Part 4 - The Modern Era Flashcards
1
Q
Modal scales
A
- The use of scales (modes) in which the pattern of whole steps and half steps is different from conventional major and minor scales; for example, Dorian, Lydian, Mixolydian;
- Common in music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, rediscovered by 20th-century composers.
2
Q
Whole-tone scale
A
- A non-traditional scale employed by composers of the late 19th and 20th centuries;
- Consists of six pitches, all spaces a whole tone (whole step) apart; for example, C-D-E-F#-G#-A#-C.
3
Q
Pentatonic scale
A
- A scale consisting of five different pitches; for example, C-D-F-G-A;
- Easily rendered by playing the five black keys on the piano;
- Common to the folk music of many European and Asian cultures.
4
Q
Expanded tonality
A
The use of extremely chromatic harmony while still maintaining allegiance to a tonal centre.
5
Q
Polytonality
A
The simultaneous use of two or more tonal centres.
6
Q
Atonality
A
The total absence of any tonal centre, characterized by unresolved dissonances.
7
Q
Changing meter
A
Shift of metrical groupings, manifested through changes of time signature.
8
Q
Polyrhythm
A
The simultaneous use of two or more conflicting rhythms.
9
Q
Symphonic poem
A
- One of the most important forms of orchestral program music;
- A single-movement work, generally free in form, with literary or pictorial associations;
- Invented by Franz Liszt.
10
Q
Impressionsim in music
A
- Paralleled the French movement in visual art;
- Employs expanded harmonic vocabulary: whole-tone, modal, pentatonic scales; parallel chords;
- Suggests images rather than directly depicting them;
- Features innovative orchestral colours, including individual treatment of instruments and use of muted instruments;
- Metric pulse is frequently obscured.
11
Q
Symbolism
A
- A French literary movement of the late 19th century;
- Symbolist writers include Paul Verlaine and Stéphane Mallarmé;
- Authors sought to suggest subject matter rather than depict it specifically;
- Stresses the beauty of the word itself.
12
Q
Ballet
A
- A highly stylized type of dance that often interprets a story;
- First developed in the 17th century at the court of Louis XIV; flourished in the 19th-century Russian court;
- Many significant composers, including Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Debussy, and Prokofiev, composed music for ballets.
13
Q
Choreography
A
The art of designing the dance steps and movements in a ballet or musical.
14
Q
Primitivism
A
- An effect created largely through rhythm;
- Use of strong accents, heavy syncopation, polyrhythm, expanded percussion section;
- Demonstrated best in Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.
15
Q
Musical
A
- A unique genre developed in the USA;
- A play with spoken dialogue, but featuring musical numbers: songs, dances, choruses;
- Staging (sets, costumes, lighting) is often spectacular.
