Terms Hmu225 Chapter 1

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Chant

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(1) Unison unaccompanied song, particularly that of the Latin LITURGY (also called PLAINCHANT). (2) The repertory of unaccompanied liturgical songs of a particular RITE. (page 4)

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Ethos

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(Greek, 'character') (1) Moral and ethical character or way of being or behaving. (2) Character, mood, or emotional effect of a certain tonos, MODE, METER, or MELODY. (page 4)

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Lyre

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Plucked string instrument with a resonating sound box, two arms, crossbar, and strings that run parallel to the soundboard and attach to the crossbar. (page 5)

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Notation

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A system for writing down musical sounds, or the process of writing down music. The principal notation systems of European music use a staff of lines and signs that define the pitch, duration, and other qualities of sound. (page 6)

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Polyphony

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Music or musical TEXTURE consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent MELODY. See also COUNTERPOINT. (page 10)

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Scholasticism

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System of teaching predominant in the Middle Ages based chiefly upon the authority of the Church Fathers, as well as of Aristotle and his commentators. (page 11)

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Heterophony

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Music or musical TEXTURE in which a MELODY is performed by two or more parts simultaneously in more than one way, for example, one voice performing it simply, and the other with embellishments. (page 16)

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Improvisation

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Spontaneous invention of music while performing, including devising VARIATIONS, embellishments, or accompaniments for existing music. (page 16)

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Monophony

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Music or musical TEXTURE consisting of unaccompanied MELODY. (page 16)

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Rhythm

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(1) Music's movement in time. (2) A particular arrangement of short and long durations. (page 16)

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Aulos

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Ancient Greek reed instrument, usually played in pairs. (page 17)

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Kithara

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Ancient Greek string instrument, a large LYRE. (page 17)

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Tetrachord

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(from Greek, 'four strings') (1) In Greek and medieval theory, a SCALE of four NOTES spanning a perfect fourth. (2) In modern theory, a set of four pitches or PITCH-CLASSES. (3) In TWELVE-TONE theory, the first four, middle four, or last four notes in the ROW. (page 17)

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Imitation

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(1) In POLYPHONIC music, the device of repeating (imitating) a MELODY or MOTIVE announced in one part in one or more other parts, often at a different pitch level and sometimes with minor MELODIC or rhythmic alterations. Usually the voices enter with the element that is imitated, although sometimes imitation happens within the middle of a segment of melody. (2) The act of patterning a new work after an existing work or style; especially, to borrow much of the existing work's material. (page 18)

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Harmonia

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(pl. harmoniai) Ancient Greek concept having multiple related meanings: (1) the union of parts in an orderly whole; (2) SCALE type. (page 19)

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Chromatic

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(in ancient Greek music) (from Greek chroma, 'color') (1) In ancient Greek music, adjective describing a TETRACHORD comprising a minor third and two SEMITONES, or a MELODY that uses such tetrachords. (2) Adjective describing a melody that uses two or more successive semitones in the same direction, a SCALE consisting exclusively of semitones, an INTERVAL or CHORD that draws NOTES from more than one DIATONIC scale, or music that uses many such melodies or chords. (page 19)

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Pythagorean intonation

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A system of tuning NOTES in the SCALE, common in the Middle Ages, in which all perfect fourths and fifths are tuned according to the ratios 4:3 and 3:2. (page 19)

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Musica mundana

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musica humana

Hint 18

musica instrumentalis

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Chant dialect

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One of the repertories of ecclesiastical CHANT, including GREGORIAN, BYZANTINE, AMBROSIAN, and OLD ROMAN CHANT. (page 23)

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Liturgy

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The prescribed body of texts to be spoken or sung and ritual actions to be performed in a religious service. (page 23)

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Mass

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(from Latin missa) (1) The most important service in the Roman Church. (2) A musical work setting the texts of the ORDINARY of the Mass, typically KYRIE, GLORIA, CREDO, SANCTUS, and AGNUS DEI. (page 23)

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Psaltery

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A plucked string instrument whose strings are attached to a frame over a wooden sounding board. (page 24)

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Ambrosian chant

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A repertory of ecclesiastical CHANT used in Milan. (page 25)

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Old Roman chant

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A repertory of ecclesiastical CHANT preserved in eleventh- and twelfth-century manuscripts from Rome representing a local tradition; a near relative of GREGORIAN CHANT. (page 25)