Midterm Definitions Flashcards
Texture
refers to the interweaving of the melodic lines with harmony.
Monophony
A single voice or line without accompaniment
Polyphony
a many-voiced texture with different melodic lines, based on counterpoint
Counterpoint
One line set against another
Homophony
when one melodic voice is prominent over the accompanying lines or voices
Imitation
when a melodic idea is presented in one voice, then restated in another ( a common unifying technique in polyphony)
Heterophony
when several musicians play or sing the same line of music, but some element is varied so they are out of sync
Homorhythmic
A type of homophonic texture in which all the voices move together with the same words.
Patronage
Sponsorship of the arts
Monasteries
Religious communities devoted to seclusion, study, and worship
Vernacular
The common language of the people
Humanism
The confidence of people in their own ability to solve problems and understand the world, inspired by the writers of Greece and Rome.
Plaintchant/chant
An early church style featuring a monophonic, nonmetirc (no harmony or counterpoint) melodies set an a church mode, set in a single line
Liturgy
The order of church services and the structure of each service.
Gregorian Chant
The early chant melodies the codification of which is attributed to Gregory the Great
Syllabic
One note sung to each syllable
Neumatic
2-5/6 notes to a syllable
Melismatic
Many notes to a syllable
Modes
The scale patterns that preceded the modern major and minor scales. Lacked the attraction to a tonic note.
Offices
A series of services celebrated in religious communities at various hours of the day
Mass
A reenactment of Christ’s Last Supper, and the primary ritual of the Roman Catholic Church
Proper of the Mass
The texts of the mass that vary from day to day
Ordinary of the Mass
The texts of the Mass that remain the same every day.
A cappella
Only voices
Antiphonal
Alternating between two groups of singers.
Responsorial
Similar to call and response, but with respondents are expected to repeat the words and melody precisely.
Organum
The earliest form of polyphony music, developing out of the improvisational aspects of Gregorian chant
Parallel Motion
Voices moving in the same direction
Oblique motion
One voice static while the other voice movies
Contrary motion
One voice static while the other moves.
Rhythmic mode
A fixed pattern of long and short notes that is repeated or varied, over a sustained bottom voice taken from the chant of the same name.
Troubadours (f. torbairitz)
Southern French courtly poet-musicians
Trouvères
Northern French courtly poet-musicians
Minnesingers
German singers of courtly love
Estampie
A sung dance form common in late medieval France
Strophic
The same melody is repeated with every stanza of the poem
Ars nova
A more refined and complex style of music which appeared in France in the 1300s.
rebec and vielle
Medieval bowed instruments
Shawm
proto-oboe
Sackbut
proto-trombone
Cantus firmus
Lit. “fixed melody.” A song used as the basis on which to build another work (via ornamentation), most famously a Mass.``
Sections of the Ordinary
Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Angus Dei
Motet
A sacred work with a Latin text, for use in the mass and other religious services. In the medieval period, with secular works layered on top.
Congregational singing
The kind of worship, distinct from the Catholic choir-based method, that Martin Luther advocated.
Counter-Reformation
The Catholic response to Luther and the other reformers, centered in the Council of Trent.
Word-painting
Making music directly reflect the meaning of the words. E.g., a harsh dissonance coinciding with the word “death.”
Madrigal
An Italian Renaissance musical piece known for it’s expression and use of word painting.
Chanson
A French genre, usually in three or four voices, set to the courtly love poetry of the French poets.
Phrygian Mode
A old church mode, the white piano keys from E to E.
Types of Renaissance Dances:
Pavane, saltarello, galliard, allemande, ronde
Embellishments
Melodic decorations added by the performers
Monody
A solo song with instrumental accompaniment, established in the Baroque era.
Figured bass
A shorthand which allowed the performer to improvise the chords.
Basso continuo
The bass part, often played by two instruments (often the harpsichord and the cello)
Major-minor tonality
The new tonal system that replaced the modal system of the Renaissance/Middle Ages
Equal Temperament
A system of tuning designed to achieve the best output of all notes, rather than preferring some to the detriment of others. Bach was an advocate.
Virtuosity
Great skill among singers and musicians.
Camerata
A group of aristocratic humanists in Florence who, through wanted to resurrect Greek drama, pushed the madrigal; to become the opera.
Castrato
A male singer castrated during boyhood to maintain his youthful register.
Opera
A large-scale musical drama that combines poetry, acting, scenery, and costumes with singing and instrumental music.
Components of the opera
Overture, arias, recitatives, choruses
Libretto
The text of an opera
De capo form
A-B-A, ternary form
Secco
Without much instrumental accompaniment
Accompagnato
Accompanied by the orchestra
Sinfonia
An orchestral interlude between scenes
Librettist
One who writes the story of an opera
Courtesan
An educated, refined woman who entertained men intellectually as well as sexually.
Ground bass
A short phrase repeated over and over in the lower voice as the upper voices pursue their independent lines
Opera seria
Serious Italian opera that dealt with heroic or tragic subjects
Magnificat
The Canticle of Mary, the concluding and climatic part of the evening office of Vespers.
Chorales
Weekly hymns sung by the congregation
Cantata
The elaboration of the chorale, in the same way that a sermon is an elaboration on a Bible passage.
Collegium musicum
A group of musically inclined university students who Bach taught.
Bar form
A-A-B
Ritornello
An instrumental refrain that brings back certain passages, adding unity.
Devotional music
Allows for more flexible spiritual expression than liturgical music
Oratorio
A large-scale dramatic genre with a sacred text performed by solo voices, chorus, and orchestra. Similar to opera.
Lining-out
A call-and-response practice used by the New England Puritans. The leader sang a line of the Psalm, the congregation repeated it back. This made up for the lack of psalm books.
Heterophony
Many people singling slight variants of the same melody simultaneously
Solfège
The system of memorizing notes using syllables to represent the scale (do-re-mi-etc)
Shape-note notation
Changing the shape of the note head depending on the syllable. Still practiced in some congregations.
Harpsichord
Similar to a modern piano, but the strings are plucked by quills rather than struck by hammers.
Sonata da camera/chamber sonata
A group of stylized dances
Sonata da chiesa/church sonata
A more serious sonata with a more contrapuntal texture, with a slow-fast-slow-fast movement arrangement.
Trio sonata
Popular chamber ensemble composed of two melody instruments and two basso continuo instruments
Binary form
A-A-B-B
Rounded binary form
A sonata in binary form where the second section is longer and repeats ideas from the opening. Forerunner of sonata-allegro from
Grace notes
Small ornamental notes played quickly
Passacaglia
A harmony keyboard form with a repeating base line (ground base) over which continuous variations are played
Chaconne
Built on a series of harmony progressions repeated over and over
Prelude
A improvisatory form a short study based on the continuous expansion of a melodic or rhythmic figure. Often preceded a dance or fugue.
Toccata
Similar to the prelude, a highly virtuosic and free former than often preceded a fugue.
Chorale preludes and chorale variations
Organ pieces of church origin which displayed the virtuosity of organ players.
Fugue
A contrapuntal composition in which a single theme pervades the entire fabric, entering in one voice and then in another. Dr Tanner: “A round on steroids”
Subject (Fugue)
The main idea, or unifying point, of the fugue.
Answer (fugue)
The imitation of the theme in the fifth note of the scale
Countersubject (fugue)
A new theme taken up after the subject/theme is played through.
Exposition (fugue)
A section of a fugue, where the theme is presented once by each voice.
Episode (fugue)
Interludes between presentations of the subject
Augmentation (fugue)
The presentation of the subject in longer time values, making it slower.
Diminution (fugue)
The presentation of the subject in shorter time values, making it faster.
Retrograde (fugue)
The subject being presented in it’s mirror image; that is, upside down.
Inversion (fugue)
The subject being presented in the same intervals, but in reverse/
Stretto (fugue)
The overlapping of statements of the subject.
Baroque suite
A group of dances, usually in the same key, in either binary or ternary form. Standard dances are the allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue .
Allemande
German
Courante
French
Sarabande
Spanish
Gigue (jig)
English
Concerto
A genre based on simultaneous opposition and collaboration between two dissimilar bodies of sound. (from the Latin concertare “to contend with)
Solo concerto
A concerto for a solo instrument and an accompanying instrumental group.
Concerto grosso
Ensemble concerto. Opposition between a small group of instruments, the concertino, and a larger group, the tutti or ripeno.
Program music
Music that mirrors graphically mirrors the action described.
Rococo Era
The last bit of the Baroque era, a reaction to the grandiose of the baroque, where complex polyphony gave way to more direct and natural style.
Empfindsamkeit
The sensitive or sentimental style observed in simpler Rococo music.
