Style in Music Flashcards
What are the 8 elements in music
- Pitch
- Tempo
- Duration
- Texture
- Timbre
- Structure
- Dynamics
- Silence
What is pitch?
How high or low the sound is
What is tempo?
The speed
What is duration?
The length of a note
What is texture?
Layers of music - thick or thin
What is timbre?
The sound an instrument makes
What is structure?
The plan of music
What are dynamics
Volume
What is silence as important as?
It is important as sound
What words can be used to describe the style/mood of music
- Dramatic
- Adventurous
- Mysterious
- Happy
- Sad
- Exciting
- Scary
- Emotional
What are the 6 periods of music and what years do they cover?
- Medieval: Up to 1450
- Renaissance: 1450-1600
- Baroque: 1600-1750
- Classical: 1750-1810
- Romantic: 1810-1910
- 20th Century: 1910-
What was Church medieval music like?
Sung without an accompaniment (acapella)
Sung in Latin
Music followed stresses and rhythms of the works
Often sung antiphonally (question and answer)
Plainsong is still used in churches today
What was secular medieval music like?
Performed by Troubadours and Trouveres - travelling musicians and medieval poets
What instruments were used in medieval times?
Pipe and tabor (pipe & 2 headed drum played by 1 person)
Shawn (double reed instrument - anscestor of obeo)
Cornett ( made of ivory or wood, trumpet like mouthpiece and finger holes like a recorder)
Organ
Chime bells
Citole (4 brass strings were plucked)
Harp
Fiddle or vielle (slightly larger than viola)
Rebec (pear-shaped usually with 3 strings)
Hurdy-gurdy (like early guitar)
Psaltery (strings plucked with quills)
Recorders of various sizes
Flute
Trumpet
Lute
Bagpipes
Percussion - cymbals, triangle and various kinds of drum
Give details of a piece of medieval music
Deum Verum
Composer: Etianne de Liege
Date: 9th/10th century
Style: Low pitched, quiet, long notes, monophonic, instruments making a low sound or acapello.
Describe medieval music
Consists of one melodic line
Texture is thin, monophonic (one sound)
Could be sacred (religious) or secular (non religious)
Describe Renaissane period
Means rebirth
Chief characteristics - increased awareness and interest in learning, particularly ideas from ancient Greeks and Romans
Also age of exploration and discovery, Christopher Columbus made several important voyages, great strides in science and astronomy
Art, literature, architecture and music also became important.
What are the characteristics of Renaissance music?
Based on modes - early form of major/minor scales
Base voice added to choral music
Choral music is music written for voices
Sacred music still important but wide variety of secular music
Polyphonic textures - many layers e.g. voices /instruments overlapping eachother
Instruments started to be grouped into families but no formal orchestra instead ad-hoc.
What instruments were used in Renaissance times?
Crumhorn (early Oboe)
Trumpet but with no valves (holes)
Sackbut (like a trombone)
Rackett
Lute (early guitar)
Viol
Give details of a piece of Renaissnace music
Fair Phylis I saw sitting all alone
Composer: John Farmer
Type: English, secular
Instruments:acapella, soprano, alto, tenor and base voices
Characistics: lively, upbeat, love song, polyphonic, word painting (text matches music)
Describe Baroque period
Comes from Portuguese work barocco
Meaning irregular shaped pearl or piece of jewellery
First used to describe ornamental style of architecture/art in 17th century
Musicians then adopted the word
Alot of music is highly decorative & energetic.
What are the characteristics of Baroque music?
Orchestra was formed
Dominated by string family with some woodwind (oboe, flute, bassoon), brass(trumpet, horn without valves) and percussion.
Harpsichord was part of the orchestra playing chords or the continuo, strings plucked, no pedal, 1/2 manuals. Was very decorative.
Terraced dynamics - loud phrase of music repeated quietly
Melodies decorated with ornamentation (to decorate the melody)
Trius: alternating between 2 notes quietly
Major/minor keys and scales started and replaced modes
Give details of a piece of Renaissnace music
The Four Seasons
Composer: Vivalid
Type: Secular
Instruments:violins, lute, harpsichord
Characistics: happy, jolly, loud dynamics, fast tempo then slow then speedps up, thick texture, polyphonic
Describe the Classical Period
Classical/classic come from Latin workd Classicus
Means citizen/writer of the highest order
Used for something top rate/lasting value/first rate
Plays of Shakespeare & Dickens’ novels are considered classics
Ancient Roman/Greek architecture described as classical
Music of this period can be described as balance & elegant.
The orchestra grew in size
Most composers had a patron who paid them to write music for special occasions
Describe the piano
- Piano invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700
- Composers wrote many works for this, mainly Mozart & Beethoven
- Piano is percussion as strings are hit with small hamers
- Can be played quiet (piano) and loud (forte) - pianoforte
- Can be played staccato (short) or legato (smooth)
Harpis
What are the characteristics of classical musick
- Piano was important
- Harpsichord was no longer part of the orchestra
- Orchestra had 4 main families
- String
- Woodwind
- Brass
- Percussion
- Meloldies - simple, graceful, elegant, well balanced
- Chamber music was important - music to be performance in a large room
What genres emerged in the classical period
- Symphony - large scale work for orchestra in 4 movements
- String Quartet - work for violin 1 & 2, viola and cello
- Opera - large scale work for orchestra, chorus and soloist. Chorus and soloist with costumes and lighting (secular)
- Oratorio - large scale work for orchestra, chorus and soloist, without costumes and lighting (sacred)
- Concerto - work for solo instrument accompanied by an orchestra
Give details of a piece of classical music
Symphony No 40 in G minor Movement 1
Composer: Mozart
Type: Symphony
Instruments:flutes, strings, woodwind, brass
Characistics: mainly homophonic, graceful, elegant, simple, full woodwind section.
