Test II Flashcards
Ordinary Mass
Sung everyday, same text but different music
kyrie, gloria, credo, sanctus and agnus dei
Proper Mass
Sung on special days, different text and music
introit, gradual, allelujia, offertorio, communion
Office
Series of prayers that monks would use to organize their days. Many chants were used in these daily rituals
ex. Vespers for Christmas Day
Tenor Mass
Mass cycle where the cantus firmus is presented in the tenor voice only
ex. Dufay’s “Missa Se la Face ay Pale”
Paraphrase Mass
Mass cycle where the cantus firmus is spread amongst all the voices
ex. Josquin’s “Missa Pange Lingua”
Imitative Point
When a phrase or motto is repeated in all voices within the texture
ex. Josquin’s “Ave maria… virgo serena”
Parody Mass
Polyphonic mass in which each movement is based on a polyphonic model from a chanson or motet
ex. Victoria’s “Missa O Magnum Mysterium”
Form Fixe
Musical repetition, usually featuring a refrain. Popular in France in the 14th and 15th centuries
ex. Machaut’s “Rose Liz”
Cantus Firmus
Pre existing melody (mostly found in tenor) used as the basis for a polyphonic setting of the mass cycle
Temporale
Days celebrating events within Christ’s life such as Easter, Christmas and Trinity
Sanctorale
Fixed days honoring special occasions or specific people (saints)
Gloss
Adding new information (such as a text or additional melody) onto a pre-existing text or composition
Trope
A type of gloss specific to music. A trope may occur in three ways: by adding new text to a preexisting chant, new music to a pre-existing chant, or by adding both music and text
Recitation Tone
A single tone used for presenting long sequences of text
ex. “Tecum Principum/Dixit Dominus” from the Vespers for Christmas Day
Liber Usualis
Book of chant used in the Catholic Church until 1963. Includes within it the hymn “Ave, maris stella” and the Mass for Christmas Day.
Chapel
Entourage, group of people (like a staff) surrounding any important Medieval, or Renaissance personage (royal court)
ex. King John of Bohemia who had Machaut in his chapel
Organum
Early polyphony based on plainsong. Two kinds:
- Parallel Organum
- Organum Purum
Motet
A short piece of sacred music, typically polyphonic
Isorythm
A type of compositional technique common in the 14th [and 15th] century, where the composer took the chant basis of the tenor from a mass movement or a motet and set it into a series of repeated pitch patterns (known as the color) and rhythmic patterns (known as the talea)
ex. “Kyrie” from Machaut’s “Messe de Nostre Dame”
Talea
Repeated sequence of rhythms (rhythmic units) presented in the tenor of an isorhythmic composition
ex. “Kyrie” from Machaut’s “Messe de Nostre Dame”
Color
A repeated sequence of pitches presented in the tenor of an isorhythmic composition
Virtuosity
The ability to perform rapid passagework, to render hard passages with great facility
ex. Broschi’s aria from Idaspe, “Quel guerriero,” which was originally sung by Farinelli
Odhecaton A
first fully printed book of music, published by Pettrucci in 1501. This book includes secular vocal and instrumental music by Josquin, such as “Adieu, mes amours” and by many other composers as well.
17th Century Composer
Monteverdi
