Baroque History Exam 1

Vocabs

accompanied recitative

recitative that uses orchestral accompaniment to dramatize the text

affections

objectified or archetypal emotions or states of mind, such as sadness, joy, fear, or wonder; one goal of much Baroque music was to arouse the affections

aria (17th-century)

any section of an Italian strophic poem for a solo singer/lyrical monologue in an opera or other vocal work such as a cantata or oratorio

arioso

short. aria-like passage/style of vocal writing that approaches the lyricism of an aria but is freer in form

Baroque 

period of music history from approximately 1600-1750, overlapping the late Renaissance and early classical periods 

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 

basso ostinato (italian for persistent bass)

a pattern in the bass that repeats while the melody above it changes

cadenza

highly embellished passage, often improvised, an important cadence, usually occurring just before the end of a piece or section

Camerata (Italian for ‘circle’ or ‘association’)

circle of intellectuals and amateurs of the art that met in Florence in the 1570s and 1580s

cantata (Italian definition) 

in the 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 

castrati

male singers who were castrated before puberty to preserve their high vocal range, prominent in the 17th and early 18th centuries, especially in opera

chacona (ciaccona)

Baroque genre derived from the chacona, consisting of variations over a basso continuo

coloratura

florid vocal ornamentation

concertato medium or concertato style 

in 17th century music, the combination of voices with one or more instruments, where the instruments do not simply double the voices but play independent parts 

concerted madrigal

early 17th century type of madrigal for one or more voices accompanied by basso continuo and in some cases by other instruments

concerto

in the 17th century, ensemble of instruments or voices with one or more instruments, or work for such an ensemble

continuo instruments

instruments used to realize a basso continuo, such as harpsichord, organ, lute, or theorbo

da capo aria 

aria form with two sections; the first section is repeated after the second section’s close, which carries the instruction da capo (Italian for “from the head), creating an ABA form 

diva

a leading and successful female opera singer g

figured bass

a form of basso continuo in which the bass line is supplied with numbers or flat/sharp signs to indicate the appropriate chords to be played

guitar (baroque definition)

a stringed instrument, related to the lute, which has a flat back, fretted fingerboard, and inward curves on the sides and is played by plucking or strumming the strings

impresario 

during the Baroque period, a businessman who managed and oversaw the production of operas 

intermedio

musical interlude on a pastoral, allegorical, or mythological subject performed before, between, or after the acts of a spoken comedy or tragedy

Libretto (Italian for ‘little book’)

literary text for an opera or other musical stage work

madrigal comedy/ madrigal cycle

in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, a series of madrigals that represents a succession of scenes or a simple plot

measure 

a unit of musical time consisting of a given number of beats; the basic unit of meter/metrical unit set off by barlines 

monody

an accompanied solo song/the musical texture of solo singing accompanied by one or more instruments

opera

drama with continuous or nearly continuous music, staged with scenery, costumes, and actions

opera seria

18th century drama of Italian opera, on a serious subject but normally with a happy ending, usually without comic characters and scenes

ornament

a brief, conventional formula, such as a trill or tun, written or improvised, that adds expression or charm to a melodic line

ornamentation

the addition of embellishments to a given melody , either during performance or as part of the act of composition

pastoral/ pastoral drama 

play in verse with incidental music and songs, normally set in idealized rural surroundings, often in ancient times; a source for the earliest opera librettos 

prima donna (first lady)

a soprano singing the leading female in an opera; see also diva

prima pratica (first practice)

Claudio Monteverdi’s term for the style and practice of sixteenth-century polyphony, in contradistincion to the seconda pratica

realization 

performing (or creating a performable edition of) music whose notation is incomplete, as in playing a basso continuo or completing a piece left unfinished by its composer 

recitative 

a passage or section in an opera, oratorio, cantata, or other vocal work in recitative style 

recitative style

a type of vocal singing that approaches speech and follows the natural rhythms of the text

ritornello

in 16th and 17th century vocal music, instrumental introduction or interlude between sung stanzas; in an aria or similar piece, an instrumental passage that recurs several times, like a refrain - typically, it is played at the beginning, as interludes (often in modified form), and again at the end, and it states the main theme

sacred concerto 

in the17th century, a composition on a sacred text for one or more singers and instrumental accompaniment 

seconda pratica (second practice) 

Monteverdi’s term for a practice of counterpoint and composition that allows the rules of 16th-century counterpoint (the prima pratica) to be broken in order to express the feelings of the text; also called stile moderno

serenata (Italian for ‘serenade’)

a semidramatic piece for several singers and small orchestra, usually written for a special occasion

simple recitative

style of recitative scored for solo voice and basso continuo, used for setting dialogue or monologue in as speechlike a fashion as possible, without dramatization

sinfonia

generic term used throughout the 17th century for an abstract ensemble piece, especially one that serves as a introduction to a vocal work

solo madrigal 

in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, a through-composed setting of a nonstrophic poem for solo voice with accompaniment, distinguished from an aria and from a madrigal for several voices 

stileconcitato (Italian for “excited style”)

style devised by Claudio Monteverdi to portray anger and warlike actions, characterized by rapid reiteration of a single note, whether on quickly spoken syllables or in a measured string tremolo

strophic variation

early 17th century vocal genre, a setting of strophic poem, in which the melody of the first stanza is varied but the harmonic plan remains essentially the same, although the duration of harmonies may change to reflect the accentuation and meaning of the text

theorbo (chitarrone) 

large lute with extra bass strings, used especially in the 17th century for performing basso continuo as accompaniment to singers or instruments ton

al

operating within the system of tonality

tonality

the system, common in the late 17th century, by which a piece of music is organized around a tonic note, chord, and key, to which all the other notes and keys in the piece are subordinate.