Definitions Flashcards
Define nationalism in music. Who is this term associated with?
- Important element of 19th century musical style
- Patriotism expressed through music
- Influence of folk song and dance, myths and legends, landscapes, historical events
- Bedrich Smetana
Define tone row. Who is this term associated with?
- Fixed order of the twelve chromatic pitches
- Basis of a twelve-tone composition
- Undergoes manipulations including: transposition, inversion, retrograde, and retrograde-inversion
- Arnold Schoenberg
- Anton Webern
Define theme and variations. Who is this term associated with?
- Compositional procedure in which a theme is stated and then altered in successive statements; occurs as an independent piece or as a movement of a multi movement cycle
- Anton Webern
Define thematic transformation. Who is this term associated with?
- A basic theme is repeated throughout a work in different guises
- The theme may be changed rhythmically, melodically or harmonically
- Unlike a variation, the transformed theme takes on a new identity in a new context
- Franz Liszt
Define Heldentenor. Who is this term associated with?
- German for “heroic tenor”
- A male voice with a high range, possessing incredible strength and stamina
- Richard Wagner
Define Sprechstimme. Who is this term associated with?
- German for “speech-voice”
- A vocal technique developed Schoenberg and used for the first time in his song cycle Pierrot lunaire
- The singer/reciter performs what sounds like “pitched speaking”
- The singer initiates a note then drops the pitch slightly
- Indicated with an ‘x’ marked on the stem of the note
- Arnold Schoenberg
Define canon. Who is this term associated with?
- From the Latin for “law”
- Strict imitation of a musical line at a fixed interval throughout
- Can be complete polyphonic composition or a technique used within a work
- Arnold Schoenberg
Define song cycle. Who is this term associated with?
- A collection of art songs united by central theme or narrative thread
- Intended to be performed together
- Poetic text drawn from same author
- Robert Schumann
Define symphonic poem (tone poem). Who is this term associated with?
- One of the most popular forms of orchestral program music
- Single movement work, generally in free form, with literary or pictorial associations
- Invented by Franz Liszt, associated with Bedrich Smetana for this course
Define durchkomponiert (through composed). Who is this term associated with?
- A song structure that avoids repetition of entire sections of the music
- As a result, melody, harmony, and piano accompaniment are able to reflect the meaning of the text
- Robert Schumann
Define music drama. Who is this term associated with?
- Term used to describe the synthesis of music and drama
- Served to distinguish his operatic style from the “traditional” operas of his day
- Richard Wagner
Define rondeau. Who is this term associated with?
- A poetic form developed in the 14th century
- Generally, the poem consisted of 4 verses: the first verse was repeated partially in the second verse, and completely in the fourth verse
- The musical rondeau often took its shape from the poem’s structure
- Arnold Schoenberg
Define mode of limited transposition. Who is this term associated with?
- A scale that is limited to fewer than the usual twelve transpositions; some can only be transposed once
- First mode of limited transposition is the whole tone scale
- Second mode is the octatonic scale whose pattern alternates semi-tones and tones
- Absence of a central pitch or pull to a tonic
- Olivier Messiaen
Define retrograde-inversion (in twelve-tone music). Who is this term associated with?
- Writing the tone row upside down and backwards
- Arnold Schoenberg
- Anton Webern
Define Tristan chord. Who is this term associated with?
- A half-diminished 7th chord heard in the opening measures of Tristan und Isolde, formed by the notes F-B-Dsharp-Gsharp
- Serves as a leitmotif throughout the opera for lover’s passion
- Demonstrates the heightened chromaticism
- Richard Wagner
Define etude. Who is this term associated with?
- French for “study”
- Solo instrumental work intended to develop technical facility
- Focuses on one or more specific technical challenges
- Franz Liszt
Define libretto. Who is this term associated with?
- The text of an opera, oratorio, or cantata
- Usually written by someone other than the composer
- Giuseppe Verdi
Define homorhythmic texture. Who is this term associated with?
- All voices sing the same rhythm
- Results in a blocked chordal texture (homophonic)
- Delivers the text with clarity and emphasis
- Johannes Brahms
Define coloratura soprano. Who is this term associated with?
- A female voice with an especially high range
- Trained to execute breathtakingly difficult passages with great ability
- Giuseppe Verdi
Define ostinato. Who is this term associated with?
- A short rhythmic or melodic pattern repeated throughout a section or a work
- Bela Bartok
Define diminution. Who is this term associated with?
- A rhythmic device in which the note values of a melody are shortened
- As a result, the music sounds faster
- Arnold Schoenberg
Define aria. Who is this term associated with?
- Italian for “air” (an old English word for song)
- A solo song with orchestral accompaniment heard in an opera, oratorio, or cantata
- Highly emotional, often virtuosic
- May have lyrical or dramatic character
- Giuseppe Verdi
Define sonata form. Who is this term associated with?
- Formal structure often used in first movement of sonata cycle
- Consists of Exposition (statement of two or more contrasting themes), Development (departure), and Recapitulation (return)
- AKA sonata-allegro form
- Felix Mendelssohn
Define atonality. Who is this term associated with?
- Total abandonment of tonality (entering in a key)
- Atonal music moves from one level of dissonance to another, without areas of relaxation
- Arnold Schoenberg
Define en pointe. Who is this term associated with?
- French for “on point”
- A challenging dance technique practised by ballerinas (female dancers) and used in traditional ballet
- Requires the dancer to dance and balance on their toes with the help of specially constructed dance slippers
- Sergei Prokofiev
Define orchestral suite. Who is this term associated with?
- A group of orchestral movements drawn from a larger dramatic work such as a ballet
- Programmatic in nature
- Played in a concert setting, outside of its original dramatic context
- Sergei Prokofiev
Define ballet. Who is this term associated with?
- Highly stylized type of dance that often interprets a story
- First developed in the 17th century at the court of Louis XIV
- 19th century ballet reached its peak at the Russian court
- Russian dancers dominated the ballet scene throughout most of the 20th century
- Sergei Prokofiev
Define hemiola. Who is this term associated with?
- A temporary shift of the metric accents
- Notes grouped in threes are momentarily grouped in twos or vice-versa
- Robert Schumann
- Johannes Brahms
Define sourdine. Who is this term associated with?
- French for “mute”
- An instruction given to string and brass instruments to use their mutes
- Creates softer dynamics, veiled, subdued instrumental effects
- Olivier Messiaen
Define Lied. Who is this term associated with?
- The musical setting of a German poem
- For solo voice, generally with piano accompaniment
- Flourished in the 19th century
- Robert Schumann
Define minimalism. Who is this term associated with?
- Musical style developed in the 1960s
- Repetition of melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic patterns with little variation
- Often trance-like with a hypnotic effect
- Generally tonal
- Pioneered by composers La Monte Young, Phillip Glass, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and John Adams
- Arvo Part
Define twelve-tone music. Who is this term associated with?
- A method of composition developed by Schoenberg
- An approach used to organize atonal music
- Based on a fixed order of the twelve chromatic pitches forming a tone row
- Also referred to as dodecaphonic music (derived from the Greek for “twelve”)
- Arnold Schoenberg
- Anton Webern
Define concert overture. Who is this term associated with?
- A single movement orchestral work with literary or pictorial associations
- Usually in sonata form
- Independent concert work; not connected to an opera or ballet
- Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
Define strophic form. Who is this term associated with?
- A song structure where the same music is performed for each verse of the poem
- As a result, little connection can be achieved between the words and music
- Robert Schumann
Define pointillism. Who is this term associated with?
- A term derived from the post-Impressionist style of painting that used dots of pure color on the canvas
- In music, this dappled effect was achieved through the use of Klangfarbenmelodie and the delicate weaving of the contrapuntal lines
- Arnold Schoenberg
Define changing meter. Who is this term associated with?
- A common trait in 20th century music
- The time signature changes frequently and unpredictably
- A rejection of standard metrical patterns in favour of non-symmetrical groupings
- Bela Bartok
Define rondo form. Who is this term associated with?
- Classical formal structure often used in sonata cycle
- Section A recurs, with alternating sections creating contrast
- Section A heard 3 times or more in the tonic key
- Most frequently ABACA or ABACABA
- Johannes Brahms
Define polytonality. Who is this term associated with?
- The simultaneous use of two or more keys
- Bela Bartok
Define expressionism in music. Who is this term associated with?
- The German answer to French Impressionism
- Impulse for Expressionist movement came from painting
- First triumphed in central Europe, especially in Germany
- Reached full tide in dramatic works of the Second Viennese School (Arnold Schoenberg and his disciples Alban Berg and Anton Webern)
- Favored a hyperexpressive harmonic language marked by extreme wide leaps in the melody, and by the use of instruments in their extreme registers
- Arnold Schoenberg
Define glissando. Who is this term associated with?
- Derived from French “glisser”, to slide
- On the harp, a quick strumming of all the strings with a broad sweeping hand movement creating beautiful shimmering effects
- On the piano, a rapid ascending or descending “strumming” of the keys (white or black)
- Maurice Ravel
Define double stopping. Who is this term associated with?
- A string-instrument technique
- Two parts are produced by playing on two strings simultaneously
- Felix Mendelssohn
Define neo-Classicism. Who is this term associated with?
- A 20th century style that combined elements of Classical and Baroque music with modernist trends
- Bela Bartok
Define impressionism in music. Who is this term associated with?
- Surfaced in France after the possibilities of the Major-minor system had been exhausted
- Emphasis on primary intervals-octaves, fourths, fifths- and the parallel movement of chords
- More subtle harmonic relationships
- Use of dissonance, entire spectrum of chromatic scale
- Tone combinations that had formerly been regarded as inadmissible
- Fluid sequence of pitches that lacks the pull towards a tonic
- Claude Debussy
- Maurice Ravel
READ PG. 466-467 IN EoM
Define tintinnabulation. Who is this term associated with?
- From Latin word for “bell”
- A minimalist compositional style developed by Arvo Part during the 1970s
- Music generally characterized by 2 voices: one voice (called the tinntinnabular voice) arpeggiates the tonic triad while the other voice moves diatonically, with conjunct motion
- Works tend to have slow tempi, introspective mood, showing the composer’s fascination with chant
- Arvo Part
Define micropolyphony. Who is this term associated with?
- The weaving of many separate melodic strands into a complex polyphonic fabric
- The sheer density of the music renders the individual lines imperceptible
- Developed by Gyorgy Ligeti
Define retrograde (in twelve-tone music). Who is this term associated with?
- Writing the tone row backwards
- Arnold Schoenberg
- Anton Webern
Define whole-tone scale. Who is this term associated with?
- A non-traditional scale employed by composers of the late 19th and 20th centuries
- Consists of 6 different pitches, all spaces a whole tone (whole step) apart, for example C-D-E-Fsharp-Gsharp-Asharp-C
- Maurice Ravel
Define serialism. Who is this term associated with?
- Method of composition in which various musical elements (pitch, rhythm, dynamics, tone color) may be ordered in a fixed series
- Total serialism: extremely complex, totally controlled music in which the twelve-tone principle is extended to elements of music other than pitch
- Anton Webern
Define pentatonic scale. Who is this term associated with?
- A scale consisting of 5 different pitches, for example C-D-E-G-A-C
- Can be rendered easily by playing the 5 black keys on the piano
- Common to the folk music of many European and Asian cultures
- Maurice Ravel
Define modality. Who is this term associated with?
- The use of non-traditional scales, in particular, those scales that date back to antiquity, for example, Lydian mode
- Bela Bartok
Define Klangfarbenmelodie. Who is this term associated with?
- German for “tone-color melody”
- Concept developed Schoenberg in the early 20th century
- Individual notes of a melody are distributed around several instruments and often over a wide range
- Creates an angular melody and sparse sound
- Often compared to pointillism in painting
- Arnold Schoenberg
Define quotation in music. Who is this term associated with?
- Music that parodies another composition or style
- Draws a melody from a pre-existing work and presents it in a new guise
- Bela Bartok
Define modified strophic form. Who is this term associated with?
- A song structure that allows for some repetition of music
- Some changes to the melody, harmony, and accompaniment take place to reflect the text, such as a shift to tonic Major or tonic minor key
- Robert Schumann
Define program music. Who is this term associated with?
- Significant trend in 19th century music
- Instrumental music with extra-muscial associations, (literary, poetic, visual)
- Descriptive title identifies the connection
- Some works include a written text or “program” provided by the composer
- Bedrich Smetana
Define choreography. Who is this term associated with?
- The art of designing the dance steps and movements in a ballet (or musical)
- Sergei Prokofiev
Define Leitmotif. Who is this term associated with?
- German for “leading motive”
- A melodic fragment imbued with meaning, representing a character, place, object, or emotion
- Undergoes thematic transformation as the opera unfolds
- Richard Wagner
Define cadenza. Who is this term associated with?
- A solo passage heard in a concerto, aria, or any large orchestral work
- Often of a virtuosic nature
- Suggests an improvised style
- 19th century cadenzas were usually written out by the composer
- Felix Mendelssohn
Define celesta. Who is this term associated with?
- A percussion instrument resembling a small upright piano
- Metal bars are struck by hammers that have been activated by a keyboard
- Produces a delicate, silvery sound
- Alban Berg
Define chromatic harmony. Who is this term associated with?
- From Greek chroma for “color”
- Liberal use of chords based on notes outside of the key
- Frequently involves modulations to distant keys
- Used as an expressive device
- Richard Wagner
Define concerto. Who is this term associated with?
- A multi movement work for soloist(s) and orchestra
- Showcases virtuosity of soloist(s)
- Felix Mendelssohn
Define inversion (in twelve-tone music). Who is this term associated with?
- Writing the tone row upside down
- Arnold Schoenberg
- Anton Webern
Define recitative. Who is this term associated with?
- A speech-like style of singing heard in an opera, oratorio, or cantata
- Used for “dialogue” between characters and to advance the plot
- Often used to precede an aria
- Giuseppe Verdi
Define bel canto. Who is this term associated with?
- Italian for “beautiful singing”
- A style used in early 19th century Italian opera
- Emphasized purity of tone and lyrical melodies of a highly ornamented nature
- Rossini, Bellini, Donizetii, and early Verdi
Define cyclical structure. Who is this term associated with?
- Material heard in 1 movement recurs in later movements
- Creates structural unity in a multi-movement work
- A characteristic employed increasingly by Romantic composers in various genres, but notably in their symphonies
- Gustav Mahler
Define cluster chord. Who is this term associated with?
- A dissonant chord consisting of major and minor seconds
- Often employed in atonal music
- Alban Berg
Define ensemble. Who is this term associated with?
- A musical number in an opera featuring any number of soloists, but generally a smaller group than a “chorus”
- Often serves as a musical and dramatic climax
- Each person expresses his/her own emotions directly to the audience
- Giuseppe Verdi
Define symphony. Who is this term associated with?
- A multi movement orchestral work
- Developed in the 18th century, especially by Haydn Mozart, and Beethoven
- Typically in 4 movements
- Generally includes at least 1 movement in sonata form
- Gustav Mahler
Define Gesamtkunstwerk. Who is this term associated with?
- German for “total art work”
- Achieved through the perfect union of text, music, and stagecraft (costumes, scenery, lighting)
- Richard Wagner
Define pedal point. Who is this term associated with?
- A sustained note over which harmonies change
- Felix Mendelssohn
