improvisation
Process of simultatneously composing and performing music.
ethos
Moral and ethical qualities of music
acoustics
Science of sound
modes
Seven-note scales within the range of an octave
classical style
Restrained, objective style of art
romantic style
Emotional, subjective style of art
Medieval period
The period from about 500 to 1450 CE
linear polyphony
Polyphonic music conceived without an intention that the combined melody lnes should form chordal or harmonic combinations
unison
Production of music by several voices or instruments at the same pitch, performed at the same octave or at different octaves.
a cappella
Unaccompanied group singing
Gregorian chant
music to which portions of the Catholic service are sung. The texture is monophonic, the timbre that of unaccompanied voices.
drone
A sustained or repeated tone
organum
Earliest form of polyphony
canon
A polyphonic composition in which all the voices perform the same melody, beginning at different times.
ostinato
A persistently repeated melodic or rhythmic pattern.
Age of Humanism
A period, characterized by a new optimism, that began in fourteenth-century Italy and spread throughout western Euripe during the Renaissance.
Mass
Roman Catholic worship service.
liturgy
The text and formal arrangement of a religious service
Renaissance
Means “rebirth.” It refers to the period of renewed interest in the classical arts of ancient Greece and Rome that began in the early fifteenth century and dominated the styles of Western music from 1450 to 1600.
Protestant Reformation
Protestant movement, led by Martin Luther, against certain tenets of the Catholic church.
Counter-Reformation
Catholic response to the Protestant Reformation; it proposed certain reforms, including some related to church music.
Netherlands, Flanders
Area of northern Europe where the musical Renaissance began.
Golden Age of Polyphony
Term for the Renaissance, when polyphonic texture was prevalent and particularly beautiful.
Renaissance motet
Religious vocal composition that is through-composed, polyphonic in texture, sung in Latin, and invariably serene and worshipful.
word painting
Musical illustrations of verbal concepts.
through-composed
A form containing new music throughout
imitative polyphony
Technique in which each phrase of a composition is addressed by all the voices, which enter successively in imitation of each other.
hymn
Religious song, strophic in form, with freely written text, approporate for congregational singing.
chorale
Characteristic hymn introduced by Martin Luther.
strophic form
The most popular song form, having two or more stanzas all set to the same music.
psalm tunes
Tuneful setting for the 150 psalms in versions suitable for congregational singing.
madrigal
Secular song introduced in Italy that became popular in England as well. Polyphonic in texture and expressive in mood, madrigals are written in the vernacular.
lute
Plucked string instrument; the instrument most widely used in the sixteenth century.
viol
Most popular bowed string instrument of the Renaissance.
clavichord
Keyboard instrument capable of producing subtle changes of volume and even a slight vibrato.
vibrato
Rapid variation of pitch lending warmth to the tone of a voice or instrument.
recorder
End-blown wind instrument, sometimes called a whistle flute, developed in the Middle Ages and very popular in the Renaissance.
consort
Ensemble of several members of the same instrument family.