Opera Flashcards
What term does “castrati were often cast in heroic roles in 17th and 18th Italian operas” refer to?
castrato
What term does “Italian for “representational style”” refer to?
stile rappresentativo
What type of recitative does “became a prominent practice in the 17th century” refer to?
recitativo secco
What term does “a new style that developed in the late 16th century” refer to?
monody
What term does “combines vocal and instrumental music with drama (staging and acting), visual arts (costumes and scenery), and often dance” refer to?
opera
What term does “the term used by Florentine Camerata musicians to describe the monodic style” refer to?
stile rappresentativo
What musical description applies to this recitative? (Thy hand, Belinda)
- monophony
- recitativo secco
- recitativo accompagnato
recitativo secco
Which of the following enable Monteverdi to capture an expression of Orfeo’s grief in the melody?
- including imitation between the melody and the bass line.
- opening with a dissonant descending diminished fourth.
- featuring extreme ranges in the vocal line to create tension.
- marking the melody with chromatic inflections and emphasis on half-step movements
opening with a dissonant descending diminished fourth
marking the melody with chromatic inflections and emphasis on half-step movements
What term does “a more dramatic style than in recitativo secco” refer to?
recitativo accompagnato
What term does “may have lyrical or dramatic qualities; often serves to reveal the character’s feelings and emotions” refer to?
aria
What term does “a male soprano or alto voice-type” refer to?
castrato
What term does “consists of the continuous repetition of a short melody over which free variations occur” refer to?
ground bass
What term does “in performance, the return of Section A is generally ornamented” refer to?
da capo aria
What term does “literally “one song”” refer to?
monody
Who wrote “Le nuove musiche”?
Caccini
What term does “Italian for “dry recitative”” refer to?
recitativo secco
What was the camerata?
A group of intellectuals led by Count Giovanni de’ Bardi of Florence
What term does “usually used for dialogue and to advance the plot” refer to?
recitative
What happens in “TU SE’ MORTA (ORFEO’S RECITATIVE)”
Orfeo has just learned that Euridice has died. He resolves to bring her back from the underworld
What term does “sung throughout to an Italian-language libretto” refer to?
opera seria
What term does “the music was meant to heighten the emotional power of the text” refer to?
stile rappresentativo
What term does “follows inflections of the text, resulting in rhythmic flexibility” refer to?
recitative
Who wrote “Le Orfeo”?
Claudio Monteverdi
What term does “Italian for “air”” refer to?
aria
What term does “a recitative-like melody moving freely over a foundation of simple chords” refer to?
stile rappresentativo
What term does “Italian for “serious opera”” refer to?
opera seria
What term does “the text of an opera, oratorio, or cantata” refer to?
libretto
What term does “components include recitatives, arias, ensembles, and choruses” refer to?
opera
What term does “Italian for “recitative with accompaniment”” refer to?
recitativo accompagnato
What term does “a single vocal melody with simple instrumental accompaniment” refer to?
monody
What term does “singers may be participants in the plot (group or crowd scenes) or may be set apart from the staging, serving to comment or reflect on the action, much like a narrator” refer to?
chorus
What term does “a castrato voice was created by a surgical procedure before puberty that prevented the male voice from changing” refer to?
castrato
What term does “can refer to recitative or simply to an emotional presentation of the text” refer to?
stile rappresentativo
What term does “a vocal ensemble, large or small, usually consisting of several voice types” refer to?
chorus
What term does “led to the development of recitative” refer to?
monody
What term does “originated in Italy around 1600 and remains one of the most popular forms of musical entertainment” refer to?
opera
Who wrote “Dido and Aeneas”?
Henry Purcell
What term does “a speech-like, declamatory style of singing used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas” refer to?
recitative
What term does “allowed for greater expression of emotion and clarity of text than the complex polyphonic textures of earlier madrigals and motets” refer to?
monody
What term does “Italian for “work”” refer to?
opera
What term does “an aria (solo song) employing a ternary (ABA) structure” refer to?
da capo aria
What term does “usually written by someone other than the composer” refer to?
libretto
What term does “adds musical variety to the operatic works of many composers” refer to?
chorus
What musical characteristics are exemplified in this recitative? (Orfeo’s recitative)
homophony.
recitativo secco
What term does “melodic recitative style with orchestral accompaniment” refer to?
recitativo accompagnato
What term does “two main types in the Baroque era” refer to?
recitative
What effect is used on “drooping” and “soft”? (With drooping wings)
- word painting with close imitation of the musical motive.
- melismatic treatment of the text and close imitation of the main theme.
- homorhythmic texture with incidental use of imitation
- word painting with close imitation of the musical motive
What term does “often based on a play, novel, or episode in history” refer to?
libretto
What term does “the most common type of aria in Baroque opera and oratorio” refer to?
da capo aria
What term does “a speech-like, declamatory style of singing supported only by basso continuo” refer to?
recitativo secco
What term does “generally based on a historical or mythological subject, tragic or heroic” refer to?
opera seria
What recitative does “became prominent in 18th-century opera” refer to?
recitativo accompagnato
What term does “a Baroque compositional device” refer to?
ground bass
What term does “highly emotional and often virtuosic” refer to?
aria
Who wrote “GIULIO CESARE IN EGITTO”?
George Fredric Handel
What term does “often provided the basic structure of a Baroque aria” refer to?
ground bass
What term does “drama that is sung” refer to?
opera
What term does “the author of the libretto is called the librettist” refer to?
libretto
What is the structure of “Le Orfeo”?
Prologue and five acts
What term does “a solo song with accompaniment, heard in an opera, oratorio, and cantata” refer to?
aria
