Crescendo
getting louder
Decrescendo
getting quieter
syncopation
accenting certain beats in the meter that are orriginally unaccented, used in jazz a lot
Tempo
the speed of the music
accelerando
getting faster
ritardando
getting slower
scale
ordered pitches that provide the pitch material for the music
diatonic
7 pitch scale represented by only the white keys on the piano
chromatic
12 pitch scale that are represented by all of the black and white keys from C to C
melody
the succession of pitches in a piece
harmony
the vertical aspect of music, multiple chords being played at the same time
phrase
a certain section of a melody
cadence
a note or chord with the feeling of conclusiveness to the piece
motive
a short fragment that is distinct and recognizable in a longer piece such as a symphony and is broght back many times throughout
theme
the basic subject matter of a piece of work, it can be a phrase, a short motive or a full tune
consonance
stabe sounding chord progressions
dissonance
opposite of consonance- unstable and tense chord progressions
tonality
the feeling of centrality of one note to a passage of music
key
one of 12 positions in the major or minor mode made possible using all of the notes of the chromatic scale
modulation
the changing of a key within the piece
genre
type of music determined by the type of instruments used, number/sounds of voices, form, style, or purpose
style
the combination of qualities that make a period of art, composer, or a group of works distictive
plainchant
official music of the catholic church in the middle ages, using just voice- also known as Gregorian Chant
mass
the music written for a roman catholic service-5 sections: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei
monophony/monophonic
a piece with a single melody- plainchant
polyphony/polyphonic
musical texture in which two or more melodic lines are played or sung simultaneously as opposed to a single melody
homophony/homophonic
a musical texture involving one main melody but accompanied by chords or other subsidary sounds
ars nova
“new art” or “new technique” new polyphonic music of the 14th century
organum
the earliest genre of medieval polyphony, a plain chant melody accompanied by an organ
word painting
matching the music to the meaning of the word heaven=twinkling or a rise in the music etc
declaimation
making the words clearly heard, words are sung to rhythms that approximated normal speech
motet
a sacred poem in Latin or French, later became love poems or political satires
baroque
music from the period of aprox. 1600-1750- used excess and extravagance
basso continuo
a set of chords continuously underlying the melody in a piece of baroque music- usually a harpsichord, organ, or cello
functional harmony
one chord following another in a newly predictable and purposeful way, used to organize large scale pieces
opera seria
a drama presented in music with the characters singing instead of speaking- the most characteristic art form of the Baroque period
recitative
used in the opera to move the action along, usually a conversation, less music
aria
an extended piece for a solo singer in an opera, more like a song, expresses emotion
virtuosity/virtuoso
a person who is excellent/above others in their skill set for a certain musical instrument
age of absoutism
what historians called the Baroque period, the time of belief in the devine right of king, the king’s rule was absoute because they were chosen by God. Most powerful Louis XIV of France
Age of Science
what scientists called the Baroque period, calculus was invented , Newton’s laws, and discoveries with telescopes and microscopes
ornamentation
highly prized skill of opera singers and other musicians, improvising extra melodic notes at the end of a phrase
concerto/concerto grosso
most important genre in the Baroque period, a large composition for an orchestra and a solost or multiple soloists (concerto grosso)
movement(s)
a self contained section of a larger piece, like a symphony or in a mass
ritornello/episode
the name for the orchestral music that typically starts the movement off. Contrast between two musical ideas, one belonging to the orchestra and the other to the soloist(s)
fugue
systematized imitative polyphony, a polyphonic composition for a fixed number of instrumental lines or voices- usually three or four- built on a single principle or theme
subject/episode
i a fugue the subject appears again and again in each of the instrumental or vocal lines
fugal exposition
the beginning of the fugue in which all the voices present the subject in an orderly standardized way
symphony
a large orchestral work with several movements
sonata form
exposition (A)/development (B)/recapitulation (A), the opening in every symphony is in sonata form
exposition
main theme, the bridge or transition, second group (second theme with the cadence theme) changes key at some point
development
various themes are developed and then a retransition into the recapitulation
recapitulation
first theme, second theme, cadence theme (similar to the exposition but does not change key
chamber music
music designed to be played in a small room or hall, played by 2-9 players such as string quartets or piano trios
string quartet
a genre for 4 instruments- 2 violins, a viola and a cello
opera buffa
comedy opera- Don Giovanni written by Mozart
lied/lieder
a German song from the romantic time period, nearly always accompanied by a piano alone, usually a romantic poem
character piece
short romantic piano piece, each portrays some definite mood or character
rubato
robbed time, the free treatment of meter in performance of a piece
chromaticism
a style that employs all 12 notes of the chromatic scale- all romantic composers pursued chromaticism to some extent- able to express a larger range of harmonies and melodies
gesamkunstwerk
wagner’s term for his musical dramas “total work of art”
program music
non-vocal music written in association with a poem, a story, or some other literary source
program symphony
symphony with a story
thematic transformation
the varition-like procedure in romantic music where short themes are freely varied at relatively wide and unpredictable interval of time
miniatures
pieces lasting only a few minutes, mostly songs and short piano pieces designed to portray a particular emotion
strophic
type of lied in which all of the stanzas are set to the same music
through-composed
type of lied in which each stanza had new music
idee fixe
” fixed idea” the term coined by Berlioz for a recurring theme used in all the movements of one of his program symphonies
leitmotive
a musical motive associated with some person, thing, idea, or symbol in the drama, used in Wagner’s pieces to guide the listeners through the story
nationalism
people became more aware of their national character and began to prize their distinctive artistic heritages more and more, incorporates national folk music into concerts, songs, opera, etc
avant-garde
a term embraced by radical artists and intellectuals to represent their activity “in the most advanced style”
modernism
a movement in the arts towards radical experimentation, anti-traditionalism
expressionism
expressed the most extreme human feeling by divorcing art from everyday literalness (very extreme)
impressionism
artists called themselves “realists” works of art were much more down to earth and not over emotional like the art of the romantic period
atonality
the absence of any tonality music reached a point in the modern era where not tonal center could be detected
emancipation of the dissonance
freedom to have dissonance without having consonance following right after, having a feeling of being unresolved
serialism
a method created by Schoenburg for composing with the twelve tones solely in relation to one another, not at all in relation to a central pitch
sprechstimme
a vocal style developed by Schoenberg in between speaking and singing
musique concrete
electronic music- sounds of life incorporated into compositions using actual sound as contrasted with abstract products of electronic sound generators
minimalism
a response to modernism- a style involving many repetitions of simple musical fragments