Exam Review Flashcards
Define: Legato
played smoothly
Define: Staccato
played short and detached
Define: Dolce
played sweetly
Define: Crescendo
Gradually gets louder
Define: Piano
played softly/ quiet
Define: Fine
the end
Define: Pitch
involves melody and harmony to create the highness or lowness of a sound
Define: Timbre
the characteristic tone colour of an instrument or voice
Define: Brass Quintet
Group of 5 brass players- 2 trumpets, 1 trombone, 1 tuba, 1 French horn
Define: Disjunct
moves by leaps
Define: Graphic Notation
a way of writing music where the traditional staffs are not used
Define: ABA Form
a 3 part form that involves contrast and repetition
Define: Fugue
a very complex round
Define: Tierce de Picardie
a major chord at the end of a minor piece
Define: Sequence
melodic fragment repeated at a higher or lower pitch
Define: Program Music
music that creates a picture in the mind of the listener
Define: Texture
the number of rhythmic layers
Define: Tempo
the speed of the music
Define: Rhythm
Involves time with music. This involves tempo, meter, note duration and beat to create patterns of beat and time in music.
Define: Pedal Point
a long held note in the bass section
Define: Ostinato
repeated rhythmic pattern
What are the 8 main pieces covered on class?
- Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra
- Bolero
- New World Symphony- Second Movement
- The Old Castle
- Epitaph for Moonlight
- Canon from Picnic Suite
- Little Fugue in G Minor
- Ionisation
Who is the composer and what is the form of Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra?
Composer: Benjamin Britten
Form: Theme and Variations/fugue
What are the musical elements and purpose of Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra?
- Purpose: introduce students to the families of instruments of the orchestra including many percussion instruments
- The full orchestra plays followed by each of the instrument families, then full orchestra plays. Then solo instruments play from each family from highest to lowest. The fugue uses instruments in score order
- instruments play from high to low
What is the composer and form of Bolero?
Composer: Maurice Ravel
Form: bolero is a Spanish dance/ repetition of melody
What are the muscial elements of Bolero?
- the repeated melody is smooth, flowing and conjunct
- The snare drum plays a rhythmic ostinato (repeated rhythmic pattern) throughout. The low strings accompany with pizzicato
- Timbres of instruments are “blurred” as Ravel experiments with instruments in different ranges
What is the order of the instruments in Bolero?
- Flute in low range
- Clarinet in medium range
- Bassoon in high range
- Soprano clarinet in medium range
- Low oboe d’amore in medium range
- Flute and muted trumpet
- Tenor Saxophone
What is the composer and form of Epitaph for Moonlight?
Composer: Murray Schafer
Form: SATB with metallic percussion
What are the musical elements of Epitaph for Moonlight?
- Timbre- metallic percussion and SATB choir (soprano, alto, tenor, bass), whispering, glissando (slurs), tone clusters
- Graphic notation allows for many effects that could not be written in standard notation and allows for chance and some improvisation
- Texture and Dynamics are extreme from very thin texture with very few voices to a thick texture with all voices and percussion; from very soft to very loud
- Every time it is played, it is a little different
What are the composer and form of Little Fugue in G Minor?
Composer: J.S. Bach
Form: Brass Quintet
What are the musical elements of Little Fugue?
- Disjunct melody (subject in the tonic and answer in the dominant), use of sequence, harmony is in minor with a major chord at the end (tierce de Picardie)
- Pedal point in the tuba
- Brass quintet- 2 trumpets, 1 trombone, 1 tuba, 1 French horn
- Originally written for organ
Draw the form of Little Fugue
See review sheet for answer
What is the composer and form for The old castle?
Composer: Mussorgsky
Form: Program Music
What are the musical elements of the old castle?
- Program music is meant to create a picture in the mind of the listener
- Orchestrated by Ravel from “Pictures at an Exposition”
- Musical Elements:
- Smooth flowing melody in a minor key is played by the alto saxophone accompanied by the full orchestra
- The ostinato (repeated rhythmic pattern) is played by the bassoon and represents the heartbeat (6/8 time)
What is the composer and form for ionisation?
Composer: Varese
Form: Free Form- “a study in tone colour and rhythm”
What are the Musical elements of ionisation?
- Pitch: percussion is grouped according to pitch
- Definite Pitch (piano, celesta, tubular bells)
- Indefinite Pitch ( castanets, tambourine, cow bell)
- Continuous Pitch (gongs, low sire, sustained cymbal)
What is the composer and form of Canon from Picnic Suite?
Composer: Claude Bolling
Form: ABA Form (know how to draw form)
What are the musical elements of Canon?
- ABA From:
- A- traditional canon between flute, piano and guitar
- B- jazz piano, bass, snare with brushes middle section
- A- flue, piano, guitar accompanied by the bass and snare
- Use of sequence
Draw the form of Canon from Picnic Suite
See review sheet for answers
What is the composer and form of New World Symphony- Second Movement?
Composer: Dvorak
Form: ABA Form
What are the musical elements of New World Symphony?
A- Theme 1 with English horn solo
B- Theme 2 contrasting section
A- Theme 1 with English horn solo
What are the 4 families of instruments?
Woodwinds, Percussion, Brass, Strings
What are the Woodwind instruments from high to low?
Flute and piccolo
Oboe
Clarinet
Bassoon
What are the Percussion Family instruments in any order?
Timpani Xylophone Snare Drum Bass Drum Triangle
What are the Brass family instruments from high to low?
Trumpet
French Horn
Trombone
Tuba
What are the string family instruments from high to low?
Violin
Viola
Cello
Double Bass
Draw the layout of the Orchestra
See review sheet for answers
What is pitch made of? Define Each.
Melody- the main tune
Harmony- 2 or more notes at the same time
What is rhythm made of? Define Each.
Tempo- the speed of the music
Meter- the key signature
Note Duration- the length of the notes
Beat- the main rhythmic pulse
What is Timbre?
The characteristic tone colour of a voice or instrument
What is intensity made of? Define Each.
Dynamics- the volume of the music
Texture- the number of rhythmic layers
