Final Exam Flashcards
Orchestras in the Romantic Period
They were larger and more varied in tone color than the classical orchestra. They also might include up to a hundred musicians.
Exoticism
music in which the rhythms, melodies, or instrumentation are designed to evoke the atmosphere of far-off lands or ancient times.
Nationalism
the use of musical ideas or motifs that are identified with a specific country, region, or ethnicity, such as folk tunes and melodies, rhythms, and harmonies inspired by them.
Program Music
music that is intended to evoke images or convey the impression of events.
Program Symphony
a piece of music for orchestra or other large ensemble which follows the form of a symphony (several movements, contrast between slow and fast, use of sonata-allegro form)
Absolute Music
instrumental music composed purely as music, and not intended to represent or illustrate something else.
Incidental Music
music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical.
Nocturne
a short composition of a romantic or dreamy character suggestive of night, typically for piano.
Etude
a short musical composition, typically for one instrument, designed as an exercise to improve the technique or demonstrate the skill of the player.
Symphonic Poem
a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source.
How did Franz Liszt earn his living?
As a touring piano virtuoso up to age 36.
What did Liszt’s music consist of?
unprecedented dynamics, leaps, rapid octaves, and arpeggios
Franz Liszt was…
charismatic, an incredible performer, an innovative composer
Who created the symphonic poem?
Franz Liszt
Who composed the Revolutionary Etude?
Frederic Chopin, it has challenging rapid passages for the left hand.
Frederic Chopin
wrote mostly exquisite miniatures.
Who composed the Fantastic Symphony?
Hector Berlioz, it startled Parisians and was a piece with an autobiographical program, novel orchestration, and visions of the weird and diabolical as well as a march to the scaffold.
Hector Berlioz
Enjoyed a career as a conductor outside of France and he created new orchestral tone colors.
P.I. Tchaikovsky
Composed Romeo and Juliet - initially a dismal failure.
Richard Wagner
Associated people, objects or thoughts with a musical idea called leitmotif.
Who composed the Ring Cycle?
It was composed by Richard Wagner which although it contained gods, magic, and giants, was really a commentary on 19th-century society and culture.
20th Century Music
- A time of revolt and change
- Does not follow the general musical structures of earlier periods
- Composers drew inspiration from folk and pop music, Asia and Africa, and all eras of European music, not just serious art music
Impressionism and symbolism started where?
In France.
When did radio broadcasts begin to reach audiences?
The 1920s.
Impressionism
- A style associated with composer Claude Debussy
- Does not feature clearly delineated forms
Expressionism
- An art form associated with social protest
- Rejects conventional prettiness
- Used deliberate distortion to assault and shock audiences
Claude Debussy
An impressionist composer who’s piece: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun depicts a creature who is half man, half goat.
Richard Strauss
Wrote operas that used chromaticism and dissonance to depict perversion and murder.
Igor Stravinsky
- Studied composition with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
- Composed The Rite of Spring – an example of primitivism, causing the most famous riot in music history in 1913, required an enormous orchestra
- Innovator in rhythm, harmony, and tone color
- Drew inspiration from 18th-century music in later years
Blues
- Usually follows a 12 bar pattern for improvisation
- Can be happy, sad, fast or slow
- May be vocal or instrumental
Jazz
- Began in bars and brothels but is now considered an American art form
- Is a combination of martial music, blues, and ragtime
- Features “Call and response” between voices and/or instruments
- Backbone of the jazz ensemble is the rhythm section
Dixieland or New Orleans Style Jazz
Flourished from 1900 to 1917 and feature collective improvisation.
Sing Style Jazz
- Flourished from 1935 to 1945
- Usually featured a rhythm section made up of piano, percussion, guitar, and bass
- Often featured saxophone as a solo instrument
Duke Ellington
- The most prolific composer of Swing Style Jazz
- He used a rich variety of tone color, harmony and distinctive sounds of individual musicians.
Bebop Style Jazz
Differed from earlier jazz styles in that it was meant for attentive listening not dancing.
-Featured saxophonist Charlie Parker, one of the greatest of all jazz improvisers.
Free Jazz
Typically did not follow a set form of harmony.
