Survey of Music Test 2 (Terms)

Baroque

1600-1750, lots of dissonance, straight lines, ornamentation,

• 🎭 Emotional expression (music shows feelings clearly)

• 🎨 Ornamentation (decorated melodies)

• ⚖ Contrast (loud/soft, solo/group)

• 🎼 Basso continuo (continuous bass + harmony foundation)

• 🎤 Monody + opera begins (single melody with accompaniment)

• 🎶 Terraced dynamics (sudden volume changes)

Chiaroscruo

Strong contrast between light and dark, contrasts to achieve sense of volume

Emotional and detailed arts

Bernini – Ecstasy of St. Teresa → extreme emotion, divine experience, dramatic sculpture
Bernini – Apollo and Daphne → myth, transformation, movement frozen in marble
Georges de La Tour → candlelight paintings, strong light/dark contrast, calm religious scenes

Virtuosity

Skilled detailed art

Unity of mood

Keep on mood

Early and Late Baroque texture

Early, Homophonic- melody and accompaniment, clear and simple

Late, Polyphonic- Multiple Melodies, complex and layered

Extreme emotions

Disonance was used for extreme emotions, text ruled music

New for music

Music can be written for specific instruments

Opera

Drama sung to orchestral accompaniment

Librettist

The person who writes the story/text (libretto) of an opera

Soprano

highest female voice 👉 Bright, high sound

Mezzo-soprano

Middle female voice (between soprano and alto)
👉 Warm, rich sound

Contralto

Lowest female voice
👉 Deep, dark female sound

Tenor

Highest male voice
👉 Often the “hero” voice

Baritone

Middle male voice
👉 Strong, common male voice

Bass

Lowest male voice
👉 Deep, powerful sound

Aria

A solo song in an opera
👉 Shows emotion, “pause in the story”

Recitative

Speech-like singing that moves the story forward
👉 “talking in music”

Ensemble

Multiple singers performing together
👉 Different voices at once

Duet

Song for two singers

Chorus

Large group of singers
👉 Represents crowd/community

Opera production

Person who helps singers remember their lines
👉 Hidden helper during performance

Orchestra pit

Sunken area where the orchestra plays
👉 Below the stage so singers are visible

Overture / Prelude

Instrumental music at the beginning of an opera
👉 Sets mood, no singing yet

Intermedio

Short musical scene performed between acts of a play
👉 Early form of opera entertainment

Should opera be translated

Opera can be translated for understanding, but many argue it should stay in its original language to preserve musical integrity.

Florentine Camerata

Group that created early opera ideas by saying music should have clear text, be sung expressively, and sound like natural speech= birth of opera

Baroque Opera

Aria based on poetry, one mood

Basso continuo

• a bass instrument (like cello or bassoon)

• plus a chord instrument (like harpsichord or organ)

First Golden Age of Instrumental Music

The Baroque period is considered the first golden age of instrumental music because composers developed independent instrumental genres such as the concerto, sonata, and fugue.

Wedding of Ferdinando de’ Medici

important court celebration where early music drama was performed, helping lead to the invention of opera.

Euridice

• Peri wrote one of the first operas ever

• Euridice (1600) was performed for a Medici wedding celebration

• Caccini also wrote his own version of Euridice

• Same story (Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice)

• Competing early opera version

Monophony vs Monody

Monophony- solo melody

Monody- solo melody and accompaniment

Death on stage?

Baroque and Classical operas usually avoid realistic on-stage death

Romantic opera often includes more direct and emotional portrayals of death

Opera Seria vs Opera Buffa

Seria is serious, king and queens, dramatic- Handel-style noble drama

Buffa is ligth and funny, everyday people- later comic operas like Pergolesi

Recitativo secco vs Recitativo accompagnato

Secco- BC only, dry and simple, speech like

Accompagnato- full orchestra, dramatic emotional

Da capo aria

ABA solo vocal form with instrumental accompaniment, where the opening section returns with ornamentation.

Lieto fine

“happy ending” in opera where the story ends in joy or resolution.

Castrati

male singers with high-pitched voices who often sang the main heroic roles in Baroque opera. (male super-sopranos of Baroque opera)

Prima donna

the “first lady” or main female singer in an opera

Teatro San Cassiano

First public opera house in Venice

Important because opera was no longer just for royalty—it became ticketed public entertainment

Why Venice became so successful (17+ opera houses)

• Major trade and shipping center

• Lots of rich merchants and tourists

• Opera houses were commercial (paid entry)

• Not just for nobles → anyone who could afford a ticket

• This helped composers like Claudio Monteverdi thrive in Venice

Dido and Aeneas

By Purcell

• asso continuo foundation

• 🎭 Strong emotional expression (Baroque style)

• 🎶 Famous aria: “When I am laid in earth”
  → known as Dido’s Lament

• 🪦 Uses a ground bass (ostinato) = repeating bass line

Ostinato

a short musical pattern that repeats over and over

Brass at the beginning

royal announcement sound

First Operas

Weddings, invitations only

Beginning opera was dying, Monteverdi saved opera

Around greek mythology

English Baroque style

clear text setting and emotional expression in English rather than the virtuosic Italian opera seria tradition

Idiomatic

writing music that fits the instrument or voice naturally, making it sound “right” for that specific instrument

Tragédie lyrique

French Baroque opera style that combines music, drama, dance, and chorus, often based on myths or heroic stories.

drama + ballet + royalty

Lully made

Overture French VS Overture Italian

French Overture= Slow → Fast

Italian Oveture= Fast → Slow → Fast

Lully made

Sonata

a piece of music for one solo instrument (or solo + piano) in several contrasting movements.

Solo Sonata

One instrument (like violin) + accompaniment

Trio Sonata

2 melodic instruments + basso continuo (played by 3 players)

Italian instrumental chamber music

small-group music (usually strings + continuo) performed in intimate settings, especially in the Baroque period.

Sonata da chiesa vs Sonata da camera

Chiesa = church = serious

Camera = room = entertainment/dance

two types of Baroque sonatas, especially in Italian instrumental music

Concerto grosso

Developed by Corelli

Baroque form featuring contrast between a small group of soloists and a full orchestra.

Grosso = big group + small group fighting/alternating

solo instruments (often violins) contrasted with full orchestra, typically in three movements: fast–slow–fast

Concertino

the small group of solo instruments in a concerto grosso

Ripieno / tutti

the full orchestra that plays together

Fugue

polyphonic composition where one main theme (subject) is introduced and then imitated by different voices one after another

Instrumental or vocal

Polyphonic composition

• multiple melodies happening together

Voices

any melody line (not just singing)

In a fugue, the subject (main theme) can be transformed in 4 main ways

Inversion = flipping the melody upside down. “mirror image”

Retrograde = playing the melody backwards. “rewind button”

Augmentation = stretching the rhythm (longer note values). “slow motion”

Diminution = shrinking the rhythm (shorter note values). “speed up”

Picardy third

when a piece in a minor key ends on a major chord instead of minor, happy ending chord

Bach used this ending style

Passion

a large sacred vocal work that tells the story of the crucifixion of Jesus

Suite

a set of different dance pieces played one after another in the same key

sequence of dances

Church cantata

a multi-movement sacred vocal work performed in Lutheran church services, combining chorus, arias, recitatives, and chorales

Oratorio

a large sacred vocal work for soloists, chorus, and orchestra that tells a religious story without acting, costumes, or staging

Ballet opera

French Baroque opera where music, singing, and dance (ballet) are combined, with dance playing a central dramatic role.

String quartet

a chamber ensemble of 4 string instruments: 2 violins, 1 viola, and 1 cello.

Gluck’s reform

made opera more dramatic and natural by reducing vocal display,

increasing orchestral support in recitatives,

and making acting and storytelling more important.

Instruments for color like trumpets

Mozart Operas

There was death

First Viennese School (Classical Period)

Haydn builds structure, Mozart perfects it, Beethoven breaks it

Opera semiseria

mixed-style opera with both serious and comic elements, usually ending happily.

Die Zauberflöte

German Singspiel opera by Mozart combining spoken dialogue, fantasy storytelling, comedy, and serious symbolic themes

Scatological fixation

Mozart Poop, an obsessive focus on bodily functions (especially bathroom humor or references to excrement) in behavior, speech, or art

music favors

balanced, natural vocal writing in comfortable ranges rather than extreme high or low virtuosic display. (mid tone)

Sonata form

musical structure with three main sections:

exposition,

development,

recapitulation + coda (pretty ending)

Theme and variations

a form where a main melody (theme) is repeated multiple times, but changed each time.

• A = original theme

• A’ = slightly changed

• A’’ = more variation

• A’’’ = even more change

👉 keeps going…

Minuet and Trio

a stylized dance movement in ABA form, based on a French court dance

Rondo

a musical form where a main theme (A) keeps returning, alternating with contrasting sections (B, C, etc.), often in patterns like ABACA or ABACABA.

Symphony (father of symphony-hadyn)

a large-scale orchestral work, usually in four movements with contrasting tempos and forms.

Standard 4-movement structure:

1⃣ Fast

2⃣ Slow

3⃣ Minuet and Trio

4⃣ Fast

String Quartet

Chamber music for 4 instruments:

• 🎻 Violin I

• 🎻 Violin II

• 🎻 Viola

• 🎻 Cello

🎵 Structure (same pattern as symphony):

1⃣ Fast
2⃣ Slow
3⃣ Minuet & Trio
4⃣ Fast

quartet is chamber music for four instruments not whole orchestra

Beethoven’s music is divided into 3 periods

Early Period (Classical style)

Middle Period (Transitional / “Heroic”)

Late Period (Toward Romantic)

Heiligenstadt Testament

Beethoven’s emotional letter about his hearing loss and his decision to continue composing despite suffering.

Symphony No. 3

Beethoven’s change in style: the expansion of Classical symphonic form into something larger, more dramatic, and more emotional (Heroic style)

Missa solemnis

complex sacred choral work by Beethoven that sets the Catholic Mass text, meant for concert performance rather than regular church use.

too long and complex for normal church services

Akademie

public concert event where composers presented and performed new works for paying audiences.

Beethoven said musicians should compose what they want and feel- lead to romantic aspect

Ballad

A storytelling song

Brought opera to the general public by using familiar songs, spoken dialogue, and social satire.

Ballad affecting Handel

• Ballad opera became extremely popular in London.

• It competed directly with Handel’s Italian operas, drawing audiences away.

• Example: The Beggar's Opera (1728) was a huge success and hurt Handel’s opera companies financially.

• This contributed to Handel shifting focus later toward English oratorio (like Messiah), which did not rely on staged opera competition.

Singspiel (Example)

Example: The Magic Flute
German opera with spoken dialogue instead of recitative.

Recitativo secco (secco recitative)

A style of singing in opera that sounds like fast, speech-like talking.

Chorale

A simple, hymn-like song sung by a group (usually in church)

Intermedio vs Intermezzo

Intermedio

• From the Renaissance

• earlier decorative musical insert in plays

Intermezzo

• From the Baroque/Classical era

• small comic opera (later)

Recitative accompagnato

talk-singing with full orchestra for drama

Minuet and Trio

dance + different middle part + dance again

Classical Symphony

Large orchestral work, usually in 4 movements, developed during the Classical period.

• Joseph Haydn – called the “Father of the Symphony” (wrote over 100, standardized the form)

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – made symphonies more melodic and expressive

• Ludwig van Beethoven – expanded the symphony with more power, emotion, and length

Typical structure (4 movements):

1. Fast (often sonata form)

2. Slow (lyrical)

3. Minuet & Trio (dance-like)

4. Fast (lively finale)

• Became the main form of orchestral music

• Grew from balanced and structured (Haydn/Mozart) to more dramatic and expressive (Beethoven)

Well-tempered tuning

a system of tuning instruments so they can play in all keys without sounding out of tune.

Prima pratica vs. Seconda pratica

Prima pratica (“first practice”)

• Old style of music (Renaissance style)

• strict rules, balanced voices

Seconda pratica (“second practice”)

• New style (early Baroque)

• emotion and text matter more than strict rules