ch. 5 music from the age of global commerce Flashcards
why were there so many European composers during this period?
they could make a good living having patrons such as wealthy kings, princes, and religious congregations in Europe
Baroque
- a period in European music history
- a term applied to anything that seems elaborate and exaggerated
opera
a theatrical musical genre that tells stories thru recitative, arias, instrumental music, acting, and dancing
recitative
melodic and rhythmic text recitation
arias
songs with clear melodies
ritornellos
repeated instrumental interludes
theorbo
a bass lute with an enormously long neck + 14 courses of strings capable of playing low-pitched bass pitches
arpeggios
leaps thru the pitches of a triad
why do opera singers sound “strange”?
they have cultivated a vocal technique that is loud enough to be heard without amplification in large opera houses
castrati
- in the 17th century, lead male roles were sung by castrati
- male singers castrated before puberty to prevent their voices from changing from soprano to tenor or bass
- the sound of a castrato was associated with masculine power and heroic male roles
monody
a three part texture consisting of a vocal melody (or sometimes a duet) accompanied by an instrumental bass line and chords improvised by a keyboard or lute player
basso continuo
the combination of bass line and chords in monody
what was the impact of Monteverdi’s fifth book of madrigals?
- he introduced the new style of monodic vocal composition
- this new style established virtuosic singing in the form of fast runs, trills, and other ornaments bc the voices are not tethered to contrapuntal relations among the parts
- new genre = aria
what does the term “early music” refer to?
- European church, court, and concert music composed before 1750
- music that some modern performers believe requires “historically informed” performances bc they are so diff from modern practice
who composed “Violin Concerto in E Major, Spring”?
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
* lived and worked in Venice, Italy
* one of the most prolific & influential composers of the Baroque period
concerto
a composition that pits an orchestra against a soloist or small group of soloists
how many movements do concertos typically have?
3
fast tempo, slow tempo, fast tempo
how does it work? (“Violin concerto in E Major, Spring”)
p. 119
sonata
- comes from the Latin word for “sound”
- an instrumental composition for a soloist or small group of soloists
what were concerts and sonatas meant for?
for listening in concert or church settings, rather than for dancing, the amusement of amateur players, or as instrumental versions of vocal works
interpretations of purely instrumental works (such as concertos and sonatas)
- that they are meant for purely musical enjoyment -> description + analysis of their musical elements
- they carry associations and iconic musical gestures -> the moods and emotions in particular instrumental compositions can be explained in terms of their musical elements, w/o direct references to a text
program music
music composed to express the emotions, moods, and meanings of an unperformed verbal narrative
who composed the oratorio “Messiah”
George Frideric Handel
oratorio
a multi-movement composition that tells a biblical story in the vernacular (local) language rather than in the Latin of the Catholic liturgy
* uses conventions of opera (recitative, aria, basso continuo, choruses) but w/o acting, costumes, or scenery
how does it work? (“Hallelujah” from “Messiah”)
p. 123
how does “Hallelujah” use text painting?
- rising pitch expresses the intensification of faith
- trumpets and timpani create a feeling of majesty in the revelation of Christ as Lord and king
- softness reflects the ordinariness of secular life while loudness conveys the glories of religious life
- major key and short, punchy melodic phrases reinforce the brightness of the message
cantata
multi-movement genre, new style of opera
keyboard
a generic term for all types of instruments that employ the layout of long white keys for the 7-pitch diatonic scale and short black keys for the 5 additional chromatic pitches of European music
* modern: piano, electronic synthesizer
* Baroque: organ, harpsichord, clavichord
prelude
short, free-form piece often spun out from a single melodic or rhythmic idea
fugue
a tightly organized piece featuring imitative counterpoint
clavier
means keyboard in German
how does it work? (prelude and fugue in c major from “the well-tempered clavier, book 1”)
p. 128
who composed “The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1”?
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
what were Bach’s intentions for “The Well-Tempered Clavier”?
- exercises for beginning students, amusement of more advanced players
- not meant for public performance
why was the Baroque organ so complex?
- hundreds, even thousands, of flute and reed pipes of diff lengths (diff pitches)
harpsichord
a plucked zither
clavichord
- invented ab the same time as the harpsichord
- produces a very quiet sound not suitable for concert performances -> primarily used at home for the amusement of the player
where is Java, and what is it’s culture + history?
- one of the many islands of Indonesia
- b/w the indian and pacific oceans
- population of nearly 150m, mostly Muslim
how old is Javanese court music?
dates back to 17th and early 18th centuries, when powerful kinds ruled most of the island before ceding power to the Dutch East India company in 1749
what was Java court entertainment like?
included elaborate dances and theatrical presentations accompanied by a gamelan
gamelan
a large orchestra of around 40 instruments made of bronze gons or metal keys, plus drums, a bowed fiddle, xylophone, zither, flute, and sometimes vocals
besides islam, which religions are prominent in Javanese cultures?
Hinduism and Buddhism
Ketawang
Javanese; a musical form based on a rhythmic cycle of 16 beats
Puspawarna
- Javanese
- title of the gateway composition
- means “kinds of flowers”
Laras
Javanese; means tuning system
Slendro
- is one of two tuning systems in Javanese music
- has 5 approx. equidistant pitches in an octave
Patet / pathet
Javanese melodic mode
Manyura
Javanese; one of three melodic modes in the slendro tuning system
How does it work? (“Puspawarna”)
p. 136
strope
- when every verse is performed to the same melody -> strophe is a unit of a verse
- form is written AAA…
strophic form / strophic song
when every verse in a song is performed to the same melody
bentuk
the Javanese word for their elaborate cyclical rhythmic structure; called “colotomic structure” in English
texture of the gamelan in “Puspawarna”
- a rhythmic, cyclical (colotomic) structure played on knobbed gongs
- a mid-pitched, mid-tempo melody played on metallophones
- high-pitched, fast-tempo elaborating parts
besides slendro, what is the other Javanese tuning system?
pelog
* a 7-tone heptatonic system from which five (but sometimes six or seven) main pitches are chosen
* no external standard against which to measure pitches and intervals
what spiritual attributes do the instruments of the gamelan have?
- master blacksmiths infuse each instrument with a living spirit
- musicians approaching the gamelan do not step over any instruments, which is disrespectful
how do compositions like “Puspawarna” reflect Hindu/Buddhist culture?
the cyclical rhythmic structure = icon of beliefs in the cyclical nature of life
gong
a metallic idiophone with a surface diameter greater than its depth
bell
an idiophone with a depth greater than its surface diameter
cymbal
an idiophone with a flat plate and no depth
who composed “L’incoronazione di Poppea”?
Claudio Monteverdi (1547-1643); the first great exponent of opera and the Baroque style
how does it work? “L’incoronazione di Poppea”
p. 112
who performed the gateway piece “Ketawang Puspawarna Laras Slendro Patet Manyura”?
women soloists and a chorus of men perform with the gamelan
