Music Flashcards
What is the
Fourth Wall
The characters act as if the audience is not there
example of the fourth wall being broken
Sweeney Todd prelude
Concept Album
Music gets produced prior to the musical being out
An example of a concept album
Les Mis
Phenomenal Song
Made lots of money
Example of a phenomenal song
Bushel and a Peck
Vaudeville
Hosted acts that had little to do with one another. People would travel around and look for theatres and the owner of the theatres would see whos putting on shows and see if they like what people were doing and put a show together
Coloratura
an elaborate melody with runs, trills, wide leaps, or similar virtuoso material or a passage of such music. Happens over long phrases
Example of a coloratura
Mabel uses it when she sings take heart
Leitmotif
Motif thematically associated with a person, place, or idea. Repetition of a phrase/melody
Operetta
Precursor of later musical comedy. Nowadays seen as light opera with acting. Developed from tragic operas. Dancers were one step higher than prostitutes
First big successful operetta
Orpheus in the underworld (1858).
Example of an operetta
Show boat
Pointillism
A style of impressionistic painting. Small dots of colour to make it look like wide selection of colours and blending. Can refer to style of 20th century music. Short detached notes depicting Georges quick, fine brushstrokes
Runyonesque
Best known for prohibition-era stories celebrating Broadway demimonde. Characters are gamblers, small-time crooks, actors, hustlers, tough newspapermen, showgirls. Damon Runyon
Example of Runyonesque
Guys and Dolls
Hemiola
Two against three pattern. Grouped accents or rhythmic subdivisions that change the implied pulse or create a secondary rhythmic pattern
Example of a hemiola
America - West Side Story
Musical Comedy
Originated from Vaudeville. Concentrated on comedy routines, high energy song and dance numbers, plot not too important.
Example of Musical Comedy
West Side Story
Ostinato
A motive which repeats persistently; a succession of equal
Example of an Ostinato
Finishing the Hat. The continuous sound the piano
Recitative
Musical Declamation of the kind usual in the narrative and dialogue parts of opera and oratorio, sung in the rhythm of ordinary speech with many words on the same notes
Syncopation
A variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak beats in a meter pulse. General term for disturbance or interruption of regular flow of rhythm
Example of syncopation
Dance at the Gym - West Side Story
Dies Irae Melody
Translates to “Day of Wrath”. The day that souls will be judged and determined if they go to heaven or hell.
Example of Dies Irae Melody
First four notes of “Swing your razor wide, Sweeney”. Positions Sweeney as a god-like character
English Comic Opera
Dominated by the team of Gilbert and Sullivan. Humorous plots, comedic characters, happy endings - not always
Musical Play
Focus on superior libretto, possibly from a “serious” source like a novel or play, socially important subject matter, music is organized to libretto, fully integrated elements
Example of English Comic Opera
Pirates of Penzance
example of Musical Plat
Oklahoma!
Rock Musical
Ideal of youth counterculture. Sexual revolution. Irrelevance for American Flag. Sticking it to the man. Actors from the streets (raw/real). Rock, Gospel, R&B, Soul.
