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J - Music History 3 > Definitions > Flashcards

Definitions Flashcards

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1
Q

Define nationalism in music. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
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2
Q

Define tone row. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
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3
Q

Define theme and variations. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
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4
Q

Define thematic transformation. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
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5
Q

Define Heldentenor. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • German for “heroic tenor”
  • A male voice with a high range, possessing incredible strength and stamina
  • Richard Wagner
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6
Q

Define Sprechstimme. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
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7
Q

Define canon. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
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8
Q

Define song cycle. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
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9
Q

Define symphonic poem (tone poem). Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
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10
Q

Define durchkomponiert (through composed). Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
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11
Q

Define music drama. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
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12
Q

Define rondeau. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
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13
Q

Define mode of limited transposition. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
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14
Q

Define retrograde-inversion (in twelve-tone music). Who is this term associated with?

A
  • Writing the tone row upside down and backwards
  • Arnold Schoenberg
  • Anton Webern
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15
Q

Define Tristan chord. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
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16
Q

Define etude. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • French for “study”
  • Solo instrumental work intended to develop technical facility
  • Focuses on one or more specific technical challenges
  • Franz Liszt
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17
Q

Define libretto. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • The text of an opera, oratorio, or cantata
  • Usually written by someone other than the composer
  • Giuseppe Verdi
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18
Q

Define homorhythmic texture. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • All voices sing the same rhythm
  • Results in a blocked chordal texture (homophonic)
  • Delivers the text with clarity and emphasis
  • Johannes Brahms
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19
Q

Define coloratura soprano. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • A female voice with an especially high range
  • Trained to execute breathtakingly difficult passages with great ability
  • Giuseppe Verdi
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20
Q

Define ostinato. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • A short rhythmic or melodic pattern repeated throughout a section or a work
  • Bela Bartok
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21
Q

Define diminution. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • A rhythmic device in which the note values of a melody are shortened
  • As a result, the music sounds faster
  • Arnold Schoenberg
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22
Q

Define aria. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
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23
Q

Define sonata form. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
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24
Q

Define atonality. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • Total abandonment of tonality (entering in a key)
  • Atonal music moves from one level of dissonance to another, without areas of relaxation
  • Arnold Schoenberg
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25
Q

Define en pointe. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
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26
Q

Define orchestral suite. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
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27
Q

Define ballet. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
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28
Q

Define hemiola. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • A temporary shift of the metric accents
  • Notes grouped in threes are momentarily grouped in twos or vice-versa
  • Robert Schumann
  • Johannes Brahms
29
Q

Define sourdine. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • French for “mute”
  • An instruction given to string and brass instruments to use their mutes
  • Creates softer dynamics, veiled, subdued instrumental effects
  • Olivier Messiaen
30
Q

Define Lied. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • The musical setting of a German poem
  • For solo voice, generally with piano accompaniment
  • Flourished in the 19th century
  • Robert Schumann
31
Q

Define minimalism. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
32
Q

Define twelve-tone music. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
33
Q

Define concert overture. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
34
Q

Define strophic form. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
35
Q

Define pointillism. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
36
Q

Define changing meter. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
37
Q

Define rondo form. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
38
Q

Define polytonality. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • The simultaneous use of two or more keys

- Bela Bartok

39
Q

Define expressionism in music. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
40
Q

Define glissando. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
41
Q

Define double stopping. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • A string-instrument technique
  • Two parts are produced by playing on two strings simultaneously
  • Felix Mendelssohn
42
Q

Define neo-Classicism. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • A 20th century style that combined elements of Classical and Baroque music with modernist trends
  • Bela Bartok
43
Q

Define impressionism in music. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
44
Q

Define tintinnabulation. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
45
Q

Define micropolyphony. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
46
Q

Define retrograde (in twelve-tone music). Who is this term associated with?

A
  • Writing the tone row backwards
  • Arnold Schoenberg
  • Anton Webern
47
Q

Define whole-tone scale. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
48
Q

Define serialism. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
49
Q

Define pentatonic scale. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
50
Q

Define modality. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • The use of non-traditional scales, in particular, those scales that date back to antiquity, for example, Lydian mode
  • Bela Bartok
51
Q

Define Klangfarbenmelodie. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
52
Q

Define quotation in music. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • Music that parodies another composition or style
  • Draws a melody from a pre-existing work and presents it in a new guise
  • Bela Bartok
53
Q

Define modified strophic form. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
54
Q

Define program music. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
55
Q

Define choreography. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • The art of designing the dance steps and movements in a ballet (or musical)
  • Sergei Prokofiev
56
Q

Define Leitmotif. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
57
Q

Define cadenza. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
58
Q

Define celesta. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
59
Q

Define chromatic harmony. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
60
Q

Define concerto. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • A multi movement work for soloist(s) and orchestra
  • Showcases virtuosity of soloist(s)
  • Felix Mendelssohn
61
Q

Define inversion (in twelve-tone music). Who is this term associated with?

A
  • Writing the tone row upside down
  • Arnold Schoenberg
  • Anton Webern
62
Q

Define recitative. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
63
Q

Define bel canto. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
64
Q

Define cyclical structure. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
65
Q

Define cluster chord. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • A dissonant chord consisting of major and minor seconds
  • Often employed in atonal music
  • Alban Berg
66
Q

Define ensemble. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
67
Q

Define symphony. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • 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
68
Q

Define Gesamtkunstwerk. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • German for “total art work”
  • Achieved through the perfect union of text, music, and stagecraft (costumes, scenery, lighting)
  • Richard Wagner
69
Q

Define pedal point. Who is this term associated with?

A
  • A sustained note over which harmonies change

- Felix Mendelssohn

J - Music History 3 (13 decks)

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