Concepts, Institutions and Movements Flashcards
Name the eight church modes, and describe the final, ambitus, and reciting tone (tenor) of each.
From the middle ages up into the early Baroque composers were trained according to a sight-singing system devised by Guido of Arezzo that used hexachords. Concisely describe Guido’s system. Make sure to include in your answer the following terms: Ut queant laxis; natural, hard, and soft hexachords; gamut; mutation; the Guidonian han
Much of the greatest music of the late Renaissance is unaccompanied vocal music. Name two of the leading composers of the late Renaissance, one of whom was active in Germany, the other whom was the Prince of Venosa. What was the primary aesthetic emphasis of these two composers, both of whom favored complex counterpoint in their sacred and secular compositions? Name some of the musical ways they attempted to realize this aesthetic emphasis.
What is the chronology of the early Baroque? What was the primary aesthetic focus of composers active then? What is monody? Who was the principal composer of this time?
What is the single most characteristic feature of all Baroque music? What does this feature suggest about the musical style of the epoch? What type of score is used to notate most Baroque music?
What is the chronology of the middle Baroque? Characterize the melodic/harmonic style of this time. Identify four prominent composers of this period from Italy, Germany, France, and England.
What is the chronology of the late Baroque? How does the melodic/harmonic style change during this time? What type of music becomes increasingly prominent during this time? Identify three prominent composers of this time from Italy, two from Germany, and one from France.
How were European national boundaries and political entities in the mid-17th century different from now?
What were the two principal branches of Christian religious practice during the Baroque?
What is the principal liturgical observance of Catholic worship? From where does the name of this service come? What are the six primary Ordinary elements in this observance, and the six Proper elements? What is the difference between a Proper and an Ordinary liturgical item?
Name the eight daily offices of Catholic worship. When did they take place, approximately? How do they differ in content from the Mass?
Who started the Protestant Reformation, when did he start it, and where? What are some of the major differences between Catholic and Protestant worship?
Describe the Reformation in the following countries: Germany; Italy; France; England.
What is the Counter-Reformation, and when did it start? What group was particularly influential in this movement? What war consumed Europe over Europe during the mid-17th century, and when did it run?
What are the five rhetorical elements identified by Cicero? What 17th century aesthetician applied them to music? Which element was favored in the early, middle, and late Baroque?
What did Joachim Burmeister say about the music of Roland de Lassus in his Musica autoschediastike (1601)? What system did he try to apply to the music of Lassus?
What is the historical basis for analyzing the accompanied madrigals of Monteverdi’s 8th book in terms of their use of musico-rhetorical figures? What might one’s thesis be? What are some of the major treatises that list musico-rhetorical figures?
Why is an understanding of modes important for analysis of 17th century music? How might one use the modal theory of Giovanni Maria Bononcini (1642-78) for a paper on analysis? What might one’s thesis be?
What types of music might lend themselves to hexachordal analysis? Why would one chose this type of analysis over traditional tonal analysis? What might one’s thesis be for such an analytic paper?
For what musical repertory might Francesco Gasparini’s “normalized harmonic style” be particularly appropriate? What might one’s thesis be for such an analytic paper?
What theatrical/musical genre was the immediate predecessor of early Florentine opera?
Identify three individuals who were closely associated with the Florentine Cameratas.
What is the name of Vincenzo Galilei’s famous treatise of 1581 on music, and what does it say about “ancient and modern” musics?
Name three composers active in Florence ca. 1600.
When, where, and why did Peri compose Euridice?
Who was Peri’s librettist? From what theatrical traditions did he draw his plot?
Peri believed he was creating a new type of singing in Euridice. What did he call this type of singing, and how did he describe its musical style? What determined the movement of the harmony in this new style of singing?
What three act work did Cavalieri compose in around 1600?
What does the word “oratorio” indicate about sacred pieces composed around 1600?
How does the melodic style of Cavalieri’s work differ from Peri’s?
Who wrote Le nuove musiche, and when?
What was the Concerto delle donne?
In what city was Claudio Monteverdi born, and what was this city known for during his lifetime?
Identify Monteverdi’s two principal patrons.
What differentiates Monteverdi’s madrigal books 1-5 from books 6-9?
Who was G.M. Artusi, and what is his relationship to Monteverdi?
What do the terms prima pratica and seconda pratica indicate about musical style?
What is a basso seguente?
Where, when, and for whom did Monteverdi compose Orfeo? Who was the librettist?
Identify at least two ways in which Monteverdi’s Orfeo surpasses Peri’s Euridice as a musical masterpiece.
What style did Monteverdi claim to have invented for his 8th book of madrigals? How did he create this style in musical terms?
Monteverdi’s setting of Hor ch’el ciel from Book 8 lends itself to analysis in what type of terminology? Define at least three specific terms that could be used to analyze this work.
What is distinctive about operas composed for Florence between 1621-28, and why? Name an important Florentine opera composer from these years.
What three factors heavily influenced Roman operas composed during the first half of the 17th century, and serve to distinguish these operas from earlier Florentine operas? Identify a wealthy Roman family that heavily supported opera during this period.
Who was Giulio Rospigliosi? Name one or more literary works that he wrote.
What three procedures were followed by Italian musicians during the late 16th century when improvising passaggi?
What special considerations applied for singers when improvising within polyphonic works such as madrigals?
What late 16th century Italian composer is especially well-known for applying extensive ornamentation to polyphonic works? What is the name of the treatise in which he explains how to do this?
What was the first teaching manual for improvising diminutions? Do we have it in our library?
In what two ways did composers start to exercise greater control over improvisation during the early 17th century?
How did composers such as Caccini often modify the rhythms and placement of passaggi? Why did Caccini do this?
What collection of monodies contains one of the fullest explanations of early 17th century improvisatory practice? Does this collection indicate that there is only one way to ornament early 17th century melodies?
does one need to add more ornaments to those written by Caccini in Le nuove musiche? In what type of pieces was Caccini most apt to add lots of ornaments?
Who was Matthew Dubourg? What can we learn from him about late Baroque improvisation?