composition or theme.
