WEEK 2 TERMS

Question 1

Ground Bass

Answer 1

a melody, usually in the bass, recurring many times in succession, accompanied by continuous variation in upper parts

Question 2

Chromaticism

Answer 2

the use of notes foreign to the mode or diatonic scale upon which the composition is based; chromatic tones in Western art music are often indicated with accidentals, and lie outside the composition’s seven-note diatonic (i.e., major and minor) scales.

Question 3

Madrigal

Answer 3

a term in general use during the 16th century and much of the 17th in Italy and England for settings of various types and forms of secular verse; central to this important genre of secular polyphony are the eight “books” of madrigals that Monteverdi wrote, pieces that chronicle his compositional development from his teens to his 70s

Question 4

Motet

Answer 4

typically, a sacred polyphonic composition with Latin text, which may or may not have colla voce or independent instrumental accompaniment

Question 5

Recitiative

Answer 5

a non-melodic vocal line imitating the rhythms & pitch fluctuations of speech

Question 6

Sacred concerto

Answer 6

a 17th-century genre of sacred music, characterized as settings of religious texts requiring both vocal soloists and instrumental forces for performance; the vocal and instrumental parts are used in combination with and in contrast to one another

Question 7

Strophic

Answer 7

a term applied to songs in which all stanzas of the text are sung to the same music

Question 8

Through-composed

Answer 8

a term describing a composition with a relatively uninterrupted continuity of musical thought and invention or use of new music for each stanza