MUS HISTORY FINAL TERMS

Mode

Mode

one of eight melodic types recognized by church musicians and theorist in the middle ages; these modes are distinguished from one another by the arrangement of whole tones and semitones around the final by the range relative to the final, and by the position fo the reciting tone. Final: the main note in a mode: normally the closing note of a chant in that mode. Reciting tone: the second most important note in a mode, often emphasized in a chant and used for reciting text in a psalm tone.ex.Comtessa de Dia, A chantar)

Formes Fixes

schemes of poetic musical repetition, each featuring a refrain, used in late medieval and 15th century French chansons; three most common forms are ballade, rondeau, and virelai ex.) ballade-En remirant vo douce pourtraiture by Philipoctus de Caserta, rondeau- Rose, liz, printemps, verdure by Guillaume de Machaut, virelai- Je ne puis vivre by Antoine Busnoys

Ars Nova

style of polyphony from 14th century France, distinguished from earlier styles by a new system of rhythmic notation that allowed duple or triple division of note values, syncopation, and great rhythmic flexibility ex.) Cum statua/Hugo, Hugo/Magister invidie by Philippe de Vitry

Paraphrase Mass

polyphonic mass in which each movement is based on the same monophonic melody, normally a chant, which is paraphrased in most or all voices rather than being used as a cantus firmus in one voice ex.) Missa Pange lingua by Josquin Desprez

Tablature

a system of notation used for lute or other plucked string instrument that tells the player which strings to plush and where to place the fingers on the strings, rather than indicating which notes will result; also used for keyboard instruments until the 17th century ex(John Dowland, Flow, my tears.)

Madrigal

14th century Italian poetic form and its musical setting, having two or three stanzas followed by a ritornello; 16th century Italian poem having any number of lines, each of seven or eleven syllables; polyphonic or concertato setting of such a poem or of a sonnet or other nonrepetitive verse form; english polyphonic work imitating the Italian genre ex.) Cruda Amarilli by Claudio Monteverdi

Secunda Practica

Monteverdi’s term for a practice of counterpoint and composition that allows the rules of 16th century counterpoint (prima pratica) to be broken in order to express the feelings of a text ex.) Cruda Amarilli by Claudio Monteverdi

Basso Continuo

system of notation and performance practice, used in the Baroque period, in which an instrumental bass line is written out and one or more players of keyboard, lute, or similar instruments fill in the harmony with appropriate chords or improvised melodic lines; the bass line itself ex.(Monteverdi, L’Orfeo)

Oratorio

genre of dramatic music that originated in the 17th century, combining narrative, dialogue, and commentary through arias, recitatives, ensembles, choruses, and instrumental music, like an unstaged opera, usually on a religious or biblical subject ex.George Friedric Handel, Saul)

Da Capo Aria

aria form with two sections. The first section is repeated after the second section’s close, which carries the instruction de capo, creating an ABA form ex.(Scarlatti, Gresalda)

Trio Sonata

common instrumental genre during the baroque period, a sonata for two treble instruments above a basso continuo. A performance featured four or more players if more than one was used for the continuo part ex(Corelli, Trio Sonata in D major. Op. 3, No 2.)

trio sonata tragédie en musique/tragédie lyrique

French form of Opera know for combining Italian opera with classical French drama, ballet, the French song tradition, and new form of recitative. ex.(Jean-Baptiste Lully, Armide)

notes inégales-

17th century convention of performing French music in which passages notated in short, even durations, such as a succession of eighth notes, are performed by alternating longer notes on the beat with shorter offbeats to produce a lilting rhythm ex.(Jean-Baptiste Lully, Armide)

Cantata-

in 17th and 18th centuries a vocal chamber work with continuo, usually for solo voice, consisting of several sections or movements that include recitatives and arias and setting a lyrical or quasi-dramatic text; form of Lutheran church music in 18th century combining poetic texts with texts drawn from chorales or the Bible, and including recitatives, arias, chorale settings, and usually one or more choruses; In later eras, a work for soloists, chorus, and orchestra in several movements but smaller than an oratorio ex.(Johann Sebastian Bach, Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland)