Midterm Exam Flashcards
Opera Buffa
- Italian form of comic opera (sung throughout)
- sung in Italian (vernacular)
- dialogue rapid recitative over basso continuo
Intermezzo
- little mini operas performed during intermissions of an opera seria
- originated in Naples and Venice
- 2 or 3 actors
- alternating recitatives and arias
- most had same plot: servant tricks upper classman
Opera comique
- a french comic opera
- Spoken dialogue instead of recitative
- popular at suburban fairs
- mostly popular tunes with new words
Singspiel
- A singing play in Germany and Austria
- includes spoken dialogue instead of recitative
Ballad opera
- English comic opera
- music was new words to borrowed tunes
- sung in vernacular
- over time, more original music
Opera seria
- serious Italian operas
- Rome decided operas should either be serious or comic
- often plotted around two noble lovers
- themes of love vs. duty
- three acts, alternating recitatives and arias
- musical interest centered in arias and popular singers
Reform Opera
- Changes in opera that reflected enlightenment thought
- sought to make opera more natural and more about opera
- music and structure more flexible and expressive
- heightened drama, more color and depth
- overture should be related to opera
- music serves the poetry
Aria
Da capo aria
A solo in an opera that gives one singer time to shine. Plot does not move forward.
Form of da capo: Ritornello, A section, B section (contrasts with A) , A again with ornaments gf
Recitative (secco, simple, and accompanied)
Through composed opera music that tells a story
Secco: only basso continuo playing simple chords
Simple: same as secco
Accompanied: orchestra plays along. Reserved for intense moments
Symphony
Early orchestral work inspired by french overtures.
1st mvt: sonata form (fast)
2nd mvt: slow, anything possible
3rd mvt: minuet and trio
4th mvt: fast, rondo, sonata-rondo, or sonata
String quartet
Early ensemble arrangement to be played for fun at home. Also derived from the french overtures. Same mvt form as symphonies.
Sonata
Popular form in the classical era.
- exposition: A (theme 1, transition, theme 2)
- Development: B (modulation, sequences, motivic, Etc)
- recapitulation: A (theme 1, transition, theme 2 in same key)
Concerto
Solo work for inspired by baroque concertos. Accompanied by orchestra.
Mvt 1: sonata form (fast)
Mvt 2: slow, anything possible
Mvt 3: faster. rondo, sonata-rondo, or sonata.
Enlightenment
In italy, centered in milan. Humanitarian movement about the welfare of mankind.
People belived they could solve all kinds of problems with observation and reasoning.
Philosophes (who where they? Names?)
Voltaire, Montesquieu, Jean-Jaques Rousseau. Known as Philosophes. Wrote the Encyclopedie.
Galant style
“Elegant” music built around easy to listen to phrases and melodies.
frequent cadences and light accompaniment.
Most popular style in classical period.
Empfindsam style (empfindsamkeit)
- Sensitive style
- very expressive
- chromaticism,
Nervous rythms, speech like melodies
Period
An expression of music that starts with an opening, middle, and cadence.
Sentence
Rhetoric
Schema and schemata
Querelle des bouffons
Piano, pianoforte, fortepiano
Topics
Cadenza
Mezzo carattere
Baryton
Beethoven’s three periods
Heiligenstadt Testament
Clavichord
Harpsichord
H. C. Koch
G. B. Pergolesi
Pierto Matastasio
- foremost librettist for opera seria
- set the standard for opera
- was a court poet in Vienna
- themes of love vs. duty
Faustina Bordoni
Jean-Jacques Rosseau
C. W. von Gluck
- Main composer associated with reform
- Became court composer in 1750s
- Wanted composers to be more in charge over their operas.
Raniero de Calzabigi
Domenico Scarlatti
C. P. E. Bach
J. C. Bach
G. B. Sammartini
Johann Stamitz
Joseph Haydn
Esterhazy family
J. P. Salomon
W. A. Mozart
Leopold Mozart
Mozart’s father
Nannerl Mozart
Mozart’s sister
Lorenzo da ponte
Ludwig van Beethoven
J. G. Albrechtsberger
Beethoven’s teacher
Napoleon
Bartolomeo Cristofori
Invented the pianoforte
Ludwig von Köchel
Comic opera
- each land had a different type
- plots entertained and served moral purpose
- centered on ordinary people in present day
