Romantic - Key terms

Question 1

Romantic Dates

Answer 1

1820 - 1900

Question 2

Romantic Features

Answer 2

Features a wider range of instruments and an expansion in the size of the orchestra. Music was used to tell stories or create emotions and a wider range of harmony was used, including discords.

Question 3

Romantic Composers

Answer 3

Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Chopin, Brahms. Liszt, Dvorak

Question 4

Cadenza

Answer 4

A sections of a concerto where the soloist can really show off. It’s often improvised, but some composers write them out

Question 5

Concerto

Answer 5

A piece for soloist and orchestra, usually in three movements (Fast / Slow / Fast)

Question 6

Diminuendo

Answer 6

Gradually getting quieter

Question 7

Ornamentation

Answer 7

Melodic decorations

Question 8

Question and Answer

Answer 8

A musical conversation similar to call and response with one part singing or playing the question, with the other part responding with the answer

Question 9

Piano

Answer 9

A keyboard instrument where the sound is created by the striking of a hammer on strings

Question 10

Crescendo

Answer 10

Gradually getting louder

Question 11

Imitation

Answer 11

The repetition of a melody in a different voice. The repeated version can be varied by playing it a different pitch or making some changes to it, but the character of the original melody remains

Question 12

Sequence

Answer 12

Where a melodic phrase is immediately repeated at a different pitch, often by step

Question 13

Tutti

Answer 13

Everyone

Question 14

Virtuoso

Answer 14

A phenomenal musician on one instrument

Question 15

New instruments of the Romantic Era

Answer 15

Bass Clarinet, Double Bassoon, Harp, Tuba, Cor Anglais

Question 16

Trill

Answer 16

Rapid alternation between the note indicated and the note directly above it

Question 17

Turn

Answer 17

Playing of the note above the one on the score, the note itself, the note below the one on the score and the note itself again

Question 18

Mordent

Answer 18

A single rapid alternation with the note above (upper mordent ) and the note bellow (lower mordent)

Question 19

Acciaccatura

Answer 19

Played a tone or semitone above or below the melody note it is decorating. Sometimes called a crushed note, because it is played very quickly before the melody note

Question 20

Appoggiatura

Answer 20

Comes from the Latin “to lean upon”, and is similar to an acciaccatura, but the main note is delayed by the ornament note, which takes half the length of the main note

Question 21

Binary

Answer 21

AB - two sections of roughly equal length

Question 22

Ternary

Answer 22

ABA - section B contrasts with section A, but the repeat of section A can be exactly the same as the original.

Question 23

Rondo

Answer 23

ABACADAEAF - Literally “to return”, main theme = A, episodes = B/C/D/E/F

Question 24

Symphony

Answer 24

A large scale work for orchestras, usually in four movements

Question 25

Sonata

Answer 25

A piece with 3 or 4 movements, written for one or two instruments