Midterm Flashcards
type or category of music (symphony, opera, string quartet, etc.)
Genre
the distinctive sound of the music, influenced by the period
style
components of musical language
- Melody
- Rhythm
- Harmony
the “tune” that consists of pitches combined with durations, the part of the song we hum or whistle and gets stuck in our heads
melody
the relative position of a musical sound
pitch
an even pulse that divides musical time into equal units
Beat or rhythm
the organization of beats into groups, usually identified at the beginning of a piece and kept throughout the composition
meter
a group of beats marked by vertical lines in the score
measure
the speed at which beats occur
tempo
if melody is the horizontal dimension of pitch, this is the vertical dimension
harmony
scale that is usually associated with joy, confidence, tranquility
Major Scale
scale that is usually associated with fear, anxiety, sorrow, despair
minor scale
harmony of pitches that sound momentarily disagreeable and unstable
dissonant harmony
harmony of pitches that sound agreeable and stable
consonant harmony
the quality of sound produced by a voice or instrument
timbre (tam-ber) or color
one unaccompanied melodic line
monophonic texture
two or more equally important, relatively independent lines
polyphonic texture
one melody, accompanied by chords
homophonic texture
music notation system developer, arguably the most important figure in the development of written music in the Western world
Guido of Arezzo
True or False: The ancient Greeks believed that melody spoke directly to the emotions
True
the distance between a melody’s highest and lowest notes
range
a melody that moves smoothly, gradually ascending and/or descending
conjunct
a melody that has wide skips or leaps, with rapid changes in direction
disjunct
the simultaneous sounding of three or more pitches
a chord
intervals and chords that sound sweet and pleasing to the ears
consonant
intervals and chords that sound harsh and convey a sense of tension or instability
dissonant
sometimes called a refrain, this set of lyrics recur to the same music within a given song
chorus
a set of lyrics that are generally just heard once over the course of a song
verse
might be thought of as a father of the modern study of acoustics
Phythagoras
True or false: The Roman Empire used music to unify it’s people, thinking if they worshipped together they would unit during political struggles
True
the time period from 800-1400
the middle ages
True or false: instruments were rarely used in medieval worship so most chant was sung a cappella
true
worship service to celebrate and consume bread and wine, representing flesh and blood of Jesus Christ
Mass
similar to chants, but sung at evening services in Latin
hymns
given to the Catholic Church by her family at the age of 14 to study Latin and theology at the local monastery. she is known as the first composer. She founded 3 convents. famous hymn ‘‘Ave Generosa’’
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
initially all church music use triple time meter, to associate with perfection and the trinity concept
true
the most important poet and composer of his century in France, best known for medieval music
Guillaume de Machaut
Machaut’s famous composition, known for being one of the first to set all five movements of the mass ordinary as a complete whole.
Mass of Nostre Dame (c. 1364 CE)
courtly love is for a beloved, without any concern for whether or not the love will be returned
true
time period from 1400s-1600s
Renaissance
a Catholic priest that complained the meaning of the words of mass were lost in the beautiful polyphony of the music, began the Protestant Reformation
Martin Luther
The humanism movement accelerated by the invention of the printing press, which allowed mass reproduction of the classical text
true
On 10/31/1517, this priest challenged the Catholic Church by posting The Ninety-Five These on the doors of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany
Martin Luther
printing press that was a key component in the reformation by distributing knowledge and contributing to the Renaissance, Scientific Revolution, and Protestant reformation
Gutenberg Press
this method was utilized by Renaissance composers to represent poetic images musically
Word painting
known for composing one of the best Renaissance period’s songs - Flow, My Teares
John Dowland
also known as plain chant or plain song, this collection of thousands of religious songs was sung in Latin
Gregorian Chant (named for Pope Gregory the Great)
one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance
Josquin Desprez (1455-1512)
rise of instrumental music, new genres such as opera, oratoria, concerto, cantata, fugue
Baroque period
similar to opera, but without costumes or staging; typically biblical topics
Oratorio
the beginning of the Baroque Period is synonymous with the birth of opera
true
a single individual sings a melody line that follows the inflections and rhythms of speech
recitative
beginning instrumental piece of an opera
overture
wrote one of the first operas, regarded for having developed opera into a new powerful genre
italian composer Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
created instruments of the violin family that are still sought after today as some of the finest specimens of instruments ever made
Antonio Stradavari (1644-1737)
italian composer of the concerto that lived in Venice, Italy most of his life, but was renowned as a violin performer - not a composer
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
nicknamed “the red priest’’ because of his hair color; taught music to girls in an orphanage
Antonio Vivaldi
known as the inventor of the English Oratorio (sacred opera that is not staged, combined musical resources of his day)
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Handel’s most famous oratorio ‘‘Messiah’’ had the words taken straight from the King James version of the Bible by his librettist instead of putting the story into his own words.
true
- written in 24 days
- popular because it is sung in English
- Libretto (text) compilation of old and new testament biblical verses about Christ
- The Hallelujah chorus is the most famous chorus written by any composer and closes the second part of Messiah.
The Messiah (written by Handel)
played for barges and boats when they come in, royal parties
water music
-orphaned at a young age and raised by his older brother in Germany
-best known as a renowned virtuoso organist (not composer)
-married his first wife in 1707, who was possibly his cousin, and had 7 children together
-had 13 children with a young singer, second wife, but half did not survive infancy
-personal life was centered on his large family.
-wrote home school music for the children
-composed over 1000 pieces of music
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
