Final Definitions Flashcards
Sequence
A pattern repeated at a higher or lower pitch
Diatonic
Chords builtt from the seven tones of a major or minor scale
Homophonic texture
A melody with accompanying harmony
Patronage
Sponsorship by the aristocracy or the church
Theme
A musical idea used as a building block in the construction of a composition
Thematic development
The expansion of a theme through varying its melodic outline, rhythm, or harmony
Motives
The smallest melodic or rhythmic units, composing a theme
Ostinato
A short, repeated musical pattern
Absolute music
Music with no program
Multimovement cycle
The three or four movement form favored by Classical composers
Sonata-Allegro Form
A movement form where drama is presented in two opposing keys through an exposition, development, and recapitulations
Exposition
First section of sonata-allegro. Presents the two opposing keys and their themes.
Theme group
A theme of several related ideas
Bridge
A transition into a different key
Development
Modulation between keys, the conflict of the movement. Builds tension before the return to the home key.
Recapitulation
Return to the first theme in the tonic
Coda
Closing ideas leading to a final cadence in the home key
Theme and Variation
A common form for second movements where the theme is stated the varied through the piece. Variation can be melodic, harmonic, or rhythmic.
Minuet and Trio
Two dances usually presented as the third movement of a Classical symphony.
De capo
“From the beginning;” refers to replaying the first section of the piece after the second section, as in A-B-A.
Rounded Binary Form
The return of the main theme at the end of each section of the minuet and trio
Scherzo
Literally “jest.” Introduced as a replacement for the minuet by the anti-aristocratic Beethoven.
Rondo
A style based on the recurrence of a musical idea between contrasting episodes
String quartet
Two violins, a viola, and a cello
Divertimento and serenade
Light chamber genres played for evening occasions in the Classical period
Rocket theme
A quick, aggressive rhythmic theme rising from the lower to higher register
Steamroller Effect
A drawn out crescendo
Monothematic
A work or movement with a single theme
Modified sonata-allegro
A sonata-allegro movement with no development
Countermelody
A new melody arising after the main melody
Inversion
The turning of a motive or theme upside down
Cadenza
A virtuosic solo passage in the manner of improvisation towards the end of the movement
First-movement concerto form
Sonata allegro-form with a double exposition
Requiem
A mass for the dead
Secco
“Dry,” with spare accompaniment
Opera seria
Serious or tragic Italian opera
Opera buffa, ballad opera, opera comique
Comic opera
Viennese School (first)
Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven
Folk song
Traditions songs and dances from native peoples
Exoticism
The interest in the music and culture of distant or foreign lands
Lied
A German solo art song, usually with piano accompaniment
Song cycle
A collection of art songs with a common theme
Through-composed form
A piece of music that proceeds from beginning to end with no repetition
Character piece
A short, lyrical piano work, the instrumental equivalent tp the song
Mazurka
A traditional Polish dance, famously composed by Chopin
Rubato
“Robbed time.” Where certain liberties are taken with the rhythm without upsetting the basic beat.
Ring shout
An extended call-and-response fed by religious fervor practiced by black slaves in the US.
Pentatonic scake
A five note scale
Program music
Instrumental music with literary or pictorial associations
Incidental music
Music accompanying a play, often including an overture
Symphonic poem
A one movement programmatic orchestra work designed by Franz Liszt. Also called a “tone poem.”
idée fixe
The “fixed idea,” a recurring musical theme unifying a multi movement work. Famously used in Symphony Fantastique
Thematic transformation
The changing of a theme by altering the harmony, rhythm, meter, temp, etc.
Pedal point
A sustained pitch over which harmonies change
Bel canto
“Beautiful singing;” A hallmark style of Italian opera.
Singspiel
A light, comic drama (in German) with spoken dialogue
Melodrama
Scenes with spoken dialogue but striking orchestral accompaniment
Music drama
The Wagnerian understanding of opera as the “total work of art,” with music, drama, art and poetry all masterfully commanded in the hands of a genius.
Leitmotif
Lit. “leading motive.” A recurring theme throughout a work meant to indicate something.
Grand opera
A French style of opera focused on epic historical themes for propagandist purposes.
Naturalism
Based on the writings of Emile Zola, an art form focused on the realist and relatable rather than the wild or fantastic.
Habanera
A Cuban dance-song from Havana, showcased in “Carmen”
Verismo
Post-Romantic operatic trend. Focused on the realism, a progression of naturalist trends.
Whole-tone scale
A scale composed only of whole steps, with no half steps. Lacks the pull towards a tonic.
Part songs
Songs with three or four voice parts
Melodie
A late-Romantic French art song (self-consciously separate from the German lied)
Ballet
A French court dance that evolved to be part of scene transitions in French opera, and then into its own genre
Pas de deux
Lit. “Dance for two.”
Impressionism
A movement in reaction to realism that desired to capture the emotion of moments through light rather than capturing a detailed picture
Symbolism
A movement that attempted to show things or ideas through suggestion rather than depiction
Futurism
Declared an alienation from established institutions and focused on the dynamism of the 20th century
Dadaism
Reacted to the horror of WWI by refusing to see art a something to be admired and making works of absurdity.
Surrealism
Explored the world of dreams
Cubism
Painting in geometric patterns (Embodied by Pablo Picasso)
Expressionism
German movement which tried to dig deep into the psyche and uncover its darkest tendencies
Second Viennese School
Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Anton Webern
Neo-Classical style
Return to the balance and order of the Classical era and to absolute music
Formalism
The valuing of the formal above the expressive
Avant-garde
The cutting edge of the artistic community, pushing the bounds of what is possible and/or permissible
Changing meter
The constant shifting of the metrical flow
Polyrhythm
The simultaneous use of several rhythmic patterns
Polychords
Highly dissonant chords of six or seven notes
Polyharmony
The playing of two or more streams of harmony against each other
Polytonality
The contrasting of two keys by presenting them simultaneously
Atonal music
Music with on tonic
Serialism
Refers to the twelve-tone system developed by Schoenberg, based on twelve chromatic notes in a “tone row.”
Dodecaphonic
A Greek term meaning “twelve tone” sometimes used to refer to Schoenberg’s system.
Transposed row
Same intervals, but different pitch
Inversion (tone row)
Movements of the rows notes in the opposite direction
Retrograde (tone row)
The arrangement of the pitches in reverse order
Retrograde inversion
Turns the row upside down and backwards
Sprechstimme
Speech-like melody
Klangfarbenmelodie
Tone-color melody
Total serialism
Webern’s expansion on Schoenberg’s idea of serialism to induce harmony, meter, timbre, etc.
Ethnomusicology
The study of musical in its cultural and global contexts
Vaudeville
A musical comedy show centered around making fun of immigrants
Tin Pan Alley
Turn of the century commercial music tradition, derived from a street in Manhattan
Strains
Regular sections from a march, each of which is repeated.
Ragtime
An African-American piano genre popularized by Scott Joplin
Blue notes
Notes in jazz/blues that focus on pitch blending
Scat-singing
An instrumental-like approach to singing
Chorus
A single statement of a melodic-harmonic progression
Swing/Big Band Era
The successor to jazz; primarily in the Depression era
Shakes
Shaking the lips to fluctuate between pitches
Bebop (Bop)
A jazz style characterized by fast tempos and complex harmonies.
Cool jazz
A laid-back style characterized by dense harmonies
West coast jazz
A small-group jazz form with contrapuntal improv
Riff
A short, melodic ostinato
Underscoring
Music that is outside the drama, coming from an invisible orchestra
Source music
Music within the drama
Rhythm and Blues (R&B)
A genre of dance music with its roots in jazz
Rockabilly
A combination of rock and roll with more “hillbilly,” country themes
Soul
A blend of gospel, pop, and R&B
Motown
A black-owned record label from Detroit
Chance or aleatoric
Music which is based off a chance, like the rolling of dice
Musique concrète
Uses sounds made by any natural source and then recorded onto magnetic tape to create music
Tape music
Music built on musique concrete where music natural or electronic is recorded onto tape and then manipulated to create new music
Synthesizer
The second (but most widely used) electronic musical instrument
Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI)
The program/means for talking to synthesizers and creating music
Glissandi
Where a pitch slides up and down through frequencies that lie between pitches in the standard Western scale
Flutter-tonguing
Moving the tongue quickly as if rolling and R while blowing into an instrument to create a distinctive sound
Process music
The repetition of a simple musical idea over and over with gradual change and variation
Phase music
Playing of tape music (usually) at different speeds to the music moves in and out of sync
Polyrhythm
A style of music where each musician plays a unique rhythm
Minimalism
A musical style which favors consonant harmonies and simple melodies that are combined and recombined over long periods of time
Tintinnabulation
Shimmering, bell-like timbres
Spiritual minimalism
A branch of minimalism focused on spiritual themes
Microtones
Tones in smaller than half steps
Drones
Continuous pitches held while other musical lines interweave
