Music Appreciation Chapters 1-5 Review

Vocabulary flashcards covering musical elements, structures, instrument families, ensembles, and history from the Medieval and Renaissance eras.

Renaissance Era

Historical period ($1450-1600$) meaning 'rebirth', characterized by increased music literacy from the printing press, exploration, the Protestant movement led by Martin Luther, and restricted independence for women.

A Cappella

Choral or vocal music performed without instrumental accompaniment.

Josquin des Prez

Renaissance composer ($1450-1521$) who wrote sacred Latin motets utilizing homophonic sections for text clarity and triple meter to signify the Trinity, such as 'Ave Maria'.

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Renaissance composer ($1525-1594$) who composed during the Counter-Reformation; written to preserve polyphony in the Church, his 'Pope Marcellus Mass' ('Missa Papae Marcelli') met Council of Trent guidelines.

Council of Trent

Counter-Reformation Catholic council that sought church reform, advocating for mass simplification, elimination of secular melodies and loud instruments, and the restriction of complex polyphony that obscured text.

Chanson

A secular vocal music genre from Renaissance France.

Lieder

A secular vocal music genre from Renaissance Germany.

Madrigal

A Renaissance secular vocal music form originating in Italy and England; evolved from 3-4 voice homophonic sonnet settings to complex 4-6 voice polyphonic and mixed textures.

Lute Song

Renaissance secular music written for solo voice accompanied by lute, fully written out rather than improvised, as exemplified by John Dowland's 'Flow My Tears'.

Lute

A plucked string instrument popular in the Renaissance, often used to accompany solo voice in lute songs.

Whole Consort

An instrumental ensemble composed entirely of instruments from the same family.

Mixed Consort

An instrumental ensemble combining instruments from different instrument families.

Michael Praetorius

Renaissance composer ($1572-1621$) known for instrumental dance compositions, including 'Three Dances from Terpsichore'.

Hurrian Hymn No. 6

The oldest known song, dating from c. $1400\,\text{BCE}$ and discovered in the 1950s, containing performance instructions for singer and harp/lyre.

Medieval Period

Historical music era ($476-1450\,\text{CE}$) spanning from the Fall of the Roman Empire to the invention of movable type, centered in monasteries and cathedrals.

Gregorian Chant

Also called plainsong or plainchant; monophonic, unmeasured sacred Latin chant collected in the antiphoner and used by monks for mass and canonical hours.

Locrian Mode

A Medieval musical mode characterized as 'the Devil's mode', featuring a minor scale with a lowered 2nd and 5th scale degree.

Dorian Mode

A Medieval musical mode featuring a minor scale with a raised 6th and lowered 7th scale degree.

Phrygian Mode

A Medieval musical mode featuring a minor scale with a mournful lowered 2nd and a lowered 7th scale degree.

Lydian Mode

A Medieval musical mode featuring a major scale with a raised 4th scale degree.

Mixolydian Mode

A Medieval musical mode featuring a major scale with a lowered 7th scale degree.

Hildegard von Bingen

Important Medieval female composer ($1098-1179$) who wrote monophonic chants specifically for female voices, including 'O pastor animarum'.

Mass Ordinary

The set of daily Mass texts that remain constant throughout the church year: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.

Mass Proper

The portion of the Mass service containing texts that vary according to the specific church season or feast day.

Ars Antiqua

'Old Art' ($1170-1310$); historical era of polyphonic composition associated with the Notre Dame school and composers Léonin and Pérotin.

Organum

Early polyphonic music consisting of two concurrent melodies with synchronized text changes, marking the transition to measured rhythmic notation.

Guillaume de Machaut

Medieval poet and composer ($1300-1377$) who wrote secular music, motets, and 'Messe de Nostre Dame', the first complete polyphonic setting of the Mass Ordinary.

Troubadours and Trouvères

Secular poet-musicians in Medieval France (Trouvères in the North, Troubadours in the South) who composed non-religious songs about courtly love in the local vernacular.

Bowed String Family

Family of stringed instruments played with a bow, arranged from smallest to largest pitch range: Violin, Viola, Cello, and Double Bass.

Adolphe Sax

The inventor of the saxophone instrument family, which includes soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones.

Definite Pitch Percussion

Percussion instruments capable of producing specific musical tones, including Timpani, Glockenspiel, Celesta, Xylophone, Marimba, Chimes, and Vibraphone.

Timpani

A definite pitch percussion instrument consisting of large copper kettle drums played with mallets.

Indefinite Pitch Percussion

Percussion instruments that produce noise-like sounds without distinct pitch, such as Bass drum, Snare drum, Tambourine, Triangle, Cymbals, and Gong.

Chordophones

Ethnomusicological classification term for stringed musical instruments.

Aerophones

Ethnomusicological classification term for wind musical instruments.

Idiophones

Ethnomusicological classification term for solid-body self-vibrating percussion instruments.

Membranophones

Ethnomusicological classification term for drum instruments that produce sound via a vibrating membrane.

Chamber Music

Music written for small instrumental ensembles where exactly one voice or instrument is assigned to each part.

Orchestra

A large musical ensemble containing instruments from all four main instrument families: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.

Wind Ensemble

An instrumental ensemble, also known as a concert band or symphonic band, composed primarily of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments.

Conductor

The leader of a musical ensemble who directs performances and is responsible for all musical aspects.

Music

The organization of sounds and silence in time.

Pitch

The relative highness or lowness of a musical sound, determined by vibration frequency.

Staff

A system of 5 horizontal lines and 4 spaces used to visually notate pitch.

Interval

The distance between two musical pitches.

Dynamics

The volume level of sound in music, ranging from piano ($p$) to forte ($f$).

Timbre

The distinctive sound quality or tone color that distinguishes one instrument or voice from another.

Rhythm

The ordered flow of music through time.

Beat

The steady, underlying pulse of music.

Meter

The organization of musical beats into regular recurring groups called measures.

Tempo

The speed or pace of the musical beat.

Rubato

The practice of slight freedom and flexibility with tempo during performance.

Fermata

A notation mark indicating that a note or rest should be held longer than its standard duration.

Legato

A smooth and connected style of playing or singing musical notes.

Staccato

A short, detached, and separated style of performing musical notes.

Consonance

A harmonious combination of notes that produces a stable sound free of tension.

Dissonance

A combination of notes that produces an unstable sound creating harmonic tension.

Tonality

The organization of a musical piece around a central pitch called the tonic key.

Key Signature

Sharps or flats placed at the start of a staff indicating the key and pitches to be altered.

Circle of Fifths

A circular diagram showing the relationship among key signatures, moving up by 5ths to add sharps or down by 5ths to add flats.

Monophony

A musical texture consisting of a single line of melody without accompaniment.

Polyphony

A musical texture featuring two or more independent melodic lines performed simultaneously.

Homophony

A musical texture featuring a primary melodic line accompanied by chords or harmonic support.

Imitative Polyphony

A texture where a musical phrase is presented in one voice and then repeated by another voice.

Canon

Also known as a round; a strict composition where all voices play the exact same melody sequentially from start to finish.

Binary Form

A two-part musical structure represented as $AB$.

Ternary Form

A three-part musical structure represented as $ABA$ or $ABA'$.