The History Of Western Music/grout Part 4

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conservatory

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School that specializes in teaching music.

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ritornello form

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Standard FORM for fast MOVEMENTS in CONCERTOS of the first half of the eighteenth century, featuring a RITORNELLO (4) for full ORCHESTRA that alternates with EPISODES characterized by virtuosic material played by one or more soloists.

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fundamental bass

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Term coined by Jean-Philippe Rameau to indicate the succession of the roots or fundamental tones in a series of CHORDS.

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tonic

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(1) The first and central NOTE of a MAJOR or MINOR SCALE. (2) The main KEY of a piece or MOVEMENT, in which the piece or movement begins and ends and to which all other keys are subordinate.

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dominant

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In TONAL music, the NOTE and CHORD a perfect fifth above the TONIC.

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subdominant

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In TONAL music, the NOTE and CHORD a fifth below the TONIC.

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modulation

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The TONAL music, a gradual change from one KEY to another within a section of a MOVEMENT.

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quodlibet

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(Latin, 'whatever you please') COMPOSITION or passage in which two or more existing MELODIES, or parts of melodies, are combined in COUNTERPOINT.

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simple recitative

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Style of RECITATIVE scored for solo voice and BASSO CONTINUO, used for setting dialogue or monologue in as speechlike a fashion as possible, without dramatization.

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accompanied recitative

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RECITATIVE that uses ORCHESTRAL accompaniment to dramatize the text.

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prima donna

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(Italian, 'first lady') A soprano singing the leading female role in an OPERA. See also DIVA.

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coloratura

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Florid vocal ORNAMENTATION.

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periodic

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Organized in discrete PHRASES or PERIODS.

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classical style

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Musical idiom of the eighteenth century, generally characterized by an emphasis on MELODY over relatively light accompaniment; simple, clearly articulated harmonic plans; PERIODIC phrasing; clearly delineated FORMS based on contrast between THEMES, between KEYS, between stable and unstable passages, and between sections with different functions; and contrasts of mood, style, and figuration within MOVEMENTS as well as between them.

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galant

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(French, 'elegant') Eighteenth-century musical style that featured songlike MELODIES, short PHRASES, frequent CADENCES, and light accompaniment.

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empfindsam style

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(German, 'sensitive style' or 'sentimental style') Close relative of the GALANT style, featuring surprising turns of HARMONY, CHROMATICISM, nervous RHYTHMS, and speechlike MELODIES.

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periodicity

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The quality of being PERIODIC, especially when this is emphasized through frequent resting points and articulations between PHRASES and PERIODS.

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period

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(1) In music history, an era whose music is understood to have common attributes of style, conventions, approach, and function, in contrast to the previous and following eras. (2) In musical FORM, especially since the eighteenth century, a complete musical thought concluded by a CADENCE and normally containing at least two PHRASES.

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Alberti bass

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Broken-CHORD accompaniment common in the second half of the eighteenth century and named after Domenico Alberti, who used the FIGURATION frequently.

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opera buffa

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(Italian, 'comic opera') Eighteenth-century GENRE of Italian comic OPERA, sung throughout.

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intermezzo

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Eighteenth-century GENRE of Italian comic OPERA, performed between acts of a serious OPERA or play.

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opera seria

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(Italian, 'serious opera') Eighteenth-century GENRE of Italian OPERA, on a serious subject but normally with a happy ending, usually without comic characters and scenes.

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opera comique

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(French, 'comic opera') (1) In the eighteenth century, light French comic OPERA, which used spoken dialogue instead of RECITATIVES. (2) In nineteenth-century France, opera with spoken dialogue, whether comic or tragic.

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ballad opera

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GENRE of eighteenth-century English comic play featuring songs in which new words are set to borrowed tunes.

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Lied

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(German, 'song'; pl. Lieder) Song with German words, whether MONOPHONIC, POLYPHONIC, or for voice with accompaniment; used especially for polyphonic songs in the RENAISSANCE and songs for voice and PIANO in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

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fuging tune

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Eighteenth-century American type of PSALM or HYMN tune that features a passage in free IMITATION, usually preceded and followed by HOMOPHONIC sections.

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piano

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A keyboard instrument invented in 1700 that uses a mechanism in which the strings are struck, rather than plucked as the HARPSICHORD was, and which allowed for crescendos, dimuendos, and other effects.

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string quartet

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(1) Standard chamber ENSEMBLE consisting of two VIOLINS, viola, and cello. (2) Multimovement COMPOSITION for this ENSEMBLE.

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symphony

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Large work for ORCHESTRA, usually in four MOVEMENTS.

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sonata form

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FORM typically used in first MOVEMENTS of SONATAS, instrumental chamber works, and SYMPHONIES during the CLASSIC and ROMANTIC PERIODS. An expansion of ROUNDED BINARY FORM, it was described in the nineteenth century as consisting of an EXPOSITION, DEVELOPMENT, and RECAPITULATION based on a limited number of THEMES.

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pianoforte

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A keyboard instrument invented in 1700 that uses a mechanism in which the strings are struck, rather than plucked as the HARPSICHORD was, and which allowed for crescendos, dimuendos, and other effects.

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exposition

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(1) In a FUGUE, a set of entries of the SUBJECT. (2) In SONATA FORM, the first part of the MOVEMENT, in which the main THEMES are stated, beginning in the TONIC and usually closing in the DOMINANT (or relative major).

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development

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(1) The process of reworking, recombining, fragmenting, and varying given THEMES or other material. (2) In SONATA FORM, the section after the EXPOSITION, which MODULATES through a variety of KEYS and in which THEMES from the exposition are presented in new ways.

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recapitulation

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In SONATA FORM, the third main section, which restates the material from the EXPOSITION, normally all in the TONIC.

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coda

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(Italian, 'tail') A supplementary ending to a COMPOSITION or MOVEMENT; a concluding section that lies outside the FORM as usually described.

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slow-movement sonata form

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Classic-era variant of SONATA FORM that omits the DEVELOPMENT.

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Variations form

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FORM that presents an uninterrupted series of variants (each called a VARIATION) on a THEME; the theme may be a MELODY, a BASS line, a HARMONIC plan, or other musical subject.

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Minuet and trio form

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FORM that joins two BINARY-FORM MINUETS to create an ABA pattern, where A is the minuet and B the TRIO.

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trio

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(1) Piece for three players or singers. (2) The second of two alternating DANCES, in the Classic-era MINUET AND TRIO FORM. (3) The second main section of a MARCH.

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Rondo form

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Musical FORM in which the first or main section recurs, usually in the TONIC, between subsidiary sections or EPISODES.

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episode

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(1) In a FUGUE, a passage of free COUNTERPOINT between statements of the SUBJECT. (2) In RONDO FORM, a section between two statements of the main THEME. (3) A subsidiary passage between presentations of the main thematic material.

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rounded binary form

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BINARY FORM in which the latter part of the first section returns at the end of the second section, but in the TONIC.

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symphonie concertante

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A CONCERTO-like GENRE of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries for two or more solo instruments and ORCHESTRA, characterized by its lightheartedness and MELODIC variety.

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sonata-rondo

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A FORM that blends characteristics of SONATA FORM and RONDO FORM. One frequent structure is ABACABA, in which A and B correspond to the first and second THEMES of SONATA FORM and B appears first in the DOMINANT and returns in the TONIC.

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Scherzo

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(Italian, 'joke') A joking or particularly fast MOVEMENT in MINUET AND TRIO FORM.

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topics

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Term for the different and contrasting styles in Classic-era music that serve as subjects for musical discourse.