Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
56 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Absolute music |
Instrumental music that has no literary, dramatic, or pictorial program. Also called pure music. |
|
|
Accompanied recitative |
Recitative Accompanied by the orchestra |
|
|
Anthem |
An English sacred choral work |
|
|
Aria |
Italian for "air" or "melody", any lyrical movement or piece for solo voice, usually with some kind of instrumental accompaniment |
|
|
Ballad |
A poem or song that tells a story |
|
|
Bar form |
A melodic form in which the opening phrase is sung twice and a contrasting phrase follows (AAB). Also called song form |
|
|
Baroque |
The historical period in music extending from approximately 1600 to 1750 |
|
|
Basso continuo |
A small ensemble, widely used in music of the Baroque, that plays throughout a work and provides an underlying bass line and harmonies. It consists of two instruments; one that can sustain long notes (bass viol, cello, bassoon) and one that can play chords (lute, harpsichord, organ) |
|
|
Call and response |
A technique in which one musician or group sings or plays an opening motive, and another musician or group sings or plays an answer |
|
|
Cantata |
A type of vocal genre typically sung during a service of worship. "That which is sung" |
|
|
Chorale |
A hymn tune. The congregational hymn of the German Lutheran Church |
|
|
Comic opera |
In Italian, opera Buffa. A genre that uses many of the same conventions as serious opera-- arias, recitatives, ensembles, choruses-- but with plots revolving around believable, everyday characters rather than mythical or historical figures. |
|
|
Concerto |
An instrumental genre for a soloist (sometimes more than one soloist) and a larger ensemble |
|
|
Concerto grosso |
Italian for "big concerto"; a concerto with multiple soloists |
|
|
Da capo |
Italian for "from the head"; a direction to go back and play from the very beginning of the piece |
|
|
Da capo aria |
An aria that opens with 2 contrasting sections, A and B; at the end of the B section, the singer and orchestra return to the beginning of the A section, following the direction in the score of "da capo"-- literally, "from the head." When the singer performs this A section a second time, he or she embellishes it heavily. |
|
|
Dotted rhythm |
Consistent alternation between long and short notes |
|
|
Dry recitative |
Recitative accompanied by basso continuo alone |
|
|
Enlightenment |
An intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries that advocated critical thinking, empirical science, and reasoned discussion as means to advancing humankind. |
|
|
Episode |
In a fugue, a passage in which the subject is not present. |
|
|
Ethnomusicology |
A sub-field of musicology-- the scholarly study of music in general-- that focuses on the social dimension of the art and the ways in which music is used within and between cultures. |
|
|
Falsetto |
A technique for singing in a very high range by which a singer causes the voice to bypass the larynx, which is the part of the throat that otherwise gives men's voices a deeper register. |
|
|
Folk music |
Any music passed down from generation to generation by a living tradition |
|
|
French overture |
An overture common in French baroque opera, usually consisting of a slow introduction with dotted rhythms, followed by a fast section frequently employing imitation |
|
|
Fugal exposition |
The opening section of a fugue in which all the voices enter with the main subject |
|
|
Fugue |
A polyphonic work based on a central theme and employing imitation |
|
|
Ground bass |
A short pattern of notes repeated over and over; another name for an ostinato in the bass part |
|
|
Hocket |
A form of polyphony consisting of two or more rhythmically interlocking voices |
|
|
Hymn |
A sacred poem or song, often sung by a large group of worshippers |
|
|
Imitative counterpoint |
one voice introduces a new theme and is answered by other voices that enter in succession shortly afterward, even as the first voice continues to sing or play |
|
|
Interlocking voices |
Voices that complement one another by one of them filling in the spaces left by another's rests to complete a single, continuous melodic unit. |
|
|
Libretto |
The text (words) of an opera |
|
|
Manual |
The keyboard of an organ or harpsichord. These instruments often have more than one |
|
|
Melismatic |
A style of setting a text to music so that there is more than one note per syllable |
|
|
Middle entries |
In a fugue, later entries of the subject, after the exposition |
|
|
Motet |
In the music of the Renaissance and baroque, a sacred choral work used in both catholic and protestant services |
|
|
Musicology |
Scholarly study of music |
|
|
Opera |
A drama sung from beginning to end |
|
|
Opera buffa |
Italian for "comic opera"; a genre that uses many of the same conventions as a serious opera--arias, recitatives, ensembles, or choruses-- but with plots revolving around believable, everyday characters rather than mythical or historical figures |
|
|
Opera seria |
Italian for "serious opera"; Italian baroque opera on a serious subject line, typically consisting of alternating recitatives and da capo arias. |
|
|
Oral tradition |
One passed down without the aid of written words or notated music |
|
|
Oratorio |
A work musically similar to an opera but not staged, and usually on a sacred topic. It is "not staged" in the sense that it doesn't feature the costumes, scenery, and action typical of an Opera |
|
|
Overture |
A purely instrumental opening movement that introduces a longer work, often for voices (as an opera) |
|
|
Program music |
Instrumental music that is in some way associated with a story, event, or idea, that has a program |
|
|
Recitative |
A style of singing that lies somewhere between lyrical song and speech; also the operatic number that is sung in this style. |
|
|
Ritornelli |
Italian for "little return"; name for the statement and return of the full ensemble, in a work alternating between the orchestra and soloist or soloists |
|
|
Ritornello principle |
The formal design of alternating ritornello and solo sections |
|
|
Sectional form |
A form in which each verse or half verse receives its own material (ABCD) |
|
|
Sonata |
A type of instrumental genre, usually for one or two instruments; literally, a work that is played, as opposed to sung |
|
|
Subject |
The central theme of a fugue |
|
|
Suite |
In the baroque Era, a series of individual dance movements, typically in a variety of types such as minuets, gavottes, and gigues, and a variety of characters such as fast vs. Slow, lively vs. Stately, duple vs. Triple. |
|
|
Syllabic |
A style of setting a text to music so that there is one note per syllable |
|
|
Trio sonata |
A work for two high ranged instruments (violins, oboes, flutes) and basso continuo |
|
|
Trio sonata texture |
A texture consisting of three main voices; two in the soprano range and one in the bass (basso continuo) |
|
|
Tutti |
Italian for "all"; the full ensemble |
|
|
Word painting |
Music that imitates, describes, or conjures images of the text being sung |
