Final exam terms

Question 1

cantus firmus

Answer 1

line of music in simultaneous performance with the existing chant (harmonization..?)

foundation for polyphonic composition. longer notes. diatonic. syllabic.

Question 1

mass ordinary

Answer 1

parts of the text that always remain the same no matter the day of the liturgical year.

Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Mass Proper was used on holier days. cyclic mass,…? Composers: Minchaut

Question 2

organum

Answer 2

literally organized music; early polyphonic music. remember parallel, florid. organum purum: tenor is syllabic

Question 3

motet

Answer 3

latin for “word”. Thirteenth century genre. Earliest version of a melismatic piece made with a whole text (as opposed to a fragment). can be sacred or secular. isorhythm.

older motet form has cantus firmus texture. newer has non immitative polyphony. evolved out of discant clausula form by adding cantus firmus.

Question 4

ars nova

Answer 4

Fourteenth century French music. Ideas developed by Philippe de Vitry, greatest theorist of his time. Complex rhythms of the 14th century were more easily notated when triple rhythm was not a necessity.

freedom from rhythmic modes, isorhythm instead.

Question 5

rhythmic modes

Answer 5

In ars nova: proportional relationship between longs and breves (longs could be split into 2 or 3 breves).
Perfect mode: 3 breves to 1 long
Imperfect mode: 2 breves to 1 long

Question 6

fauxbourdon

Answer 6

Literally false bass. Cantus in topmost line, bottom voice either a sixth or an octave below, and a middle voice improvising the chant line a fourth lower. Polyphonic succession of 6 3 and 8 5.

false drone. late middle ages, early rennaissance. Du Fay.

Question 7

isorhythm

Answer 7

Literally the same rhythm. Applied to motetlike compositions in 14th century. Usually the tenor part, would sing their melody on a repetitive rhythm.

used in ars nova motets. develops into talea.

Question 8

cyclic mass

Answer 8

mass ordinary unified through common musical material

Question 9

madrigal

Answer 9

response to demand for music in social contexts. high brow. remember frottolas, whats the difference. music expresses the text.

Early 1600s madrigal: simple/restrained, syllabic, diatonic. familiar style.
Mid1600s: more expressive/complex. Major= happy, minor = sad.
Late 16th century genre of Italian secular music. Rennaissance. Polyphonic chanson style, vernacular text, meant for amateurs rather than experts

italian rennaisance, secular. drammatic. moe than 4 parts

Question 10

chorale tune

Answer 10

Lutheran congregational hymns, strophic, replaced chants
Many composers used Gregorian chant melodies and secular music texts for chorales.

Reformation. Vernacular. strophic. melody is repeated in each verse. typically rhymes. typically SATB. Deutche masse

Question 11

prima pratica-seconda pratica

Answer 11

Prima pratica/stile antico: first practice. forbidden dissonances. Pallestrina counterpoint. Artuzi was a theorist who liked Prima pratica bc he hated motneverdi.
Seconda pratica/stile moderno: basis that shape of music follows shape/emotion of text. nonharmonic + chromatic tones. dissonance. Nuevo Musiche by caccini

Question 12

monody

Answer 12

Vincenzo Galilei: solo vocal melody line with accompaniment by lute or keyboard instrument (198)

camerata wanted to return to monody when it went away.

Question 13

basso continuo

Answer 13

bass line, with numbers to indicate what intervals above those notes to play (200). the numbers are the figured bass.

Question 14

recitative

Answer 14

speech-like declamatory style (as opposed to lyrical style) (208)

different types of recits. french recitatif vs dry/secco recit, spoken recit, etc

Question 15

aria

Answer 15

simple voice and usually lute, familiar style, poetic texts (199)

Question 16

French overture

Answer 16

Opening to a large instrumental work. Slow, stately, homorhythmic, dotted/double dotted rhythms, and then faster, lighter, fugal (sometimes return to slow) (229). meant to be a grand entrance for the king if he came to watch

Question 17

suite

Answer 17

middle of 17th century germany, allemande, courante, sarabande, gigue. All in same key. Stemmed from pairing slow and fast dances. earlier solo lute suites were popular, then harpsicord. (239)

Question 18

allemande

Answer 18

First movement in a german baroque dance suite. can be preceeded by prelude.
duple rhythm at a moderate tempo, had pickup notes.

Question 19

courante

Answer 19

using triple or compound rhythms. grand and majestic in France, fast and gay in Italy.

2nd movement in the suite. a bit slower. literally “to run”

Question 20

sarabande

Answer 20

third movement. triple meter, stress on the second beat of measure, slower tempo as century went on

Question 21

passacaglia

Answer 21

free melodic variation over short ostinato bass lines (216). often slow. often minor. frescobaldi. often compared to chaqun..? french genre.

Question 22

toccata

Answer 22

Piano improv genre (168). bach’s toccata in fugue

Question 23

da capo aria

Answer 23

Emerged in late 17th century italian opera. Aria with two contrasting sections. ABA pattern. Instrumental ritornello in main key, solo singer sings first half, and then in another key, rit and first half again, then main key rit, and in another key, second half.

bad for plot because repetition of A slows things down

Question 24

coloratura

Answer 24

crazy sopranos, they have the crazy high parts in the operas..?

Question 25

opera seria

Answer 25

Late 1600s opera, spread from Italy to England.
Arias: virtuosic, affectuous, embellished da capo
Recits: secco, simple, mythological, classical (no dance or chorus)
Handel’s Julio Cesarae

Question 26

fugue

Answer 26

single subject imitative polyphonic piece. sharp rhythm and pitch contour. affective.can be a movement or a piece. stretto technique

Question 27

chorale cantata

Answer 27

Cantata: Early 17th century rationalism. Vocal solo pieces in strophic variation form. Multisectional work using contrasting styles.

cantata that pulls its melody from lutheran chorales. it is lutheran. comes also from cantata da chiesa. bach wrote 54 in 15 years. recitatifs. closing chorale in last movement.

Question 28

ritornello form

Answer 28

Copy from textbook 233: harmonically stable ritornello passages, and the soloist or concertino group supplied modulatory episodes with more virtuosic melodic material. The first and last ritornellos would be in the home key; the other ritornello or ritornellos took place in contrasting keys.

idea that repeats…? (difference between ritornello and rondo: rondo stays the exact same. ritornello can be a bit different) influential composer: vivaldi

Question 29

opera buffa

Answer 29

Italy to France. early 1700s
comic. more appealing. Stock characters.
Aria: virtuosic/elaborate. Less flamboyant
Recit: sung, becomes comique (unsung) in France.

comes from intermezzo, people wanted something less weighty than opera seria, became a genre with pergolessi. humor

Question 30

galant style

Answer 30

france. between baroque and classical period. contrary style to baroque. elegance, charm, intimacy, grace, clarity, and naturalness. end of Louis XIV reign (1715) into Louis XV (1 710-1774)

Question 31

Empfindsamer Stil

Answer 31

Early 18th century. literally sentimental style. exaggerated rhetorical gestures. one movement might have several different gestures rather than only one theme.

expressiveness. clavicord. bebung technique. pushing bounds on baroque

Question 32

symphony

Answer 32

replaced concerto/orchestral suite during the enlightenment. sonata-plan work for orchestra. 4-part string group, flutes, oboes, bassoons, clarinets, horns, trumpets, timpani. BEETHOVEN.

Question 33

string quartet

Answer 33

Enlightenment era symphony-like replacement of trio sonata. Two violin parts. Viola in octaves with cello. Or violin lead with 3 accompaniment parts. Or 4 part counterpoint.

think about voices in a dialogue. how are they interacting.

Question 34

rondo form

Answer 34

End of sonata idea, enlightenment era. Theme is presented with base key at beginning. other keys and themes are presented, with the originals coming back between each one.

Question 35

classical concerto movement form

Answer 35

sonata form… look this up

Question 36

Eroica symphony

Answer 36

Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony. E-flat. Based on heroic (mission-driven) ideals inspired by Napoleon and the French Revolution. Imitative of French revolutionary era hymns and marches. Napoleon who became a big bad emporer

Question 37

Lied (plural lieder)

Answer 37

Enlightenment. (someone said early romantic) simple style, popular in sheet music/domestic periodicals. grew in the shift from private to public patronage.

Question 38

mazurka

Answer 38

Polish dance based music. triple time. chopin wrote a bunch of them. nationalistic. accent on second beat.

Question 39

nocturne

Answer 39

piano character piece. typically slow. inspired by the night. chopin liked these too. also debussy.

Question 40

Symphonie fantastique

Answer 40

1830. Romanticism. Most famous program symphony. composed by Beliroz. Represented frustrated love and death of a romantic musician. Has overarching programmatic narrative.

Question 41

cyclic symphony

Answer 41

literally not a single mention. not one. i think he is genuinely feeding us lies. all I found is this, which is similar.

In large orchestral works, cyclicity is established either by running the movements together. it’s like cyclic mass

Question 42

program music

Answer 42

Program symphony: Multimovement orchestral work, emotional content. (inferred: overarching narrative piece)

Question 43

Carnaval

Answer 43

Set of character pieces by Schumann containing the letters of his name, the birthplace of a girlfriend of his. Named some movements after famous composers

Question 44

bel canto

Answer 44

17th century bel canto: simple, fullness of voice. Syllabic settings, slow otion, triple meter typically.
19th century bel canto: embellishing of melodic lines and improvisational cadenzas. vocal agility and technique.

Question 45

Gesamtkunstwerk

Answer 45

Later 19th century. universal/collective artwork. Wagner’s idea. collective experience of culture (several mediums of art).

Question 46

music drama

Answer 46

Late 19th century. Wagner’s “reversal of music and drama.” parallel term to “symphonic poem.” different from opera, because here, the focus is drama, and music is just a means to present it. Uses Leitmotif

Question 47

Leitmotif (leitmotiv)

Answer 47

“leading motive.” creation of unity and contrast using statement, juxtaposition, developmental use of important motives. Still Wagner.

recurring phrase repeated throughout a piece representing something (a character).

Question 48

Tristan chord

Answer 48

half diminished 7th chord that does not resolve. Wagner! It was a part of the Leitmotiv for Wagner’s Tristan!

the exact chord is Fm 7 flat5

Question 49

music of the future

Answer 49

Midpoint of 19th century. slogan of the New German School, founded by Liszt and Wagner. referred to principles of romantic music, inspired by Beethoven.

compposers writing music with future in mind. stravinsky writes it

Question 50

impressionism

Answer 50

French 20th century movement. sensuality of sound, free interplay among senses and symbols. (more on this..? page 421)

music focuses on mood and atmosphere (sensual impression of the scene rather than details) DEBUSSY

Question 51

primitivism

Answer 51

20th century movement. supposedly inspired by non-western cultures. access to raw truth. Less refined art = more genuine feelings. aggressive music emulating the past.

Question 52

atonal syntax

Answer 52

Created by Schoenberg in 1908. Abandonment of tonal center or tonic. representative of emotional/structural instability.

Question 53

twelve-tone composition

Answer 53

atonal style but with structure.

Question 54

neoclassicism

Answer 54

return to a more rigid, structured form. not atonal. more chromaticism, freer dissonance, classical techniques. stravinski and shostakovich. hindimith