ARCT Terms

ARCT history terms

chamber music

music for small ensemble, one player per part, usually no conductor, Schubert

piano quintet

chamber ensemble including piano and four other instruments, most common is piano with string quartet, also refers to a composition written for five instruments including a piano, Schubert

string quartet

most important chamber music genre of the classical era, popular in the 19th and 20th centuries, first violin, second violin, viola, cello, usually in four movements: moderately fast- fas, first mov. usually sonata form, Schubert

theme and variation

a work featuring a statement of a melody followed by a series of transformations, changes can be made to melody, harmony, rhythm or orchestration, often used in the slow movement of sonata cycle, Schubert

concerto

a multi-movement work for soloists and orchestra showcases virtuosity of soloists, in the 19th century generally included in first movement in sonata form, Mendelssohn

cadenza

a solo passage heard in a concerto, aria, or any large orchestral work, often of a virtuosic nature, suggests an improved style, Mendelssohn

sonata form

formal structure often used in first movement of a sonata cycle, consists of exposition; development; and recap, aka sonata-allegro form Mendelssohn

character piece

an instrumental piece most often for solo piano based n a programmatic idea, usually identified by an evocative title, pieces were often grouped into collection of cycles, Schumann R.

sotto voce

italian term literally “under voice”, played in a soft intimate manner, Schumann R.

art song

the musical setting of a poem, for solo voice generally with piano accompaniment, applies to song in any language, Schumann C.

modified strophic form

a song structure that allows for some repetition of music, son changes to the melody, harmony, and accompaniment take place to reflect the text such as a shift to tonic major or tonic minor key, Schumann C.

lied/lieder

the musical setting of a German poem, for solo voice, generally with piano accompaniment, became big in the 19th century, Schumann C.

durchkomponiert

a song structure that does not repeat entire sections of the music, as a result, melody, harmony and piano accompaniment are able to the reflect the meaning of the text as the story unfolds, Schumann C.

strophic form

a song structure where the same music is performed for each verse of the poem, as a result, little connection can be achieved between the words and music, Schumann C.

song cycle

a collection of art songs united by a central theme of narrative thread, intended to be performed together, poetic text drawn from the same author, Schumann C.

rondo form

classical formal structure often used in sonata cycle, section a recurs with alternating sections creating contrast, section a is heard three times or more in the tonic key, ABACA or ABACABA, Brahms

homorhythmic texture

all voiced sing or play the same rhythm, results in solid chord structure, delivers the text with clarity and emphasis, Brahms

inversion

thematic material presented upside down, Brahms

hemiola

a temporary shift of the metric accents, notes grouped in threes are momentarily grouped in twos and vice versa, Brahms

etude

french for study, solo instrumental work intended to develop technical facility, focuses on one of more specific technical challenges, Liszt

opera

drama that is sung, combines vocal and instrumental music with drama, visual arts, and often dance, components include recitatives, arias, ensembles and choruses, created in Italy ca 1600 and remains popular today, Verdi

bel canto

italian for beautiful singing, a style used in early 19th century italian operas, demonstrated in the works of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and early Verdi,emphasized purity of tome and lyrical melodies of a highly ornamental nature, Verdi

recitative

a speech-like style of singing used in operas, oratorios, or cantatas, follows inflections of the text resulting in rhythmic flexibility, usually used to advance the plot moves through text quickly, Verdi

libretto

the text of an opera, oratorio or cantata, usually written by someone other than the composer, the writer of the libretto is referred to as the librettist, Verdi

ensemble

a musical number in an opera featuring any number of soloist but generally a group smaller that a chorus, often serves as a musical and dramatic climax, each person expresses their oen emotions directly to the audience, Verdi

aria

italian for air, a solo song with orchestral accompaniment heard in an opera, oratorio, or cantata, highly emotional often virtuosic, may have lyrical or dramatic qualities, often serves to reveal the characters most intimate emotions, Verdi

coloratura soprano

italian for colouring referring to the embellishing of melodic limes, a high female voice capable of singing florid lines in an extended range, demanding great agility and often creating virtuosic effects, Verdi

music drama

term used by Wagner to describe the synthesis of music and drama, served t0o distinguish his opera style from the traditional ones of his time, Wagner

chromatic harmony

from greek word for colour, extensive use of notes outside the prevailing key, often involves modulations to distant key, increasingly used for heightened expression in 19th century music, Wagner

Gesmtkunstwerk

german for total art work, an ideal expounded by Wagner in his writing, achieved through the perfect union of text music and stagecraft(visuals, scenery, lighting), Wagner

Heldentenor

german for heroic tenor, a male voice with a high range possessing incredible strenght and stamina, associated specifically with Wagner’s operas, Wagner

Lietmotif

german for leading motif, a device perfected by Wagner in his music dramas, a melodic fragment that represents a character place object or emotion, Wagner

program music

significant trend in the 19th century music, instrumental music with extra musical associations, descriptive title identifies the connection, some works include a written text or program provided by the composer, Tchaikovsky

concert overture

a single movement orchestral work with literary or picture associations, usually in sonata form, independent concert work not connected to an opera or ballet, Tchaikovsky

symphony

a multi-movement orchestral work, developed in the 18th century especially by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, typically in four movements, generally includes at least one movement in sonata form, Mahler

cyclical structure

material heard in one movement recurs in later movements, creates structural unity in a multi-movement work, a characteristic employed by Romantic composers in various genres but notably in their symphonies, Mahler

Impressionism in music

conveys mood rather than a narritive, Ravel

whole tone scale

a non-traditional scale emplued by composers of the late 19th and 20th century, consists of six different pitches all spaced a whole tone apart, Ravel

pentatonic scale

a scale consists of five different pitches for example C-D-E-G-A, easily rendered by playing the five black keys on the piano, common to the folk music European and Asian cultures, Ravel

glissando

came from french glisser “to slide” a glide or slide from one pitch to another, on the harp a quick strumming of all the strings with a broad sweeping hand movement creating a shimmering effect, on the piano a rapid ascending or desceding slide along the keys, Ravel

Second Viennese School

the triumvirate of early 20th century composers Arnold Schoenberg and his students, their musical style encompasses atonality expressionism and in many cases the twelve-tone method of composition which they developed, Schoenberg

tone row

fixed order of the twelve-chromatic pitches, the basis of a twelve tone composition, the row undergoes manipulation including transposition inversion retrograde and retrograde inversion, Schoenberg

expressionism in music

conveys emotions rather than reality, Schoenberg

inversion

rewriting a melody upside down, Schoenberg

atonality

no set key, Schoenberg

retrograde

rewriting a melody backwards, Schoenberg

retrograde inversion

rewriting a melody upside down and backwards, Schoenberg

twelve-tone music

a method of composition developed by Schoenberg, an approach used to organize atonal music, based on a fixed order of the twelve chromatic pitches forming a tone row, also referred to as a dodecaphonic music, Schoenberg

diminution

a rhythmic device in which the note values of a melody are shortened retaining the proportional relationships, as a result the music sounds faster, Schoenberg

cluster chord

a dissonant chord consisting of major and minor seconds, on the piano three or more asgacent keys, often employed in atonal music, Berg

serialism

a compositional technique that utilizes a predertermined ordered sequence or musical elements, Webern

neo-Classicism

a style that revived the balances form and thematic clarity of the baroque and classical periods, Bartók

polytonality

the simultaneous use of two or more keys, Barkók

ostinato

a short rhythmic or melodic pattern repeated throughout a section or a work, Bartók

orchestral suite

a group of contrasting orchestral movements often drawn from a larger dramatic work such as a ballet, often programmatic in nature, played in a concert setting outside of its original dramatic context, Prokofiev

ballet

highly stylized type of dance that often interprets a story, first developed in the 17th century at the curt of Louis XIV flourished in the 29th century russian court, Prokofiev

choreography

the art of designing the dance steps and movements in a ballet

mode of limited transposition

any scale type that can only be transposed once, first mode of limited transposition is the whole-tone scale, second mode is the octatonic scale in which the pattern alternates whole steps and half steps, absence of a central pitch, Messiaen

sourdine

french for “mute", an instruction given to string and brass instruments to use their mutes, creates softer dynamics and veiled subdued instrumental effects, Messiaen

micropolyphony

developed by Ligeti, the weaving of many separate melodic strands into a complex polyphonic fabric, the sheer density of the music renders the individual lines imperceptible, Ligeti

harmonics

many musical instruments can evoke different pitches above a single pitch, on a stringed instruments, a harmonic is produced by lightly depressing a string at specific points on its length, Ligeti

fanfare

a loud ceremonial piece or flourish often featuring brass instruments and percussion, played on important occasions to announce an arrival or to launch or commemorate and event, Copland

tam-tam

percussion instrument, a type of flat-faced gong, Copland

gamelan

traditional orchestral ensemble of Java and Bali, comprised of metallophones xylophones gongs drums and singers, their shimmering sonorities inspired the works of many composers, Cage

prepared piano

piano has been inserted with various objects including nails paper etc., Cage

acoustic ecology

a discipline that studies the relationships between living beings and their environment through sound, one outcome of this field, Schafer

graphic notation

uses visual symbols to represent sound and musical ideas