exam 3 Flashcards
historical overview of the development of music as an art during: primitive, Greek, Roman, Hebrew, Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romanticism, twentieth and twenty-first centuries
- Primitive: mimic natures sounds, rituals
- Greek and Roman: therapy, educational, political, storytelling, drama
- Hebrews: religious
- Middle Ages: levels of harmonies and for church and secular world
- Renaissance: human emotion with harmony, grow secular music, instrumental works expanded.
- Baroque: left polyphonic (overlapping melody) for homophonic (clear melody).
- Classical: public concert, sonata form, symphony
- Romanticism: emotional power
- 20-21st: discarded traditional for dissonant and atonal works
four main “families” of the orchestra and the characteristics of the instruments in each of the families.
- Brasses: loudest, (broadway belters).
- Woodwinds: mellow and gentle quality, (folk singers).
- Strings: articulate lyrical, gliding passages, produce lightning-quick notes, full foundational sound. (1/2 of musicians).
- Percussion: generates rhythmic pulse and punctuates specific moments in the music.
explain Copland’s three levels of music listening:
- sensuous: listening to sounds in a “background” way. (“piece sounds nice, or awful”).
- expressive: reacting to the extramusical associations music evoke (“This music make me think of horror film”).
- sheerly musical: attending to music on its own terms (“I love the way that piece crescendos and changes key at end”).
Seven Elements for Sheerly Musical Listening
- meter: means of measuring rhythm by organizing its accent patterns into measures
- melody: the tune, the subject of music, organized in successions of sounds called scales.
- harmony: “vertical” aspect of music, created by 2 or more notes together.
- tempo: time, speed at which music is played
- dynamics: the sound intensity of music (loudness and softness).
- timbre: to describe the characteristic quality of sound produced by a voice or instrument.
- form: architectural blueprint for music, suggesting how music will proceed.
meter
explain each of the “Seven Elements for Sheerly Musical Listening,” identify and explain those elements in music excerpts
duple: ONE-two or ONE-two-three-four
triple: ONE-two-three, ONE-two-three
complex: 5-7 beats per measure
syncopation: composer disrupts normal expectations of accent pattern so ONE-two then one-TWO
melody
explain each of the “Seven Elements for Sheerly Musical Listening,” identify and explain those elements in music excerpts
- major key: convey calm, resolution, humor, or celebration.
- minor key: mysterious, sorrowful, melancholic, agitated, or angry feel.
- conjunct: notes are within a narrow range- all somewhat close together, “neighbor notes”. sedate and unobtrusive.
- disjunct: notes will leap up or reach down over larger intervals. sudden flashes of drama, creating spotlights on musical passage.
harmony
explain each of the “Seven Elements for Sheerly Musical Listening,” identify and explain those elements in music excerpts
- monophonic: without harmony, singing in shower. one single melodic line, solo or unison.
- polyphonic: or counterpoint (note against note) single melody played at different times, or two different melodies played simultaneously. singing around the campfire.
- homophonic: chordal structures are built over defined bass line and underneath melodic line. singing in the church choir.
tempo
explain each of the “Seven Elements for Sheerly Musical Listening,” identify and explain those elements in music excerpts
- largo: very slow, funeral pace.
- adagio: slow, leisurely strolling.
- andante: moderate, normal walking pace.
- allegro: moderately fast, brisk and purposeful walk.
- presto: very fast, olympic speed walking
- accelerando: acceleration, speeding up
- ritardando: slowing down
- rubato: flexible approach to tempo
dynamics
explain each of the “Seven Elements for Sheerly Musical Listening,” identify and explain those elements in music excerpts
- fortissimo: very loud
- forte: loud
- piano: soft
- pianissimo: very soft
- crescendo: gradual buildup of volume
- decrescendo/diminuendo: gradual softening effect
difference between program music and absolute music
program: composer suggests extramusical meaning, listening on “expressive” level, guiding our expressive listening in a direction,
absolute: the given and facts, but no extramusical ideas.
characteristics of the following forms: theme and variations, fugue,
- Theme and Variations: modification of a given melody, repeated over and over, each time embellished in a different manner. usually progress by contrast or elaboration. demonstration of how many ways to say same thing.
- Fugue: a polyphonic compositional form in which main melody or theme is played in overlapping way on several melodic lines called “voices”. 1-by-1 voices echo same melody in different key or variation.
characteristics of the following forms: sonata form, sonata, concerto, suite
- Sonata form: “first movement form” a basic ABA form consisting of 3 divisions. exposition (exposes 2 themes), development (creates growth and drama), and recapitulation, the coda (added to heighten finality).
- Sonata: composition for a solo. 3 or 4 movements (sections).
- Concerto: based on contrast, 3 movements, “competing” groups of instruments.
- Suite: collection of separate orchestral pieces put together bc of unity of idea.
characteristics of the following forms: symphony, film score, nocturne, etude
- Symphony: large musical composition for full orchestra. 4 movements, each in contrasting tempo, form, and key. repetition and contrast at work within melodies.
- Film Score: program music with works directly tied to stories, characters, and themes.
- Nocturne: a piece of music which suggests the atmosphere of night (Chopin for piano)
- Etude: technical study, usually of great difficulty.
characteristics of the following forms: madrigal, oratorio, Mass, requiem Mass.
- Madrigal: secular songs performed by 4 or 5 voices in imitative style (polyphony) interspersed with homophonic passages.
- Oratorio: longer form, musical setting for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra of an extended story, usually religious.
- Mass: catholic service. 2 musical portions. Ordinary (unchanging texts) and Proper (texts that vary according to religious emphasis or particular day or feast.)
- Requiem: to rest, a mass for the dead. omitting the more joyful exuberant GLoria and Credo.
Review the guided listening on “Hedwig’s Theme” and the listening assignment on Vivaldi’s “Spring” from lesson 19
how to understand music with the 7 elements for sheerly musical listening
Hildegard von Bingen
composed in the style of Christian plainchant, unaccompanied vocal form of devotional music meant to pull away from rhythms and harmonies of worldly music and direct to the worshipper.
works:
- “Unde quocumque” (“Wherever” or “And thus”)
- “Et ideo puellae iste” (“Even so these maids” or “And for that reason”)
Thomas Morley
composed instrumental works and sacred music. famous for his madrigals. filled with rich harmonic texture, both polyphonic and homophonic, and have set meters and tempos. works -“My Bonny Lass She Smileth" -“April Is in My Mistress’ Face" -"Now is the month of Maying"
Johann Sebastian Bach
master of polyphonic music, precise and complex interweaving harmonies. His chorales and cantatas are staples of church music. uses a fugue. Begins minor and swings back and forth. Tempo is fast (allegro) and constant.
works
-“Little” Fugue in G Minor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
classical era, requiem,
works
“Confutatis”
Ludwig van Beethoven
prioritize the more mantic, expressive qualities of music over the sophic adherence to traditional structure and rules.
works
Symphony no. 5
Frederic Chopin
subtle dynamics, perfectly controlled technique.
Chopin was one of the greatest piano virtuosos of the romantic period
works
Revolutionary Étude in C Minor
Aaron Copland
wanted people to know what it was like to live in a specific time and place,
works
“Variations on ‘Simple Gifts,’” an American Shaker song
Philip Glass
explore Hindustani classical music and to use its repeated rhythmic and melodic patterns in his own work.
modern, atonal compositional styles, where traditional melodies and harmonies were discarded in favor of jarring dissonance and no tonal center.
works
“Perpetual motion” from Anima Mundi
Hildegard von Bingen: “Unde quocumque” (“And thus” or “wherever”)
sung by a female choir. monophonic texture, lack of a set rhythm or meter. couple of slightly disjunct melodic moments
Hildegard von Bingen: “Et ideo puellae iste” (“And for that reason” or “Even so these maids”)
has a strong soloist, sung by a female choir. monophonic texture, lack of a set rhythm or meter.
more dramatic in the disjunct passages. voice suddenly leapt upward, disjunct passages adding dynamic intensity.
sounds even more expressive than the first, soloist has the freedom to speed up, slow down, and even change volume (dynamics)
Thomas Morley: “My Bonny Lass She Smileth”
tons of fa la’s, christmas-y
madrigal is set at a fast (allegro) tempo—very danceable
meter switches back and forth, from duple to triple in the final.
harmonic texture is mostly homophonic
the overlapping and interweaving harmonies are more polyphonic
five parts (soprano, alto, counter-tenor, tenor, bass), is sometimes referred to as a ballett
Thomas Morley: “April Is in My Mistress’ Face
group, mellowish
melody becomes most disjunct when the soprano leaps up to sing
duple-meter piece is complex harmonically but mostly homophonic—the soprano carries the main melody
tempo is typical andante, or walking tempo
Mode: begins minor, then major, then minor and remain minor. last note is in major mode.
Johann Sebastian Bach: “Little” Fugue in G Minor
organ playing
polyphonic composition
much of the composition features only three voices at a time. However, the finale is one of the moments when all four voices are used for maximum volume and maximum dramatic effect.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: “Confutatis” from Requiem Mass
singing amped up for a little, mainly quiet, minor key, duple meter, homophonic compositions with clear, single melody. Andante (walking pace) tempo.
Requiem composed layer by layer: bass voices, then tenor voices, then bassoons and trombones, then trumpets and timpani, then strings, then female voices, then violins
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony no. 5, first movement
scare shiz, classic beethoven, intense.
Frederic Chopin: Revolutionary Etude
piano insance
left hand going nuts, right hand melodic chords
In C minor
fast tempo, allegro con fuoco
dynamics are constantly changing, from a sorrowful piano to a defiant fortissimo
Aaron Copland: Variations on “Simple Gifts” from Appalachian Spring
classic ballet song, mellow in flower field to constantly building to grand.
theme and variations
Philip Glass: “Perpetual Motion” from Anima Mundi
fast, feeling like on the run, emotions on edge
early opera
basic history and development of opera
Florentine Camerata: group of late-Renaissance intellectuals to revive ancient greek drama.
monody: greek solo song
recitative: accompanied vocal declamation halfway between singing and speaking.
baroque opera
basic history and development of opera
development of the aria: solo songs of opera. memorable melody, set meter, and repeated refrains.
the castrato: castrated young men to sing higher notes.
opera seria: serious opera
Classical opera
basic history and development of opera
intermezzi: short comic pieces
opera buffa: comic opera
19th century
basic history and development of opera
romantic or grand opera: emotional expression in romantic period.
bel canto style: beautiful song, focus on lyricism, expressiveness, and perfect technical control of human voice.
opera verismo: contemporary situations, down-to-earth settings, believable characters.
20th and 21st century opera
basic history and development of opera
tonal: strong melodic sense organized around a tonal center.
crossover with musicals
Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo
based on ancient greek tale of Orpheus and Eurydice. Orpheus charms, eurydice, marry, she die.
Uses emotional power to tell story, tempo and melody changing. music is tied to emotion not just speech.
His wife died so it got more personal.
Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro
Two political Revolutions: American revolution and French revolution.
Most famous for music. breathless overture to hymn-like reconciliation.
the role of Cherubino from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro is a “trouser role”—the character of a young man, sung by a woman, typically a mezzo-soprano
Verdi’s La Traviata
bel canto lyricism, with hard-hitting, contemporary verismo storyline. one of first operas to do both. the fallen woman with a heart of gold, sold by father, maid, then high class prosititute, then dead.
Wagner’s Die Walküre
not operas but music dramas.
composer developed the Leitmotif, melodies or musical motifs that relate to a specific character, object, or theme
Berg’s Wozzeck
Berg lets you know how dark and frightening this work will be. What we don’t know after that minute of music is how fiendishly challenging such an opera is for the singers, in part because the dissonant melodies don’t have the predictability or memorable tunes of more traditional opera music. But in the case of Wozzeck, Berg also demands that the singers use their voices in ways that are complex and utterly novel on the opera stage
Wozzeck is not light and pleasant fare; its power lies in its ability to confront harsh and devastating truths head on.
Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors
Gian Carlo Menotti, though popular with audiences, sometimes comes under fire from opera critics who see his style as too pandering, sentimental, or traditional. The composer himself always remained unapologetic for his attempts to “rediscover the nobility of gracefulness and the pleasure of sweetness.”
Adams’s The Death of Klinghoffer
The pulsating music, with its rhythmic intensity and its melody in a minor key, evokes the terror felt by the passengers on the ship and also reflects the intensity of the situation between the Jews and the Palestinians.
Listen and Identify:
Monteverdi: “Ahi, caso acerbo” (“Ah, Bitter Event”) recitative from L’Orfeo
woman singing and man
like a mandalin sounding
slow and mellow
Listen and Identify:
Monteverdi: “Vi ricorda, o boschi ombrosi” (“Shady Woods, Do You Remember?”) aria from L’Orfeo
fast, celebration type, loud, then quieter for man.
Listen and Identify:
Mozart: “Voi che sapete” (“You Who Know”) from The Marriage of Figaro
woman, long high held out, slow down to medium speed.
Listen and Identify:
Verdi: “Un dì, felice” (“One Day”) from La Traviata
woman hits intense high notes, man does too. way high, fast and slow
Listen and Identify:
“The Ride of the Valkyries” from Die Walküre
woman opera, almost thought star wars
Listen and Identify:
“Du, der Platz ist verflucht” (“This Place Is Cursed”) from Wozzeck
slow, creepy, only man and then trumpets
Listen and Identify:
“All That Gold” from Amahl and the Night Visitors
intense woman, sounds like gold
Listen and Identify:
“Night Chorus” from The Death of Klinghoffer
sounds like the end, every body gon die.
Review the development of the musical from The Black Crook through Hamilton
appealing to audience tastes and development
Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein’s Show Boat
linking song with a strong story line.
first leading character to grow and mature facing life
first to present panoramic history
the first musical to depict blacks and whites living side by side on the river and to include black and white singers/actors performing on stage together. it forms a main story line in the show.
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!
moved the soldiers and sailors in the audience to tears
longest musical on broadway
Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s West Side Story
tried to move away from “superficial musical comedy” to present the musical as truly high art
lengthy prologue which is exclusively music and dance, no sung lyrics
music is dissonant, edgy, jazz-infused, and very contemporary
serious, stark and modern
Andrew Lloyd Weber’s The Phantom of the Opera
pop/rock musical score, a melodramatic story, and eye-popping special effects
Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods
understated and smart in its sarcastic mash-up of famous fairy tales
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton
Miranda’s perfect crafting of music and lyrics and makes history relevant and relatable in a contemporary way
Listen and Identify:
“Ol’ Man River” from Show Boat
composer: Jerome Kern and Hammerstein
Listen and Identify:
“Poor Jud” from Oklahoma!
composer: Rodgers and Hammerstein
Listen and Identify:
“Oklahoma!” from Oklahoma!
composer: Rodgers and Hammerstein
Listen and Identify:
“America” from West Side Story
composer: Bernstein and Sondheim
Listen and Identify:
“The Phantom of the Opera” from The Phantom of the Opera
composer: Weber
Listen and Identify:
“Stay with Me” from Into the Woods
composer: Sondheim
Listen and Identify:
Agony” from Into the Woods
composer: Sondheim
2 dudes
Listen and Identify:
“Alexander Hamilton” from Hamilton
composer: Miranda
woman
Dithyramb
the hymn from which drama develops
Thespis
earliest recorded playwright in Athens, as well as the winner of its first contest
Deus ex machina
“a god from a machine,” this stage device was used for the thrilling entrance or exit of a character. It was similar to a backstage crane, which could swing over the set with the actor attached
Greek chorus
sang, played instruments, and danced. responsibilities: -provide music and dance interludes -represent townspeople -fill in details of the plot and specifics about the characters -guide the audience in its response
Poetics
Aristotle’s work, often called “a recipe for good drama.” He describes what good drama should be and accomplish.
Poetics is the earliest surviving work of dramatic theory and first extant philosophical treatise to focus on literary theory in the West.
Tragedy (literal meaning)
goat song
Tragedy (aristotle’s definition)
an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of certain magnitude.
hamartia
the catalyst of fate. something that the protagonist does. described as “the tragic flaw,” a character’s hamartia puts fate into motion.
hubris
pride. hubris will typically be a character’s (and a person’s) hamartia. Identifying the hamartia of the protagonist is a compelling exercise for both scholars and audience members.
catharsis
Catharsis is the most important part because its effect teaches us and makes us better people without having to go through the tragedy of the protagonist.
the purgation of pity and fear.
if a catharsis is effective, it will elicit aelios (pity) and phobos (fear).
pity
aelios, You feel pity for the protagonist, who is a good person
fear
phobos, fear is not for the protagonist—it is for you. You already know that the protagonist is doomed. What you fear is that the same thing could happen to you . . . unless. Unless is the teacher.
fate
causes the reversal of fortune in a Tragedy
luck
The force that causes the reversal of fortune in a Comedy is simply luck.
protagonist
Main character. Typically, the tragedies are named after him or her. For example: Oedipus Rex, Medea, Antigone, King Lear, Hamlet, or Henry V.
antagonist
Originally (in ancient Greece), the antagonist was simply the second most important character. Now we identify the antagonist as the character opposed to the protagonist (and that probably does make her or him the second most important character).
foil character
A character who makes us realize something about the protagonist or another character
The foil character will be very much like or very different than the protagonist.
soliloquy
the big speeches of the play. The character talks to himself or herself, revealing responses to the developing plot
monologue
Similar to a soliloquy, but the character is speaking at length to another character or a group of characters.
aside
he character comes to the edge of the stage, shields his or her words from the characters onstage, acknowledging the presence of an audience, and says something humorous that informs the audience of some aspect of a character or the plot.
exposition
Introduces the audience to where and when the play is set, what the cultural climate is like, or what circumstances the characters find themselves in as the play begins.
complication
introduces the problem or dilemma facing the protagonist.
crisis/climax
the moment of greatest intensity when you don’t know who will live and who will die (the rise).
denouement
The final unraveling of the plot or what is different for the characters now that the crisis is over (the fall). The denouement follows the climax or crisis.
Plots and protagonists of:
Oedipus Rex
Opedius. like a modern detective story. the hero (detective turns out a culprit), creating a tragic reversal of fortune and recognition,.
Opedius struggled with realities of outside force.
Opedius seeks murderer of his predecessor, King Laius. Finds king is his father and he married his mother. recognizing the terrible truth, he feels guilt. and events take place. Trying to escape the prophecy of killing father and marrying mother, he does 2 heinous crimes. Wife-mother kills herself, Opedius blinds himself, exiled.
Plots and protagonists of:
Othello
Othello. afflicted with green-eyed monster, jealousy. wield great power and compulsion leads to terrible consequences when illusions are destroyed. Othello succumbed to inner affliction.
Plots and protagonists of:
Hamlet
Hamlet
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet follows the young prince Hamlet home to Denmark to attend his father’s funeral. Hamlet is shocked to find his mother already remarried to his Uncle Claudius, the dead king’s brother. And Hamlet is even more surprised when his father’s ghost appears and declares that he was murdered.
Plots and protagonists of:
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet.
Two lovers who parents wont allow matrimony. end of the feud.
Plots and protagonists of:
Death of a Salesman
Willy Loman.
an aging salesman who has just returned from a road trip. Willy is having difficulty remembering events, as well as distinguishing the present from his memories of the past.
Identify the themes, meaning, and vocabulary of the “To be or not to be” soliloquy from Hamlet.
Is suicide a good option?
Can we escape our fate?
We don’t know what happens after death.
Describe what makes Shakespearean English different from our own English.
Sometimes it is called Early Modern English, but it is Modern English nonetheless.
Shakespeare’s complex sentence structures and use of now-obsolete words
Shakespeare’s vocabulary has been estimated at between 17,000 and 30,000 words. we use about 2-3,000
Sonata Form
The exposition introduces the musical themes, followed by the development, where the composer elaborates on the musical material. The recapitulation comes at the end, reprising the main themes and bringing the work to a close.
