HLWMR I FINAL EXAM

Tu se’ morta from L’Orfeo

Monteverdi, 1607

Overture from Armide

Lully, 1686

Trio Sonata in D Major: Grave

Corelli, 1680s

Characteristics of Aria

• Regular pulse

• Repetition of text

• Memorable tune

• Fuller instrumental accompaniment

• May have melismas

Characteristics of Recitative

• Freer pulse

• No repetition of text

• Less tuneful repetition of pitches

• Tends to be continuo group only in accompaniment

• syllabic

Baroque Period (From Portuguese word barroco meaning a pearl of irregular shape)

1600-1750

Doctrine of the Affections

• Humors, or fluids, of the body: not just feelings

• Music was meant to arouse emotions/passions like love, joy, anger, etc.

• Each movement or piece generally had one affection or Affekt (german)

Monody

leads to the invention of opera (aria and recitative); solo singer accompanied by instruments (specifically between renaissance and baroque)

Bass Continuo / Continuo

Instrument(s) which play figured bass

What instruments played the figured bass?

1. Chordal instrument like harpsichord, organ, or theorbo

2. Usually also with a sustaining bass like cello, viola da gamba, or bassoon

Characteristics of Notes inégales

some notes are written equally but not played equally

Characteristics of French Overture

first section is slow duple with dotted rhythms

second section in faster compound triple with imitative entrances

Mensuration canon

using different mensuration signs to create different rhythms

Point of imitation

a passage in a polyphonic work where two or more parts enter in imitation

Paraphrase mass

A mass based on a monophonic melody that is paraphrased and appears in all voices of the mass rather than just the tenor or superius

Cantus-Firmus/imitation mass

tenor from polyphonic piece is borrowed, plus some of the other voices

Imitation mass

all voices from a polyphonic piece are reworked

How is French chanson different from Italian madrigal?

Two strophes sung to the same music

Each strophe has aab form

Syllabic

Homophonic

diatonic

‘Root position’ triads

Overall mood is set, instead of using text painting

Giovanni Pierluigi Da Palestrina (1525/1526 - 1594)

Composer in the Middle Ages

His music was the best example of intelligible text

A symbol of the Counter-Reformation

Uses a lot of homorhythm

Ave Maria…virgo serena

Josquin, 1485

Il bianco e dolce cigno

Arcadelt, 1538

Flow, my tears

Dowland, 1600

Pope Marcellus Mass: Credo

Palestrina, 1560

Cantus Firmus Mass

A mass which uses the same cantus firmus for all movements

Two basic trends for instumental renaissance music

Variations, transcriptions, arrangements 

• often of vocal models

Independent, idiomatic instrumental pieces (originally made for instruments)

• including dance music as well as abstract instrumental

Cum statua

de Vitry, 1320

La Messe de Nostre Dame: Kyrie

Machaut, 1364

Homophonic

melody with accompaniment

Cantus Firmus

an existing melody that a new polyphonic work is structured on top of (often taken from gregorian chant)

Substitute Clausula (Medieval)

the notes of the tenor stays the same, but the rhythm changes, words of chant stays the same (recycled)

Mensuration Signs

signs that indicate which combination of time and prolation to use (The first predecessors of time signatures)

Isorhythm

(equal rhythm) repetition in a voice part (usually the tenor) of an extended pattern of durations throughout a section or an entire composition; Talea and Color

Talea

an extended, rhythmic pattern repeated one or more times

Color

a repeated melodic pattern, as opposed to the repeating rhythmic pattern

Formes fixes

(fixed forms) schemes of poetic and musical repetition, each featuring a refrain; musical forms of the ars subtilior style

Bar Form

aab; song form in which the first section of the melody is sung twice with different texts and the remainder is sung once

Harmonies Common in the Medieval Period

Fourths, fifths, and octaves

Types of Formes Fixes

Ballade, Virelai, Rondeau

Mass for Christmas Day: Kyrie

Gregorian Chant, unknown

Mass for Christmas Day: Viderunt Omnes

Gregorian Chant, unknown

Ordo virtutum: (in principio omnes)

Hildegard of Bingen, 1151

Ethos (Ancient Greece)

a person's behavior or ethical nature

Legend of Pope Gregory I (r. 590-640) and the dove

Used by Charlemagne to unify chants and therefore the church and therefore the empire

Characteristics of Gregorian Chant

Monophonic chant

Modal

Non-metric

Monophonic

consisting of one melodic line with no accompaniment

Homophonic

melody with accompaniment

Homorhythmic texture

all parts have the same rhythm (but not the same notes)

Non-Metric

does not have a steady pulse

Notation Types

Neumatic, Heighted Neumes, Guidonian, Rhythmic modes, Ars Nova, Solesmes

Guido of Arezzo (Medieval)

Monk that was credited with the invention of the staff and (european) solfege

Guidonian Hand

an aid for singing intervals and sight singing by using your hand

Syllabic

mostly one note per syllable

Neumatic

1-6 notes per syllable

Melismatic

many notes per syllable

Liber Usualis (Book of Common Use)

A book containing several chants that used Solesmes chant notation (developed in the 19th-20th century)

Church Modes

Dorian, Hypodorian, Phrygian, Hypophrygian, Lydian, Hypolydian, Mixolydian, Hypomixolydian

Authentic Modes

when the final is toward the bottom of the range chant; these modes have odd numbers

Plagal Modes

the final is in the middle of the range of the chant, these modes have even numbers

Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179)

Composer in the Middle Ages

German woman composer

Wrote several religious songs

Wrote the Ordo Virtutum (the Virtues, ca. 1151)

Characteristics of Sacred Music Drama

Biblical play

Sung throughout like a chant

Dorian

1

Final D

Range above D

RT A

Hypodorian

2

Final D

Range above + below D

RT F

Phrygian

3

Final E

Range above E

RT C

Hypophrygian

4

Final E

Range above + below E

RT A

Lydian

5

Final F

Range above F

RT C

Hypolydian

6

Final F

Range above + below F

RT A

Mixolydian

7

Final G

Range above G

RT D

Hypomixolydian

8

Final G

Range above + below G

RT C

Viderunt omnes

Perotin (Perotinus), 1198

Troubadours / Trouveres

Poet musicians

Tenor

the voice part that has the chant or other borrowed melody, often in long-held notes during the medieval period

Organum Style

Tenor holds long notes while upper part(s) move

Discant Style

Tenor and upper part(s) move pretty much together (no tenor drone)

Mass and Office

Part of the Church Liturgy

Proper and Ordinary

Parts of the Mass

Significant parts of the ordinary

Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus dei

Trope

Added new music and words before the chant or before each phrase of the chant

Sequence

New section which comes after alleluia (type of trope)

Quam pulchra es

Dunstable, 1400-1450

Missa Se la face ay pale: Gloria

Du Fay, 1453

Characteristics of Motet

substitute clausulae is removed from the context of notre dame organum

given new text (on the top voice)

What does the style, Contenance Angloise (Renaissance) use?

Harmonic 3rd’s and 6th’s

Syllabic

Simple melodies

Regular phrases homorhythmic textures

Musical characteristics of the Medieval Period

No imitative counterpoint

Stratified texture: in layers; usually the tenor moves more slowly

Three voice texture is typical

Parallel fifths are used freely

Harmonic 3rds and 6ths are considered dissonant

Musical Characteristics of the Renaissance

Imitative counterpoint

Voice equality (eventually)

Four voice texture is typical

Parallel fifths are avoided

Harmonic 3rds and 6ths are considered consonant

Guillaume Du Fay (1397-1474)

Famous composer of his time

Used ballade form, syncopation, some dissonances, smooth vocal lines, melismas, and meter change

Wrote the first complete mass based on a secular tune because of the discovery of the Holy Shroud

Contratenor bassus

voice below the tenor

Later became the bassus

Source of the english term bass

Contratenor altus

voice above the tenor (a second contratenor)

Later became altus and then alto

Superius (highest)

the highest part, the cantus (melody)

Also called discantus (discant)

Becomes soprano

Examples of patrons in the Patronage System

In Florence - Medici family

In Milan - Sforza family

Renaissance

1400-1600

French for “rebirth”

Proper vs Ordinary

Ordinary are constant parts in the mass (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei). The Proper is a part of the mass that can be changed based on certain occasions.

Characteristics of Notre Dame Organum

The most complex form of organum (Gregorian Chant in the Tenor and other complex parts in the other voices)

Organum

polyphonic music where another voice has been added on top of a gregorian chant to enhance harmonies

Monophonic Texture

consisting of one melodic line with no accompaniment

Homophonic Texture

melody with accompaniment

Polyphonic Texture

two or more melodic lines

Early Motet (Medeival)

Used polyphonic vocal composition

Guillaume De Machaut (1300-1377)

Composer in th middle ages

Wrote lots of secular music and poetry, often in the formes fixes

Leading composer of Ars Nova

Often repeats figurations

Upper voices often move faster with syncopation

Mensuration Signs

signs that indicate which combination of time and prolation to use (The first predecessors of time signatures)

Isorhythm

repetition in a voice part (usually the tenor) of an extended pattern of durations throughout a section or an entire composition; Talea and Color