Miscellaneous Terms Flashcards
Tetrachord
a series of four notes separated by three intervals
Solmization
a system of associating each note of a scale with a particular syllable, especially to teach singing
Sequence
the restatement of a motif or longer melodic (or harmonic) passage at a higher or lower pitch in the same voice
Isorhythm
a musical technique using a repeating rhythmic pattern, called a talea, in at least one voice part throughout a composition.
Hocket
an interrupted effect in medieval and contemporary music, produced by dividing a melody between two parts, notes in one part coinciding with rests in the other
Chorale
a musical composition consisting of or resembling a harmonized version of a hymn tune
Metrical Psalm
a kind of Bible translation: a book containing a metrical translation of all or part of the Book of Psalms in vernacular poetry, meant to be sung as hymns in a church
Anthem
a choral composition based on a biblical passage, for singing by a choir in a church service
Cantata
a narrative piece of music for voices with instrumental accompaniment, typically with solos, chorus, and orchestra
Oratorio
a large-scale musical work for orchestra and voices, typically a narrative on a religious theme
Suite
an ordered set of pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope by the early 17th century
Zarzuela
a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance
Empfindsamer Stil
“sentimental style” is a style of musical composition and poetry developed in 18th-century Germany, intended to express “true and natural” feelings, and featuring sudden contrasts of mood
Galant
During the 1720s to the 1770s, this movement featured a return to simplicity and immediacy of appeal after the complexity of the late Baroque era
Intermezzo
a composition which fits between other musical or dramatic entities
Alberti bass
Alberti bass is a particular kind of accompaniment figure in music, often used in the Classical era, and sometimes the Romantic era. It was named after Domenico Alberti
Symphony
an extended musical composition in Western classical music
Opéra comique
began in the early 18th century- a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias- Carmen is an example
Rondo
a musical form with a recurring leading theme, often found in the final movement of a sonata or concerto.
Piano sonata
a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements
Song cycle
a set of related songs, often on a romantic theme, intended to form a single musical entity
Idée fixe
a recurring theme or character trait that serves as the structural foundation of a work
Bel canto
refers to the Italian-originated vocal style that prevailed throughout most of Europe during the 18th century and early 19th centuries
Cabaletta
a simple aria with a repetitive rhythm
Cavatina
originally meaning a short song of simple character, without a second strain or any repetition of the air. It is now frequently applied to any simple, melodious air
Melodrama
a sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions.
Leitmotif
a recurrent theme throughout a musical or literary composition, associated with a particular person, idea, or situation
The Mighty Handful
a group of Russian composers who all wanted to develop a distinctly Russian style of classical music. Made up of Mily Balakirev, Alexander Borodin, Cesar Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
Symphonic poem
(also known as a tone poem) a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, etc.
Verismo
a post-Romantic operatic tradition associated with Italian composers such as Pietro Mascagni, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Umberto Giordano, Francesco Cilea and Giacomo Puccini. Sought to portray the world with greater realism
Blues
a music genre which was originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s by African-Americans with roots in African-American work songs, and spirituals. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, and chants. It’s characterized by the call-and-response pattern, the blues scale and specific chord progressions
Ragtime
a syncopated musical style, one forerunner of jazz and the predominant style of American popular music from about 1899 to 1917. Ragtime evolved in the playing of honky-tonk pianists along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers
Jazz
a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. It’s characterized by swing, blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation
Orchestral song
a late romantic genre of classical music for solo voices and orchestra
Operetta
a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, short length, and subject matter.
Impressionism
a movement among various composers in Western classical music (mainly during the late 19th and early 20th centuries) whose music focuses on “conveying the moods and emotions aroused by the subject rather than a detailed tone‐picture”
Pentatonicism
Of or using only five tones, usually the first, second, third, fifth, and sixth tones of a diatonic scale
Octatonicism
of or related to an octatonic scale: any eight-note musical scale. However, the term most often refers to the symmetric scale composed of alternating whole and half steps
Expressionism
a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas
Polytonality
the simultaneous use of two or more keys in a musical composition
Socialist realism
a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War I
Gebrauchsmusik
a German term, meaning “utility music”, for music that exists not only for its own sake, but which was composed for some specific, identifiable purpose
Darmstadt School
a group of composers who were associated with the Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music from the early 1950s to the early 1960s in Darmstadt, Germany. Initially, this included only Pierre Boulez, Bruno Maderna, Luigi Nono, and Karlheinz Stockhausen
Musique concrète
music constructed by mixing recorded sounds, first developed by experimental composers in the 1940s.
Indeterminacy
a composing approach in which some aspects of a musical work are left open to chance or to the interpreter’s free choice. John Cage, a pioneer of indeterminacy, defined it as “the ability of a piece to be performed in substantially different ways”.
Minimalism
a form of art music or other compositional practice that employs limited or minimal musical materials. Prominent features of minimalist music include repetitive patterns or pulses, steady drones, consonant harmony, and reiteration of musical phrases or smaller units- popular composers of this genre include Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and John Adams
