Atonality

The absence of any feeling of tonality

 

Avant-garde
In the most advanced style
Bel canto
A style of singing that brings out the sensuous beauty of the voice
Bel canto opera
Term for early Romantic opera, which featured belcanto singing
Concert overture
An early 19th century genre resembling an opera overture – but without any following opera
Diew irae
“Day of wrath” : a section of the Requiem Mass
Double-exposition form
A type of sonata form developed for use in concertos
Duet, duo
A composition for two singers or instrumentalists
Chamber music
Music played by small groups, such as a string quartet or a piano trio
Chance music
A type of contemporary music in which certain elements, such as the order of the notes or their pitches, are not specified by a composer, but are left to chance
Character piece
A short Romantic piano piece that portrays a particular mood
Chromaticism
A musical style employing all or many of the twelve notes of the chromatic scale much of the time
Chromatic scale
The set of twelve pitches represented by all the white and black otes on the piano, within one octave
Concerto, solo concerto
A large composition for orchestra and solo instrument
Gesamtkunstwerk
“total work of art” in german – Wagner’s term for his music dramas
Glissando
Sliding from one note to another on an instrument such as a trombone or violin
Heterophony
Monophonic texture in which subtly different versions of a single melody are presented simultaneously
Etude 
A piece of music designed to aid technical study of a particular instrumentation
Expression
An early 20th century movement in art, music, and literiture in Germany and Austria
Fermata
A hold of indrinite length on a note, the sign for such a hold in musical notiation
Fragmentation
The technique of reducing a theme to fragmentary motives
Fuging tune
A simple anthem based on a hymn, with a little counterpoint
Mazurka
A Polish dance in lively triple meter
Minimalism
A late 20th century style incolving many repititions of simple musical fragments
Minuet
(1) A popular 17th and 18th century dance in moderate triple meter; (2) a movement in sonata, symphony, etc., based on this dance
Impressionism
A french artistic movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
Inversion
Reading or playing a melody or a twelve-tone seriese upside down, i.e., playing all its upward intervals downward and vice versa
Leitmotic
“Guiding or leading, motive” in Wagner’s operas
Lied
German for “song”; also a special genre of Romantic songs with piano
Orchestra
A large group of instruments playing together
Orchestra exposition
In classical concerto form, the first of two expositions, played by the orchestra without the soloist
Ostinato
A motive, phrase, or theme repeated over and over again
Passacaglia
A set of variations on a short theme in the bass
Music drama
Wagner’s name for his distinctive type of opera
Nationalism
A 19th century movement promoting music build on national folk songs and dances, or associated with national subjects
Neoclassicism
A 20th century movement involving a return to the style and form of older music, particularly 18th century music
Nocturne
“Night Piece” ; tiele for Romantic miniature compositions for piano, etc.
Octatonic scale
An eight note scale (used by Stravinsky and others) consiting of half and whole steps in alternation
Rondo
A musical form consisting of one main theme or tune alternating with other themes or sefctions (ABACA, ABACABA, etc.)
Rubato
“Robbed” time; the free treatment of meter in performance
Scherzo
A form developed by Beethoven from minuet to use for movements in larger compositions; later sometimes used alone by Chopin
Serialism, Serial
The technique of composing with a series, generally a twelve-tone series
Series
A fixed arrangements of pitches (or rhythms) held to throughout a serial composition
Polonaise
A Polish court dance in a moderate triple meter
Program music
A piece of instrumental music associated with a story or other extramusical idea
Program symphony
A symphony with a program, as by Berlioz
Rap
Genre of African American popular music of the 1980s and ’90s, featuring rapid recitation in rhyme
Retrograde
Reading or playing a melody or twelve-tone series backward
Rhythm and Blues
Genre of African American music of the early 1950s, forerunner of rock
Symphonic poem
A piece of orchestral program music in one long movement
Ternary form
A three part musical form in which the last section repeats the first; ABA form
Theme and variations
A form consisting of a tune (the theme) plus a number of variations on it
Through-composed song
A song with new music for each stanza of the poem; as opposed to a strophic song
Tone poem
Same as symphonic poem
Trio
(1) A piece for three instruments or singers; (2) the second or B section of a minet movement, scherzo, etc.
Solo exposition
In Classical concerto form, the second of two expositions, played by the soloist and the orchestra
Sonata
A chamber-music piece in several movements, typically for the three main instruments plus continuo in the Baroque period, and for only one or two instruments since then
Sonata form (sonata-allegro form)
A form developed by the Classical composers and used in almost all the first movements of their symphonies, sonatas, etc.
Song cycle
A group of songs connected by a general idea or story, and sometimes also by musical unifying devices
Stophic song
A song in severas stanzas, with the same music sung for each stanza; as opposed to through-composed song