Test I Flashcards
Figured Bass
Notation of the bass line with numbers written in
Unfigured Bass
A bass line without written numbers
Realization of the figured/unfigured bass
Decoding the short-hand numbers in the bass line to create a part fitting with the notated music (focusing on improvisation
Figured bass methods
An instructive tool of the harmonic elements of the figured bass
Basso Continuo and organo obligato
Required organ participation
Basso continuo and organo ad libitum
Optional organ participation
Basso continuo and organo con cembalo
organ and harpsichord
Col basso
Performing passage using bass
Colla Parte
Organ and harpsichord reading off of the same part (doubling)
Basso Seguente
The lowest notated part in momentary absence of the bass part
Walking bass
Bass line moving in stepwise progression
Organo pleno
A single-manual organ (as opposed to a two-manual organ)
Recitativo Secco
Voice and bass
Recitativo Accompagnato
Voice and string orchestra (other additional instruments may be included)
Recitativo Semplice
Short, simple chords below the vocal line
Basso Ostinato
A repeating bass line
Basso Fundementale
Succession of root position chords in the bass line
Measured preludes
Preludes with bar lines (DUH)
Chordal Continuo Playing
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Prima Practica
First practice; Traditional style of church music found in some madrigals.
Stile Gravis
A traditional style found in sacred polyphony
Aria
Italian for “song” or “Ayre”; More florid, expansive, and melodious than recitatives and arioso; Repeated words or MELISMAS for emphasis of text
Arioso
A cross between an aria and a recitative; Fewer repeated pitches and more rhythmically elastic
Lament
repetition scheme as means of sorrowfulness; lament based on basso ostinato
Basso Continuo
Embraces the notion of a chord-producing instrument and a non-chord producing instrument; Figured bass notation, a characteristic manner of notation, as a means of clarifying the continuo practice above the bass
Madrigal
In these pieces, text is brought out through the music; Claudio Monteverdi, Cruda Amarilli
7-6 Figuration
A suspension-resolution indicated in the figured
Gruppo
The counterpart to the modern neighboring tone trill
Monody
“To Sing Alone”; Italian origin; solo voice and accompaniment. Ex: Funeste Piagge from Euridice, 1600 by Jacopo Peri (1561-1633)
Opera Seria
Serious opera; Describes the heroic, full Italian operas (18th century); Ex. Giulio Cesare by Handel
Ritornello
A reoccurring passage (baroque music)
Toccata
instrumental; Showcases; different kinds of instruments; never tutti; played 3x
Tragédie lyrique
The term used to designate French Opera in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which was a fusion of French tragedy with traditional French ballet (ballet de cour)
Trillo
For now let’s just say it’s a trill…
Notes inégales
A succession of equal notes moving rapidly up or down the scale are played somewhat unequally, such as “long-short, long-short)
Stile Antico
the conservative music emanating from the papal chapel in the seventeenth century; Old style
Seconda Practica
Claudio Monteverdi’s term for the new text-driven approach to musical composition that he practiced; it allowed for “deviations” from conventional counterpoint if these moments were inspired by an especially expressive text
Stile Moderno
Modern style
Stile Luxurians
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Académie royale de musique
In effect, a French national opera company directly licensed and indirectly funded by the king; it performed in the center of Paris at the Palais Royal
Florentine Camerata
A club created by one of Count Giovanni Bardi’s protégés, used to discuss literature, science, and art
Stile rappresentativo
Dramatic or theatre style; A type of vocal expression somewhere between song and declaimed speech. Ex: Funeste Piagge from Euridice, 1600 by Jacopo Peri (1561-1633)
Vingt-quatre violons du roi
Twenty-four instruments of the violin family that formed the string core of the French court orchestra under Louis XIV; six violins, twelve violas, and six basse de violons
Masque
An elaborate courtly entertainment using music, dance, and drama to portray an allegorical story that shed light on the royal family
Libretto
The text of an opera or oratorio written in poetic verse
Controversy Between Claudio Monteverdi and Giovanni Maria Artusi?
Conflict bertween Claudio Monteverdi and Giovanni Maria Artusid over Monteverdi’s piece ‘Cruda Amarilli’; Artusi believed there were errors in this composition (unprepared consonances and dissonances). This was discussed in Artusi, “Delle imperfettioni della moderna musica”, 1605; Monteverdi believed these unprepared dissonances contributed to the emotion of the piece, justified in Monteverdi’s “Fifth book of Madrigals”, 1600.
Claudio Monteverdi Dates?
1567-1643
Baroque time period?
1600-1750
The Doctrine of Affections
States that different musical moods could and should be used to influence the emotions, or affections, of the listener.
Theorbo
A large, lute-like instrument with a full octave of bass string descending in a diatonic pattern such as F-E-D-C-B’-A’
Viola da gamba
The Italian name for the bass viol; called this because it was held between the legs (gamba is Italian for leg(s))
Opera
A dramatic work, or play, set to music; in opera, the lines of the actors or actresses must be sung, not spoken, and music, poetry, drama, scenic design, and dance combine to produce a powerful art form
Recitative
A musically heightened speech used in an opera, oratorio, or cantata to report dramatic action and advance the plot
Esclamazione (Exclamations)
Inflection of longer notes by crescendo and decrescendo
Strophonic Variation Aria
An aria in which the same harmonic and melodic plane appears, with slight variation, in each successive strophe
Claudio Monteverdi dates?
1567-1643
Baroque period dates?
1600-1750
Theorbo
A large, lute-like instrument with a full octave of additional bass strings descending in a diatonic pattern such as: F-E-D-C-B’-A’
The Doctrine of Affections
Held that different musical moods could and should be used to influence the emotions, or the affections, of the listener; Greatly influenced by Monteverdi and his progressive collegues
Jacopo Peri Dates and relevant (to this unit) compositions?
1561-1633; Funeste Piagge from Euridice (1600)
Giulio Caccini dates and relevant (to you) compositions?
1551-1618; Filli, mirando il cielo from Le Nuove Musiche (1602)
Tell me about Jacopo Peri’s composition Euridice.
Peri’s setting of the story Orpheus and Euridice (this story would be set by many other composers over the next three centuries); About a demi-god, Orpheus, falling in love with a human, Euridice. They get married, she dies, he vows to bring her back, yadda, yadda, yadda…
Tell me about Giulio Caccini’s composition Le nuove musiche.
An anthology of solo madrigals and strophonic solo songs
Tell me about Claudio Monteverdi’s Orfeo.
The same story as Jacopo Peri’s Euridice, but with a new libretto
ballet de cour
Means court ballet; Came to be in Paris, France; was a type of ballet danced at the French royal Court from the late sixteenth to late seventeenth century in which members of the court appeared alongside professional dancers
Air de cour
Part of the ballet de cour; a simple, strophinic, syllabic song for single voice or a group of soloists
Divertissement
Part of French operas; a lavishly choreographed diversionary interlude with occasional singing
French Overture
Created by Giovanni Battista Lully; Begins with a slow section in duple meter, marked by stately dotted rhythms, followed by a fast triple meter section in imitative counterpoint, then finally returning to the slow duple-meter section
Récitatif Ordinaire
Developed by Giovanni Battista Lully; Very elastic with many rapid passages as well as slower passages similar to an aria
Semi-opera
A spoken opera where more important parts were sung instead of the entire thing being sung
Tell me about Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.
Published in 1689; LIbretto drawn from Virgil’s Aeneid
Ground Bass
Another term for basso ostinato; Called this because the repetitive bass line provided a solid foundation for the rest of the piece to be built on
Tell me about Handel’s Giulio Cesare.
An Opera Seria; Composed on 1724; Libretto recounts on an episode of Caesar’s life in which he pursues and then defeats his rival Pompey, in Egypt
Da Capo
ABA structure in a piece
Giovanni Maria Artusi dates?
1540-1613
Giovanni Battista Lully dates?
1632-1687
Henry Purcell dates?
1659-1695
George Frederick Handel dates?
1685-1759
Basso Continuo
A bass line that provides a never-ending foundation for the melody above; In early baroque could be played by the lute or the theorbo
Dialogo della musica antica, et della moderna by Vincenzo Galilei
“Diologue on Ancient and Modern Music” 1581; Vincenzo Galilei argues in favour of the new solo style of singing (popular in baroque music).
Vincenzo Galilei
1528-1592; A musician-scientist
Intermedio
A sung play within a play (Isolated from the play itself).
Dafne
1598; Jacopo Peri; The first true opera, though only segments of it were preserved.
Euridice
1600, Jacopo Peri. The first completely preserved opera. Based on the Orpheus legend (Demi-god Orpheus, and human Euridice, fall in love, human dies, Orpheus tries to rescue her from the underworld). The story of this opera would be set to music by many composers over the next three centuries. Ex: Guilio Caccini (1551-1618) Euridice.
