midterm 1

Question 1

Melody

Answer 1

The aspect of music having to do with the succession of pitches

Feeling

Question 2

Rhythm

Answer 2

The aspect of music having to do with the duration of notes in time

Question 3

Harmony

Answer 3

simultaneous sounding of different pitches, or chords

Question 4

Texture

Answer 4

blend of the various sounds and melodic lines occurring simultaneously in a piece of music

Question 5

Tone Color

Answer 5

sonorous quality of a particular instrument, voice, or combination of instruments or voices

Question 6

Form

Answer 6

“shape” of a piece of music

organization of the rhythm, dynamics, tone color, melody, harmony, and texture

Question 7

Dynamics

Answer 7

volume of sound, loudness or softness of a musical passage

Question 8

Crescendo

Answer 8

getting louder (dynamics)

Question 9

Diminuendo

Answer 9

getting softer (dynamics)

Question 10

Meter

Answer 10

a background of stressed and unstressed beats in a simple, regular, repeating pattern

Question 11

Tempo

Answer 11

the speed of music, i.e., the rate at which the accented and unaccented beats of the meter follow one another

Question 12

Accent

Answer 12

the stressing of a note - for example by playing it somewhat louder than the surrounding notes

Question 13

Scale

Answer 13

selection of ordered pitches that provides the pitch material for music

Question 14

Chord

Answer 14

grouping of pitchesplayed and heard simultaneously

Question 15

Major

Answer 15

one of the modes of the diatonic scale, oriented around c as the tonic;

Question 16

Minor

Answer 16

one of the modes of the diatonic scale, oriented around A as the tonic

Question 17

Cadence

Answer 17

the notes or chords ending a section of music with a feeling of conclusiveness

Question 18

Consonance

Answer 18

intervals or chords that sound relatively stable and free of tension as opposed to dissonance

Question 19

Dissonance

Answer 19

intervals or chords that sounds relatively tense and unstable, in opposition to consonance

Question 20

Monophony

Answer 20

musical TEXTURE involving a single melodic line, as in Gregorian chant

Question 21

Polyphony

Answer 21

musical TEXTURE in which two or more melodic lines are played or sung simultaneously

Question 22

Homophony

Answer 22

musical TEXTURE that involves only one melody of real interest, combined with chords or other subsidiary sounds.

Question 23

Melisma

Answer 23

in vocal music, a passage of many notes sung to a single syllable

Question 24

Gregorian Chant

Answer 24

type of chant used in the early Roman Catholic Church, Middle Ages

Question 25

Mass

Answer 25

the main Roman Catholic service, or the music written for it. consists of five large sections: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei

Question 26

Motet

Answer 26

usually a sacred vocal composition. early motets were based on fragments of Gregorian chant

Question 27

Madrigal

Answer 27

main secular vocal genre of the Renaissance

Question 28

Word Painting

Answer 28

musical illustration of the meaning of a word or a short verbal phrase

Question 29

Basso continuo

Answer 29

1) set of chords continuously underlying the melody in a piece of Baroque music 2) instruments playing the continuo, usually cello plus harpsichord or organ

Question 30

Recitative

Answer 30

a half-singing, half-reciting style of presenting words in opera, cantata, etc. following speech accents and speech rhythms closely.

Question 31

Aria

Answer 31

a vocal number for solo singer and orchestra, generally in an opera, cantata, or oratorio

Question 32

Coloratura

Answer 32

an ornate style of singing with many notes for each syllable of the text

Question 33

Ritornello Form

Answer 33

A Baroque musical form based on recurrences of a ritornello

Question 34

Cadenza

Answer 34

an improvised passage for the soloist in a concerto, or sometimes in other works. Concerto cadenza usually come near the ends of movements.

Question 35

Concerto

Answer 35

large composition for orchestra and solo instrument

Question 36

Fugue

Answer 36

a composition written systematically in imitative polyphony, usually with a single main theme.

Question 37

Sequence

Answer 37

1) in a melody, a series of fragments identical except for their placement at successively higher or lower pitch levels 2) in the Middle Ages, a type of plainchant in which successive phrases of text receive nearly identical melodic treatment

Question 38

Symphony

Answer 38

large orchestral piece in several movements

Question 39

String Quartet

Answer 39

and instrumental group consisting of two violins, viola, and cello

Question 40

Sonata

Answer 40

a chamber-music piece in several movements, typically for three main instruments plus continuo in the Baroque period, and for only one or two instruments since then

Question 41

Sonata Form

Answer 41

a form developed by the Classical composers and used in almost all the first movements of their symphonies, sonatas, etc.

Question 42

Rondo

Answer 42

a musical form consisting of one main theme or tune alternating with other themes or sections. ABA

Question 43

Theme and Variations

Answer 43

a form consisting of a tune (the theme) plus a number of variations on it

Question 44

Minuet

Answer 44

1) a popular seventeenth and eighteenth century dance in moderate triple meter 2) a movement in a sonata, symphony, etc, based on this dance

Question 45

Opera Seria

Answer 45

term for the serious, heroic opera of the Baroque period in Italy.

Question 46

Opera Buffa

Answer 46

Italian comic opera

Question 47

Oratorio

Answer 47

long semi dramatic piece on a religious subject for soloists, chorus, and orchestra

Question 48

Patter