Ch. 37 Flashcards
How did the transfer of power from court to commoner affect Baroque music?
Serious opera was too expensive and received little support from the weakened court.
Oratorio thrived because it was less costly and appealed to the practical English puritans
an old Benedictine monastery that provided a venue for ceremonies of state, all with appropriate musical pomp
Westminster Abbey
How did Henry Purcell begin his career?
As a chorister in the Chapel Royal choir
What do the English prefer over opera?
spoken plays, masques, and semi-operas
an elaborate courtly entertainment using music, dance, and drama to portray an allegorical story that shed a favorable light on the Royal family; similar to French ballet de cour
Masque
A spoken play in which the more exotic, amorous, or even supernatural moments in the story were sung or danced
semi-opera
What year did women begin appearing on the public stage in England?
1660
Where did Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas make its first appearance?
In 1689 at a school for young women in the London suburb of Chelsea
Where is the libretto of Dido and Aeneas drawn from and why?
Virgil’s “Aeneid”; the school curriculum was steeped in Classical Latin
What is the lament “When I am laid in earth” constructed on?
basso continuo; the line repeats over and over
Why did English composers of Purcell’s day call basso ostinato the ground bass?
Because the repetitive bass provided a solid foundation on which an entire composition could be built, or grounded.
What did composers of the Baroque period often use as a musical symbol to suggest grieve, lamentation, and impending death?
a descending tetrahedral bass
Purcell composed some of the coronation music for what king and queen?
William and Mary
Was Purcell the most excellent musician of his time?
Yes
a multi-movement composition, usually lasting about 20 minutes, containing an instrumental introduction, choruses, duets, and solo arias; the successive movements offer lyrical hymns of praise to a member of the royal family.
ode
Another name for a male falsetto alto
countertenor
In Purcell’s “Sound the Trumpet”, do trumpets actually sound?
No; instead the countertenors sing in trumpet style
a slide trumpet (like the early trombone), but one for which the sliding tube extended backward over the player’s left shoulder, rather than extending forward from the right.
flat trumpet
How did the slide on a flat trumpet make it easier for the player?
The slide made it easier to play in minor keys, which employ a “flat” third scale degree
