Baroque Music Flashcards
Baroque Music
Highly decorated
A lot of Sacred works (for church)
Music for Dance & Opera
Increasing popularity of Keyboard Music
Major Composers
Bach
Vivaldi
Handel
Purcell
Harpsichord
The Baroque equivalent of the piano
Opera
A drama set to music with soloists, chorus, acting, and orchestral accompaniment
Sung in Italian
Aria
The opposite of recitative. The most important factor in an Aria is the melody, rather than the words
An Aria usually conveys strong emotions that the character is feeling such as love, anger, sadness
The melody in an Aria will usually be beautiful
Soprano
Highest female voice
Mezzo-Soprano
A female singer in-between a Soprano and an Alto
Alto
Lowest female voice
Tenor
Highest male voice
Baritone
A male voice in-between a Tenor and a Bass
Bass
Lowest make voice
Chorus & SATB
These two concepts are often grouped together to describe a chorus (sometimes also called a choir)
A chorus is made up from women and men who sing in these different ranges is referred to as a SATB Chorus
A SATB Chorus has a full, rich sound
Choir
A group of singers who preform together. They can either sing in:
Unison - the same notes at the same time
or
Harmony - the sound of 2 or more notes at the same time
Word Setting
There are two different ways we can set words too music:
Syllabic and Melismatic
Syllabic Word Setting
Syllabic comes from the word syllable
Only one note per syllable
Melismatic Word Setting
Lots of notes for each syllable
Syllables spread out over many notes - showing off
Concerto
A concerto is a piece for soloist accompanied by a full orchestra
This could be a piano concerto, a flute concerto, violin concerto, etc.
Cadenza
A passage of music which allows soloists to display or “show off” their technical ability in singing or playing an instrument
Coda
Italian term meaning “tail”
Brings a piece of music to an end
he orchestra will join the soloist to finish the piece, usually after a cadenza
Canon
A canon is where two or more voices or instruments sing or play the same music starting at different times
Pedal
A sustained low note
Inverted Pedal
A sustained high note
Homophonic
2 or more parts moving together in harmony
Polyphonic
2 or more independent melodies - lots happening
Ground Bass
A short reoccurring pattern in the bass
Trill
A type of ornament where 2 notes are alternated very quickly
Grace Note
An extra note added decorate to melody and not essential to the harmony or melody
