Chapter 22: Performing Grief: Purcell and Early Opera

Question 1

Opera

Answer 1

Music drama that is generally sung throughout, combining the resources of vocal and instrumental music with poetry and drama, acting and dancing, scenery and costumes. (page 125)

Question 2

Recitative

Answer 2

Solo vocal declamation that follows the inflections of the text, often resulting in a disjunct vocal style; found in opera, cantata, and oratorio. Can be secco or accompagnato. (page 125)

Question 3

Aria

Answer 3

Lyric song for solo voice with orchestral accompaniment, generally expressing intense emotion; found in opera, cantata, and oratorio. (page 125)

Question 4

Overture

Answer 4

An introductory movement, as in an opera or oratorio, often presenting melodies from arias to come. Also an orchestral work for concert performance. (page 126)

Question 5

Sinfonia

Answer 5

Short instrumental work, found in Baroque opera, to facilitate scene changes. (page 126)

Question 6

Llibretto

Answer 6

Text or script of an opera, oratorio, cantata, or musical (also called the “book” in a musical). (page 126)

Question 7

Masque

Answer 7

English genre of aristocratic entertainment that combined vocal and instrumental music with poetry and dance, developed during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. (page 127)

Question 8

Hornpipe

Answer 8

Country dance of the British Isles, often in a lively triple meter; optional dance movement of solo and orchestral Baroque suites. A type of duple-meter hornpipe is still popular in Irish traditional dance music. (page 127)

Question 9

Ground Bass

Answer 9

A repeating melody, usually in the bass, throughout a vocal or instrumental composition. (page 129)