Definitions Flashcards
Akademie
Putting on a concert for one’s own benefit. Composers would dedicate the work to someone. Beethoven was the first, April 2, 1800.
Musique concrete
Electric acoustic music stemmed from tape recorder, Used natually occuring sound taken into a studio to mix sound bites to make a composition
E.g., Varèse: Poème électronique
Prepared Piano
a piano that has had its sound altered by placing objects (called preparations) on or between the strings.
Aleatoric Music
indeterminacy at the level of performance. The performer is asked to make decisions which will affect either details or even the form of the piece. In many instances elements of chance music and aleatory music coexist in the same work. (John Cage).
Chance Operations
A term introduced by John Cage for techniques that open the compositional process to chance, for example the tossing of a coin to determine pitches. See also indeterminate music. How its done-make a list of the elements used, Make rules for their use, then use (a game of chance such as rolling dice or the flipping a coin)
Interderminancy
Music represented by three main tendencies:
1. Chance music 2. Aleotory Music 3. Stochastic music
Polyrhtyhms
is the simultaneous use of two or more rhythms that are not readily perceived as deriving from one another, or as simple manifestations of the same meter. Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring, Le Sacre du printemps
NIJINSKI
Choreographer for the Rite of Spring
Diaghilev
On May 29, 1913, in Paris, Les Ballets Russes stages the first ballet performance of The Rite of Spring (Le Sacré du Printemps,) with music by Igor Stravinsky and choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky.
Ballets russes
Ballets Russes, ballet company founded in Paris in 1909 by the Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev. The original company included the choreographer Michel Fokine and the dancers Anna Pavlova and Vaslav Nijinsky; the choreographer George Balanchine joined in 1925.
Neo-Classicism
Trend in the interwar period
Reaction to Strauss/Wagner
Order, balance, clarity
Return to tonal center
Classicism
Forms of classical period with larger more complex orchestraKlangfarbenmelodie
Klangfarbenmelodie is a musical technique that involves splitting a musical line or melody between several instruments, rather than assigning it to just one instrument, thereby adding color and texture to the melodic line. The technique is sometimes compared to “pointillism”, a neo-impressionist painting technique
Heiligenstadt Testament
-Doctors really thought that if Beethoven’s ears could rest there was a chance he would regain his hearing, unfortunately, that was not the case. On October 6-10, 1802 Beethoven wrote a letter while he was living in Heiligenstadt. It was addressed to his brother but in reality to humanity. It is a witness to Beethoven’s despair. He debates taking his life because of his hearing loss. The duty to art is keeping him alive and gives him strength to continue composing. The Heiligenstadt Testament exposes the humanity of the composer. The testament was found among his things after his death. “Choose patience for a guide”.
Scherzo
- musical joke, fast tempo, light humorous tone, Independent piece or part of bigger work like sonata or symphony. Established by Beethoven as a regular alternative to the minuet & trio as a classic movement type. Sometimes replaced III movement in Symphony in place of minuet and trio for example in Beethoven’s Symphony No 5 (elephant dance) or String quartet in c# minor 3rd movement The movement is typically a minuet and trio, in Beethoven’s 5th Symphony he uses a scherzo and trio.
German Lieder
- the birth of Lieder as genre October 14, 1814 - Erlkonig by Schubert. Lieder - elevation of the song into a higher art form and genre. Solo voice and piano are equally important, piano is a partner to the voice and has an active role. Compositions using high-quality poetry for example by Schiller, Goethe, Heine, Ruckert.
Strophic
- song with same music for each stanza of text/poem. Example : Schubert’s “Das
Wandern” from Die schöne Müllerin.
Modified Strophic
- song with similar but not the same music for each stanza of text. Example: Schumann’s “An meinem Herzen, an meiner Brust” (“At my heart, at my breast”) from Frauenliebe und Leben.
Through-composed
- songs with new music for each stanza of text.
Example: Erlkonig by Schubert.
Song Cycle
A collection of songs unified by a theme, topic, idea, motive. of individually complete songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.
Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin, and Winterreise,
Schumann: Dichterliebe, Frauenliebe und -leben
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Leading of German Romanticism. Involved in Sturm und Drang movement. Wrote “Sorrows of Young Werther” and “Erlkonig.”
Music Criticism
Writing reviews about music and composers that was informational and promoting. Read by the middle class who attended concerts and sing and play at home Not a criticism in today's meaning. Example: Schumann's writing in Die Neue Zeitschrift für Musik.
Die Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik
1834 Schumann created a music critic journal
that promoted new composers and spread awareness about current and old music amongst the audience. He promoted Chopin, Brahms, but also Bach and Handel. He wrote as his imaginary characters Florestan and Eusebius who were part of his imaginary group of friends called “Davidsbund.”
Heinrich Heine
German Poet of Schumann’s Dichterliebe
Cyclicism
in Frauenliebe und Leben the last song no 8 repeats the opening piano motives from song no 1. Also, symphony 5 Beethoven returning elements, recurring motive “fate knocking at the door”.
Virtuosos
Performers who specialized in one instrument and displayed superior technical mastery
E.g., Listz
Salons
Home recitals performed by young ladies usually playing piano or singing in an attempt to find a suitable husband. Composers created pieces for those occasions, for the amateur but skilled performers. This was the center of musical life in the 19th century.
Nocturnes
- French for “Night Piece”
- Slow Tempo
- Flowing Accompaniment
- Broad Lyrical Melodies
- Piano, 1st Nocture composed by John Fields
- Chopin, 21 piano pieces
Character Pieces
Shorter works for piano that, normally without an accompanying text, seeks to convey a mood, atmosphere, or scene, without a program for example Schumann’s Carnival.
Bel canto characteristics-
- 18th century trends continue
- number opera
- orchestra is secondary
- flashy singing with great virtuosity
- suitcase arias (interchangeable arias that could be dropped into any opera because the performer sang it well).
- minimal accompaniment
- ensemble finales
Imbroglio
moment of greatest plot confusion prior to the inevitable resolution, lot of yelling!
Scene ed Aria
Composed in 2 or 3 sections Cantabile: lyric section Tempo di mezzo: Change of mood Cabaletta: Conclusion with lots of fireworks -virtuosic -1st time as is -2nd time go crazy
Cavatina
A principle character’s opening aria it could be paired with a cabeletta E.G., “Ecco ridente” Barer of Seville Libretto: Sterbini Typical of Rossini Lots of Words Men’s Chorus
Risorgimento
movement to unify Italy as one entire country. (e.g., Verdi’s Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves from Nabucco.
Arrigo Boito
Librettist of Verdi/s Otello
Gesamtkunstwerk
“Total Artwork” a prose essay written by R. Wagner in 1849 while he was exiled to Switzerland after uprising in Dresden. There he stated his idea of bringing together poetry, tone, and dance. It means that pillars of the opera should be libretto, music, and any movement on stage.
Bayreuth
A village in Germany where Wagner built a Bayreuth theatre for his operas. The project was sponsored by Mad King Ludwig II. The Theatre had unique acoustic design solutions to make the opera experience even better. Till today it is a theatre that specializes in playing Wagner’s operas. It is viewed like a temple to which Wagner’s enthusiasts pilgrim to worship his creations.
Leitmotiv
Definition from lecture about Weber: a short musical phrase that identifies as character or emotion. First used in 1871 and associated with Weber. Leitmotives were used by Wagner in his operas, like greek chorus - commentary role of orchestra. In the Ring cycle he used over 200 leitmotives. Definition from lecture about Wagner: short musical motif, chord progression or tune that functions as part of drama.
“Mad” King Ludwig II
- gives Wagner the money to write the music for the Ring Cycle
- Family symbol was the swan
- crazy about “Lohengrin” (swan)
- built amazing “Disney-like” castles
- sponsored a theater for Wagner in Bayreuth
- Financed a house for Wagner in Bayreuth
Pentatonic Scales
A 5 notes per octave (do, re, mi, sol, la, do-c,d,e,g,a,c)
Impressionism
Complex textures with elaborate surface firuations
Vague rhythms that seem unmetrical and improvisatory sounding.
Indonesian Gamelan
Traditional Indonesian percussion ensemble that performed at the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris which Debussy’s style was inspired by their non-traditional use of scales.
Whole Tone Scales
A 7 note scale constructed of whole step intervals
c,d,e,f#,g#,a#, c
Expressionism
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Atonal Expressionism
1
Second Viennese School
1
Pierrot Lunaire
1
Passacaglia
1
Sprechstimme
and Sprechstimme (German: [ˈʃpʀɛçˌʃtɪmə], “spoken voice”) are expressionist vocal techniques between singing and speaking. Though sometimes used interchangeably, Sprechgesang is directly related to the operatic recitative manner of singing (in which pitches are sung, but the articulation is rapid and loose like speech), whereas Sprechstimme is closer to speech itself (because it does not emphasise any particular pitches)
Extended Technique
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12 Tone music
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Dodecaphony
12-tone music, a form of composition using all 12 tones of the chromatic scale in such a way that they are “equal”, i.e. having no tonic, no dominant, no major or minor keys, and no distinction between harmony and dissonance.
Artwork of the Future
“Artwork of the Future” is the second in a series of prose, written and published by Wagner while exiled in Switzerland. He expressed his ideal of unifying all works of art via German music drama as Gesamtkunstwerk, total work of art.
Heroic Style
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Minimalism
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Planing
The structure of each chord is identical. … This is called planing, when all the notes of a chord move in a parallel way, all tones moving up or down by exactly the same number of tones or semitones.
Coloristic Harmonies
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