Vocabulary Flashcards
chant
unison unaccompanied song, particularly that of Latin liturgy; repertoire of unaccompanied liturgical songs of a certain rite
chanson
secular song with French words; used especially for polyphonic songs of the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries
troubadour
12-13th centuries; considered the earliest vernacular song composers, resided in the south of what is largely now France, spoke the regional vernacular now known as “Occitan,” and chiefly wrote their texts in the Old Provençal dialect.
trouvére
northern French composers in the 12-13th centuries; wrote monophonic songs in Old French (langue d’oil)
minnesinger
literally “singer of love;” German equivalent of a troubadour; lived in Middle High Germany; repertoire especially focused on love
church modes (aka medieval modes)
the eight (later 12) scaled or melody types recognized by church musicians and theorists in the Middle Ages, distinguished from one another by the arrangement of whole tones and semitones around the final, by the range relative to the final, and by the position of the tenor or reciting tone
organum
a style of early polyphony from the ninth through thirteenth centuries involving the addition of one or more voices to an existing chant; a piece, whether improvised for written, in which one voice is drawn from a chant.
Mass
Liturgy of the Word and Eucharist in the Roman Catholic Church. Has 5 essential parts: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei
Divine Office/Liturgy of the Hoursuwu
monastic liturgy throughout the whole day
motet
short definition: (from French “mot;”) polyphonic vocal composition; the specific meaning changes over time.
Long definition: 13th cent: one or more voices, each with its own sacred or secular text in Latin/French above a tenor drawn from chant or other melody
14th-early 15th cent: isorhythmic, may include a contratenor
Mid 15th cent: any polyphonic setting of a Latin text (other than a whole Mass) may be a motet
16th cent: term used to describe German sacred music and other languages
chorale
strophic Lutheran congregational hymn
organ Mass
setting for organ of all sections of the Mass for which the organ would play, including organ verses and other pieces
madrigal
1) 14th century Italian poetic form and its musical setting, having two or three stanzas followed by a ritornello; 2) 16th century Italian poem having any number of lines, each of seven or eleven syllables; 3) polyphonic or concertato setting of such a poem or of a sonnet or other nonrepetitive verse form; 4) English polyphonic work imitating the Italian genre
ritornello
Simple definition: “return” of a recurring musical theme, like a refrain
Long definition: 1) in a medieval madrigal, the closing section in a different meter from the preceding verses; 2) in 16th-17th cent vocal music, instrumental introduction or interlude between sung stanzas; 3) in an aria or similar piece, and instrumental passage that recurs several times, like a refrain, played in the beginning/middle/end stating the main theme; in a fast movement of a concerto, the recurring thematic material played at the beginning by full orchestra and repeated, usually in varied form, throughout the movement to the end.
trope
addition to an existing chant, consisting of 1) words and melody, 2) a melisma, or 3) words only that are set to an existing melsima/other melody
sequence
1) Latin chant that follows the alleluia; 2) in Baroque music and later, a restatement of a pattern, either melodic or harmonic, on successive or different pitch levels
formes fixes
schemes of poetic and musical repetition, each featuring a refrain, used in late medieval and fifteenth century French chansons; the three types are the Ballade, Rondeau, and Virelai.
estampie
type of medieval dance with a series of sections, each played twice with two different endings (ouvert and clos)
rhythmic modes
system of six durational patterns used in polyphony of the Ars Antiqua which served as the basis of rhythmic notation (ex: mode 1 is “long-short”)
vox organalis
In medieval organum, a voice added to a plainchant melody (vox principalis) singing the same melody in parallel motion at a fixed interval.
vox principalis
In medieval organum, the ‘principal voice’ (i.e. the pre-existent part used as a basis for polyphony); usually the chant melody
Ars Subtilior
a musical style characterized by rhythmic and notational complexity, centered in southern France/northern Spain at the end of the fourteenth century. It is used in contrast to Ars Nova. The Chantilly Codex contains pieces of this kind.
haut/bas
“high/low” grouping of musical instruments in medieval times (refers to volume, NOT pitch!)
Ars Nova
a musical polyphonic style which flourished in France and the Burgundian Low Countries in the late Middle Ages: more particularly, in the period between the preparation of the Roman de Fauvel (1310s) and the death of composer Guillaume de Machaut in 1377. It featured a new system of rhythmic notation, allowing duple or triple division of note values, syncopation, and general rhythmic flexibility. Philippe de Vitry wrote the treatise on Ars Nova.
Musica Ficta
pitches that are not in the hexachord in which the composition is set; introduces accidentals into music notation
Isorhythm
short answer: repetition in a voice part (usually the tenor) of an extended pattern of durations throughout a section or an entire composition
long answer: a musical technique using a repeating rhythmic pattern, called a “talea,” in at least one voice part (usually the tenor) throughout a composition. The melodic pattern in isorhythmic writing is called “color.” It is the logical outgrowth of the Ars Antiqua’s rhythmic modes.
Humanism
an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Even though Renaissance humanism had no concrete link to the musical practice of antiquity, humanistic concerns were pivotal for the development of musical thought.
temperment
a tuning system that slightly compromises the pure intervals of just intonation to meet other requirements. There are multiple kinds of temperment
partbooks
a format for printing or copying music in which each book contains the part for a single voice or instrument, especially popular during the Renaissance and Baroque. This format contrasts with the large choirbook, which included all of the voice parts and could be shared by an entire choir.
countenance angloise
aka “English manner;” a distinctive style of polyphony developed in fifteenth-century England which uses full, rich harmonies based on the third and sixth.
fauxbourdon
continental renaissance polyphony in which two voices move mostly in parallel sixths and end each phrase on an octave while a third unwritten voice is sung in parallel perfect fourths below the upper voice
superius
highest voice in renaissance polyphony
point of imitation
passage in a polyphonic work in which two or more parts enter imitation
madrigalism
an evocative (or conventional, if disparaging) instance of text depiction or word painting
Council of Trent
first Vatican Council, was a response to the Lutheran reformation. Changed Palestrina’s compositional style because each word in the music was to be heard clearly. Palestrina’s response to the Council of Trent was the Missa Papae Marcelli.
contrafactum
the practice of replacing the text of a vocal work with a new text while the music remains essentially the same; or the resulting piece. THINK “PARODY”
metrical psalm
metric, rhymed, and strophic vernacular translation of a psalm, sung to a relatively simple melody that repeats for each strophe
psalter
published collection of metrical psalms
full anthem
anthem for unaccompanied choir in contrapuntal style
verse anthem
anthem in which passages for solo voices with accompaniment alternate with passages for full choir doubled by instruments
tablature
system of notation used for lute or other plucked string instrument that tells the player which strings to pluck and where to place the fingers on the strings, rather than indicating which notes will result. Also used to refer to the system of notation used in the North German Organ School
cori spezzati
“Broken choirs;” the Venetian School technique of composing for two or more choirs, which were sometimes placed in different parts of a building.
polychoral motet
motet for two or more choirs
seconda practica
“second practice;” Monteverdi’s term for a practice of counterpoint and composition that allows the rules of sixteenth-century counterpoint (the prima practica) to be broken in order to express the feelings of a text. Seconda practica is also known as “stile moderno.”
recitative style
a type of vocal singing that approaches speech and follows the natural rhythms of the text. Comes from Italian stile recitativo: “recitational style.”
intermedio
musical interlude on a pastoral, allegorical, or mythological subject performed before, between, or after the acts of a spoken comedy or tragedy
masque
seventeenth-century English entertainment involving poetry, music, dance, costumes, choruses, and elaborate sets, akin to the French court ballet
monody
1) an accompanied solo song; 2) the musical texture of solo singing accompanied by one or more instruments
opera
drama with continuous or nearly continuous music, staged with scenery, costumes, and action. Italian for “work”
cantata
1) 17th-18th cent: vocal chamber work with continuo, usually for solo voice, consisting of several sections or movements that include recitatives and arias and setting a lyrical or quasi-dramatic text; 2) 18th cent. form of Lutheran church music combining poetic texts with texts drawn from chorales or the bible, and including recitatives, arias, chorale settings, and usually one or more choruses; 3) in later eras, a work for soloists, chorus, and orchestra in several movements but smaller than an oratorio.
sacred concerto
in the 17th century, a composition on a sacred text for one or more singers and instrumental accompaniment
oratorio
short definition: a large ensemble work that is essentially an unstaged opera
long definition: a genre of dramatic music that originated in the 17th century, combining narrative, dialogue, and commentary through arias, recitatives, ensembles, choruses, and instrumental music, like an unstaged opera. Usually on a religious or biblical subject.
Passion
a musical setting of one of the biblical accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion, the most common type of historia
ritornello
short definition: “return;” refers to a recurring theme in a piece that functions often like a refrain
long definition:
1) 14th cent. madrigals: the closing section, in a different meter from the preceding verses
2) 16th-17th cent vocal music: instrumental introduction or interlude between sung stanzas
3) in an aria or similar piece: an instrumental passage recurring several times like a refrain. It may appear at the beginning, in interludes, and at the end, stating the main theme
4) In a fast movement of a concerto; the recurring thematic material played at the beginning by full orchestra and repeated, usually in varied form, throughout the whole movement and at the end.
stile concitato
“agitated style;” style devised by Monteverdi to portray anger and warlike actions, characterized by rapid reiteration of a single note, whether on quickly spoken syllables or in a measured string tremolo
chorale prelude
setting for organ of a chorale melody, used as an introduction for congregational singing or as an interlude in a Lutheran church service
basso continuo
“continuous bass;”
1) system of notation and performance practice, used in the baroque period in which an instrumental bass line is written out and one or more players of keyboard, lute, or similar instruments fill in the harmony with appropriate chords or instruments fill in the harmony with appropriate chords or improvised melodic lines
2) the bass line itself
figured bass
a form of basso continuo in which the bass line is supplied with numbers or flat or sharp signs to indicate the appropriate chords to be played
suite
a set of pieces that are linked together into a single work. In the baroque period a suite is a set of stylized dance pieces
fugue
composition or section of a composition in imitative texture that is based on a single subject and begins with successive statements of the subject in voices
