The Baroque Period Flashcards
The most characteristic feature of baroque music was a specific type of accompaniment called,___________, in which a keyboard instrument played a continuous bass line in the left hand and chords in the right hand. The bass line was doubled by a low melodic instrument such as the cello or bassoon.
basso continuo
A _______ is a section that sounds complete but is part of a larger musical composition.
movement
A ________ is a large-scale composition for chorus, vocal soloists, and orchestra. Set to biblical text.
oratorio
Both J.S Bach and G.F. Handel were born in the year_____.
1685
Although he was German, Handel spent the last 47 years of his life in _______.
London
The main keyboard instruments of the baroque were the ______ and the _______.
- organ
2. harpsichord
Another less popular keyboard instrument in the baroque was the ________, which produced sound by metal blades (tangents) striking the strings.
clavichord
True or false. The position of a composer in the baroque was that of a high class servant with few personal rights.
true
An ordinary baroque citizen’s best chance to hear music would be at ________.
church
For most opera fans, the main attraction is a(n) _____. A song for a solo voice with orchestra accompaniment.
aria
One of the cornerstones of baroque music is the ________, a polyphonic composition based on one main theme.
fugue
The baroque _________ was a composition in several movements for 1 to 8 instruments.
sonata
The dates of the baroque are _______ to ________.
- 1600
2. 1750
_______ and _______ are the two giants of baroque musical composition.
- Handel
2. Bach
In the baroque, the Lutheran church service was the spiritual as well as social event of the week, lasting ____ hours.
4
The abbreviation op. stands for _______, and Italian word meaning work.
opus
A trio sonata involves _____ performers.
4
________ was the most eminent organist of the baroque period.
J.S. Bach
A _____ was a German hymn tune for congregational singing.
chorale
Vivaldi was known as the _______.
“red priest”
Vivaldi composed approximately _____ concerti.
450
Vivaldi was a virtuoso _______ player.
violin
_______ is George Frideric Handel’s most famous work.
Messiah
The technique __________ involves presenting the subject of a fugue using lengthened time values.
augmentation
The size of the baroque orchestra was smaller than the modern orchestra, with only ____ to ____ players.
- 10
2. 40
Which of the following is not synonymous with the term baroque? A. Flamboyant B. Naturalistic C. Bizarre
B. Naturalistic
Early baroque music featured ________ texture.
homophonic
________ is a musical procedure in which a fugue subject is imitated before it is completed.
stretto
Like no other composer before him, Monteverdi used _____ with unprecedented freedom in his compositions.
dissonances
Composers of the middle baroque favored composing for instruments of the _______ family.
violin
How many moods does a baroque composition usually express?
One.
The plots of early baroque operas were based on _____ and _____.
- Greek mythology
2. ancient history
True or false. Like their predecessors in the renaissance, baroque composers continued to use text painting.
true
The large group of players in a concerto grosso are called the ______.
tutti
Opera was started around the year _______ by a group of Italian musicians and artists called the Camerata.
1575
Musical style in which drama is sung with orchestral accompaniment is __________.
opera
The earliest known opera is _______ by Jacopo Peri.
Euridice
Which of the following is not true?
A. Castrati received the highest fees of any musician.
B. Castrati combined the lung power of a man with the range of a woman.
C. Castrati were social outcasts.
C. Castrati were social outcasts.
_______ spent the major portion of his life at the cathedral of St. Mark’s, the most important church post in Italy at the time.
Monteverdi
_______ was a feared general, flutist, and composer.
Frederick the Great
Baroque music features sudden alterations between soft and loud dynamics called _______.
terraced dynamics
In the baroque the orchestra evolved into a performing group based on the instruments of the ______ family.
violin
The text of the opera is called the ______ and is written by a ________.
- libretto
2. librettist
The technique of presenting the subject of a fugue using shorter time values is called _________.
diminution
The main theme of a fugue is called the _______.
subject
A popular compositional technique in the baroque was ________, which is successive repetition of a musical idea at higher or lower pitch levels.
melodic sequence
______ refers to a vocal line that imitates the voice fluctuations of speech.
recitative
One of Bach’s greatest compositional achievements was the ______________, 2 sets of 24 preludes and fugues, one in every key.
The Well-Tempered Clavier
A ______ is a single tone, usually in the bass, that is held while the other voices produce a series of changing harmonies against it.
pedal point
________ wanted to create music of ________ by extending the range of affections, aka emotional states, conveyed through his music.
- Monteverdi
2. emotional intensity
Henry Purcell’s Dido’s Lament features a(n) ______, or repeated pattern in the bass.
ground bass
Instrumental music became as important as vocal music during the ______ baroque period. (early, middle, or late)
late
The recurring theme in a concerto grosso movement is called the ______.
ritornello
When a subject is played “upside down” or with reversed intervals it is called ______.
inversion
A popular instrumental genre was the _____, which featured a series of dance-inspired movements.
suite
