Baroque Music

Question 1

Name the two Ages that played an effect on music.

Answer 1

The Age of Science

The Age of Absolutism

Question 2

Movement

Answer 2

Self-contained section of a larger work

Many Baroque works create drama and length by stringing together several short, contrasting pieces

Question 3

Concerto 3 Movements

Answer 3

I – bright, extroverted, in a fast tempo
II – slower, quieter, more emotional
III – similar to 1st, often faster

Question 4

Concerto: Ritornello Form

Answer 4

Italian for Home
Commonly used in 1st and 3rd movements
based on systematic use of contrast & return
Consistent alternation between two contrasting sections (Ritornellos & solo episodes)
Return of theme more satisfying after contrasting solos

Question 5

Cadenza

Answer 5

An improvised passage for soloist

Typically near the end of 1st movement

Question 6

Ritornello vs, Episode:

Ritornello

Answer 6

o	Principal theme
o	Solid and forceful
o	Often very tuneful
o	For full orchestra
o	Stable – stays in one key and ends with strong cadence
o	Familiarity grows with each returm

Question 7

Ritornello vs, Episode:

Solo

Answer 7

o Contrasting section
o Faster, more brilliant
o Increasingly free and virtuosic (technically difficult) as movement progresses
o For soloist(s), sometimes accompanied by basso continuo
o Unstable – modulates to another key, flows into next ritornello
o Always something new and suprising

Question 8

Concerto Grosso

Answer 8

Concerto for a group of solo instruments & orchestra

Question 9

Concerto Grosso Form

Answer 9

Similar to solo concerto
Three movements
Ritornello form often used in fast movements
Emphasis on contrast (contest) between soloists and orchestra

Question 10

What were the two most important instruemental genres of Baroque Music?

Answer 10

Concerto Grosso and Concerto

Question 11

Fugue

Answer 11

Polyphonic compostion built on single principal theme (the subject)

Question 12

Concerto

Answer 12

Composition for a solo insturment or instruments accompanied by an orchestra

Question 13

Concertare

Answer 13

Like a conversation

-Means to interact, discuss or debate

Question 14

Ritornello

Answer 14

Describes the theme that keeps coming back

Question 15

Basso Continuo

Answer 15

An accompanying part that includes a bass line and harmonies typically played on a keyboard instrument

Question 16

Orchestra

Answer 16

A group of instrumentalists

Question 17

Opus

Answer 17

A collection of works

Question 18

Fugue Subject

Answer 18

Voice (Instrument)

Question 19

Exposition

Answer 19

Initial presentation/entrance of the voices

Question 20

Subject entries

Answer 20

Fixed, must always be recognizable as the subject
Stable – remain in one key throughout each statement
May occur in other keys in middle of fugue

Question 21

Episodes

Answer 21

Free – may explore any motives from subject in any order.
Unstable – modulate from one key to another
Connect an entry in one key with another in a new key

Question 22

Fugal Devices

Answer 22

Countersubject
Stretto
Augmentation and Diminution
Inversion

Question 23

Countersubject

Answer 23

A melody designed to accompany the subject throughout the fugue

Question 24

Stretto

Answer 24

Overlapping entrances – when a subject entry jumps in before the previous one is done

Question 25

Augmentation and Diminution

Answer 25

Making all note values longer or shorter

Question 26

Inversion

Answer 26

Turning the subject upside down

Question 27

Modulation

Answer 27

Trick the ear that another key is a “temporary home”
Change to another key either than a home key
Used a bit in Baroque Era

Question 28

Baroque Instrumental Music

Answer 28

First time instrumental taken seriously
Parallel with the improvement of instruments
Repetition, return, sequence & imitation
Begin and end in the same key
Contrast and variation
Modulate to other keys in the middle
String contrasting movements together