Music Appreciation Baroque Period

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Affections

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Emotional states like joy, grief, and agitation were represented in baroque music.

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Terraced Dynamics

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Abrupt alterations between loud and soft dynamic levels

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Clavichord

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Baroque keyboard instrument in which sound is produced by means of brass blades striking strings, capable of making gradual dynamic changes, but within a narrow volume range.

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Basso Continuo

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Baroque accompaniment made up of a bass part usually played by two instruments: a keyboard plus a low melodic instrument.

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Figured Bass

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Bass part of a baroque accompaniment with figures(Numbers) above it indicating the chords to be played.

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Movement

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Is a piece that sounds complete and independent but is part of a larger composition

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Subject

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Theme of a fugue

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Overture

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Short musical composition, purely orchestral, which opens an opera and sets the overall dramatic mood.

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Ritornello

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A repeated section of music usually played by the full orchestra, or tutti, in baroque compositions.

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Oratorio

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Large-sclae composition for chorus, vocal soloist, and orchestra, usually set to a narrative text, but without acting scenery, or costumes; often based on biblical stories.

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Diminution

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Variation of a fugue subject in which the original time values of the subject are shortened.

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Cantata

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Composition in several movements, usually written for chorus, one or more vocal soloist, and instrumental resemble. The church cantata for the Lutheran service in Germany during the baroque period often includes chorales.

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Chorale Prelude

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Short composition for organ, based on hymn tune and often used to remind the congregation of the melody before the hymn is sung.

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Retrograde

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Variation of a fugue subject in which the subject is presented by beginning with its last note and proceeding backward to the first.

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Suite

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A set of dance-inspired movements all written in the same key but differing in tempo, meter, and character.

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Trio Sonanta

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Composition that has three melodic lines: Two high ones, each played by one instrument; and a basso continuo, played by two instruments.

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Prompter

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Person who gives cues and reminds singers of their words or pitches during an opera performance.

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Sonanta

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An instrumental composition in several movements for one to eight players. In music after the baroque period, an instrumental composition usually in several movements for one or two players.

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Opera

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Drama that is sung to orchestral accompaniment, usually a large-scale composition employing vocal soloist, chorus, orchestra, costumes, and scenery.

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Aria

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Song for solo voice with orchestral accompaniment, usually expressing an emotional state through its outpouring melody; found in operas, oratorios, and cantatas.

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Librettist

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Dramatist who writes the libretto, or text, of an opera.

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Stretto

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Compositional procedure used in fugues, in which a subject is imitated before it is completed; one voice tries to catch the other.

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Trill

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Musical ornament consisting of the rapid alternation of two tones that are a whole or half step apart.

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Libretto

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Text of an opera

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Ensemble

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In opera, a piece performed by three or more solo singers.

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Concerto Grosso

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Composition for several instrumental soloist and small orchestra; common in late baroque music.

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Ritornello Form

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Compositional form usually employed in the baroque concerto gross, in which the tutti plays a ritornello, or refrain, alternating with one or more soloist playing new material.

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Fugue

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Polyphonic composition based on one main theme, or subject.

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Inversion

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Vacation of a fugue subject in which each interval of the subject is REVERSED in direction.

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Prelude

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Short piece usually serving to introduce a fugue or another composition; a short piece for piano

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Chorale

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Hymn tune sung to a German religious text.

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Augmentation

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Variation of a fugue subject in which the original time vales of the subject are LENGTHENED.

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Chorus

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A group of singers performing together, generally with more than one to a part.

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Recitative

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Vocal line in an opera, oratorio, or cantata that imitates the rhythms and pitch fluctuations of speech, often serving to leading into an aria.