FINAL EXAM Flashcards
Rhythm
Set of durational (time) values assigned to notes or rests.
Accents
Points of emphasis.
Staccato
Detached.
Legato
Connected.
Interval
The space between two notes.
Flat
Half step lower.
Sharp
Half step higher.
Natural &
Cancels a flat or sharp.
4 Families of the Orchestra
1) Woodwind: Flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon.
2) Brass: French horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba.
3) Percussion
4) Strings: harp, violin, viola, cello, double bass.
Electronophone
Electrically-produced vibrations.
Aerophone
Column of air vibrates.
EX: Flute
Chordophone
Stretched string vibrates.
EX: Violin
Membranophone
Membrane or skin vibrates.
Idiophone
Body of the entire instrument vibrates.
Voice
Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass.
Most vocal ranges - 2 octaves.
The most natural of all instruments.
Bartolomeo Cristofori
Invented the piano.
Modulation
Changing keys within a song.
How to accomplish it.. a closely-related key, V7 chord, or a pivot chord.
Scale Degrees
I. Tonic II. Supertonic III. Mediant IV. Subdominant V. Dominant VI. Submediant VII. Leading Tone
Concert Report
Harvard dictionary of music.
Printed program - should be studies before concert.
Dynamic Accent
Emphasized by being played longer.
Polyphony
Texture.
Two or more melodies at once.
Half-step
Smallest, most basic interval.
Whole step
Two half steps.
Major Scale
WWHWWWH
Homophony
One melody with chordal accompaniment.
Monophony
One melody alone.
MIDI
Musical Instrument Digital Interface.
Standard used for interfacing synthesizer equipment.
Pitched Percussion
Timpani, xylophone, chimes.
Ritardando
Gradual slowing-down of tempo.
Tempo
Rate of speed of the beat of the music.
Beat
Regular, recurrent pulsation.
Divides the music into equal units.
Adagio
Slow.
Allegro
Lively pace.
Adante
Moderately slow, or walking pace.
Downbeat
First beat of the measure.
Orchestral score
Top to bottom - woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings.
Adding a dot next to a note…
Increases the duration by half.
Rests
Silence.
Treble clef
Higher pitches
Bass clef
Lower pitches
Tonic/Tonality
Central tone around which the musical composition is organized.
Forte
Loud
Mezzo-piano
Moderately soft
Pianissimo
Very soft
Brass instruments…
Vibrate through the musician’s lips.
The smaller the vibrating element…
the higher the pitch.
Harmony
The way chords are constructed and how they follow each other.
The vertical aspect of music.
5 Mass Ordinary Movements
Kyrie Gloria Credo Sanctus Agnus Dei
Pope Marcellus Mass
Worshiped God.
Written by Palestrina, who was a huge diplomatic composer of the Roman Catholic Church.
Guillaume de Machaut
Outstanding 14th century French composer.
Composed Notre Dame Mass.
Polyphonic music was used in…
medieval times, composing new melodic lines to be sung with known chants.
Organum
Gregorian chant with one or more additional melodi lines.
Books containing these helped revolutionize western music.
Jongleurs
Traveling minstrel musicians.
Performed tricks.
Lowest level of society.
Trouveres
From Northern France.
Sang in monophonic song in the language of d’oc - which became modern French used today.
Gregorian Chant
Set to sacred Latin texts.
Monophonic texture.
Official music of the Roman Catholic Church for over a thousand years.
Composers during the Baroque period…
were high-class servants with few rights.
Concerto grosso
Most often had 3 movements.
Opera
Play set to music.
Singing with orchestral accompaniment.
Scenery, costumes, action.
Aria
Song for solo voice with orchestral accompaniment.
Jacopo Peri’s “Euridice”
Was the earliest opera preserved.
Orpheus goes to hades in hope of bringing Euridice back to life.
Henry Purcell
Buried in Westminster Abbey - indicated that he had much respect from his peers.
Italy
Leading music center in 16th Century Europe.
Renaissance
1450-1600
Camerata
Academy of study at Florence.
Invented opera.
Wanted to create a new vocal style based on music of the ancient Greek tragedies.
Handel
Composed oratories where he focused on the chorus (Messiah, Isreal in Egypt, and Joshua).
Lived mostly in England.
Born in 1685, same as Johann Sebastian Bach,
Oratorios
The first ones were based on stories from the bible.
Different from opera in that there is no acting, scenery, or costumes.
Vivaldi
Wrote concertos, fugues, and sonatas.
Wrote concertos for various instruments.
His concertos typically have 3 movements.
Classical Period
1760-1820
3 classical masters
Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven.
They stressed balance and clarity of structure.
Haydn
Befriended Mozart in Vienna.
Worked for aristocrats.
Happy to spend his life serving a wealthy family.
Considered a skilled servant.
Father of the symphony and the string quartet.
In his surprise symphony, the second movement was in theme-and-variations form.
His Symphony No. 93 in D Major was performed in London 1791, and scored with timpani’s trumpets.
Because of his Symphony No. 22 in E-flat Major, he was nicknamed “the philosopher.”
Beethoven
Piano-man performing instrument.
Considered the greatest composer in all of history.
Usually has a scherzo instead of a minuet.
His last movement in symphony tended to be more triumphant and heroic.
Schubert
Had more than 600 art songs - in which he name/invented.
Has an unfinished symphony due to only have two movements - the first movement’s second theme is in tonic key just like the first theme.
Vienna, Austria
Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven were active here.
4th largest city in Europe in 1800.
Birthplace of Schubert.
Romanticism
1820-1900
Haydn’s Piano Concerto No. 11 in D Major…
Had colorful harmonies.
The first movement was in sonata form.
The cadenza ends with a trill.
Middle Class
Composers took the middle class into account when composing comic operas by poking fun at the aristocracy, adding folk/popular music to serious compositions, and wrote dance music for public balls. Sought aristocratic luxuries - theater, literature, and music. Political and economic power shifted from the aristocracy and the church to the middle class.
Most important social contribution?
Public concert
Symphony
Sonata for orchestra.
Usually 4 movements: fast, slow, dance-related, fast.
Motives
Short musical ideas or fragments of themes that are developed within a composition.
Sonata Form
Should be viewed as a set of principles that serve to shape and unify contrasts of theme and key.
Includes an exposition (repeated), development (multiple key changes), and recapitulation (all in tonic key).
Coda
Concluding section after 3 main sections of sonata form.
Scherzo
Fast
ABA form
Faster than minuet
Minuet
First appeared as a dance at the court of Louis XIV of France. Dance-like Triple meter Moderate tempo ABA form Third movement Stately and dignified
Rondo Form
Used as late as the 20th century. Often serves as the finale. Liveliness, regularity, and buoyancy. Main theme in tonic key - returns several times in alteration with other themes. ABACABA or ABACA
Sonata-Rondo Form
Commonly ABA.
Lively, pleaing, simple to remember theme.
ABACABA.
Theme-and-variations Form
Each variation is unique, differing in mood and theme.
Widely used in the classical period, either as an independent piece or as a movement.
Basic musical idea is repeated over and over and changed each time.
AA’A’‘A’'’A’’’’
Each variation retains some elements of the theme.
Concerto
Has 3 movements - fast, slow, fast.
Has a soloist accompanied by an orchestra.
Has a cadenza, which is a solo section designed to display the soloist’s ability.
Does not have a minuet or scherzo movements.
The first movement has two expositions.
Serenade
Musical composition.
Light in mood.
Mean to evening entertainment.
Chamber Music
Performed one player per part.
String quartet is the most important form.
Art Song
Musical composition for solo voice and piano.
Mood set by brief piano intro.
Ended by a piano section called a coda.
Lied
Romantic art song with German text.
20th Century ad Beyond
1900 - current
Beethoven
Most forward-looking works were string quartets.
Career was a model for romantic composers.
Schumann
1840 - year of song
1841 - year of symphony
Berlioz
Authored The Grand Treatsie of Instrumentation and Orchestration.
Idee Fixe
Example of leitmotiv.
Uses the concept of thematic transformation.
Paganini
Inspired Liszt.
Earned his money as a violin virtuoso.
Music Drama
Creation of Richard Wagner.
Poetry and music.
Based on Nordic Mythology.
Chopin
Composed miniatures and concertos.
Brahms and Mendelsohn
Wrote sinfonias or serenades to warm up to composing symphonies.
Debussy
Composed “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun.”
Igor Stravinsky
Moved throughout the world.
Performed “The Rite of Spring” in Paris 1913.
Caused the most famous riot in music history.
Scott Joplin
King of Ragtime.
Beatles
Influenced American rock.
Caused “classical” instruments.
Electronic effects.
Unconventional scales, chord progressions, and rhythms.
Nadia Boulanger
Very influential teacher of music composition in the 20th century.
Impressionism movement
Originated in France.
Romantic Period
Flourished from 1820-1900.
Schumann, Chopin, and Liszt.
Orchestra was larger and more varied in tone color than in classical period.
St. Mark’s Cathedral
Center of music in Venice.
Noted for its two separated choir lofts.
Catholic Church
Counter Reformation.
Tried to correct malpractices.
Josquin des Prez
Spent a lot of his time in Italy.
Baroque
Used terraced dynamics - sudden changes between loud and soft.
Two of the Baroque’s greatest composers were Handel and Bach.
Other major composers were Caudio Monteverdi, Antonio VIvaldi, and Arcangelo Corelli.
Basso continuo was widely used.
Polychormal motet
Motet for two or more choirs.
Often includes groups of instruments.
Rubato
Sligh slowing down or speeding up of the tempo.
Used a lot in romantic music.
Lizst
Romantic composer.
Earned his money as a touring virtuoso.
