MUSC1101 - Terms for Final Exam

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art song

Most typically, a solo song with a high-quality literary text (e.g., a poem) and a composed piano
accompaniment. Art songs usually feature word painting in the voice part and programmaticism in
the accompaniment. See also “Lied.

character piece

A relatively short work, usually for solo piano, that captures a particular mood (“character”). Such
works are examples of program music and usually have descriptive titles, e.g., a “Nocturne” by
Chopin or Gottschalk’s Union: Concert Paraphrase on National Airs. Many stylized dances (e.g.,
Chopin’s mazurkas and polonaises) can also be considered character pieces. See also “nocturne,”
“mazurka,” and “polonaise.

George Sand

The pen name (nom de plume, or pseudonym) of the French novelist Aurore Dudevant, the woman
with whom Chopin began a decade-long liaison in 1837.

Harriet Smithson

The English actress who inspired Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique (1830). She and Berlioz were
married in 1834 but later separated (divorce was illegal in France at the time). See also “idée fixe.”

idée fixe

In psychology, a “fixed” or unchanging idea, an obsession. In his Symphonie fantastique, Berlioz
used the term to indicate the melody associated with the artist’s beloved. This melody recurs in a
different guise in each of the work’s five movements, unifying them.

incidental music

Music to be used in connection with a play. Incidental music of the orchestral variety often consists
of an overture (performed before act 1 of the play) and instrumental interludes (performed between
the acts of the play)

Lied

German for “song.” (In German, all nouns are capitalized.) By the 1800s, a German-texted art song

mazurka

A Polish folk dance in triple meter, often with a heavy accent on the second or third beat of each
measure

meter (of poetry)

A poem’s basic rhythmic structure. Among the numerous types of poetic meter is iambic tetrameter,
in which each line contains four (“tetra-”) iambic feet. An iambic foot (an iamb) contains two
syllables, an unaccented one (–) followed by an accented one (/), as in “ka-BOOM.” This is a line of
iambic tetrameter: The (–) stu- (/) dent (–) stud- (/) ied (–) for (/) the (–) test (/)

modified strophic form

A strophic form in which the music is varied to fit each strophe of the text in a particular way

New Journal of Music

In German, Neue Zeitschrift für Musik. An important music journal co-founded in Leipzig, Germany,
in 1834 by Robert Schumann, who served as its editor until 1844. NZfM is still in publication

orchestral program music

See the following for definitions of four important genres of program music for orchestra: “concert
overture,” “incidental music,” “program symphony,” and “symphonic poem.

piano trio

A work composed for piano, violin, and cello. The term is also used for the ensemble itself

program symphony

A multimovement work of orchestral program music. Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique epitomizes
the genre

song cycle

A group of songs unified musically or through their texts. Schumann’s “Widmung” [Dedication], for
example, is the first of twenty-six Lieder in the song cycle Myrthen, op. 25, which he composed as a
“wedding present” for Clara Wieck in 1840, the year they were married; this cycle includes settings
of works by nine different poets. The term “cycle,” as defined here, can also be applied to groups of
works in other genres: Schumann composed several important cycles of character pieces

symphonic poem

A single-movement work of orchestral program music. Unlike the concert overture, such works do
not use sonata form. The genre was pioneered in the late 1840s by Franz Liszt, who coined the term
(symphonische Dichtung). By the 1890s, this type of work was called a “tone poem.”

tempo rubato

In English, “robbed time.” Subtle changes of tempo (speeding up and slowing down) applied by the
performer, with expressive intent

a capella

Sung without instrumental accompaniment of any kind

binary form

A musical structure consisting of two repeated halves (AABB = |:A:|:B:|)

cadence

A point of arrival signaling the end of a musical unit

chorus

an ensemble with multiple singers to a part; “chorus” is also the name for the musical number or
movement sung by this ensemble.

conjunct motion

Melodic motion of pitches by step

consonance

The sound of notes together that our ear finds naturally right. Like dissonance, consonance is a
relative concept that can change over long periods of time

contour

The general shape of a melody: up, down, up-and-down, down-and-up, etc

counterpoint

A style of writing in which every voice is a melody and all voices work together; from the Latin word
contrapunctum, “note-against-note.” Counterpoint is basic to polyphonic texture

diatonic scale

A scale consisting of whole and half steps

dissonance

The sound of notes that clash, either harmonically or melodically, and do not seem to belong together.
Dissonance is a relative concept: what was dissonant in one era is later perceived as consonant

duple meter

An underlying pattern of rhythm in which each unit (measure) consists of one accented (strong) beat
followed by one unaccented (weak) beat (1 2 | 1 2 | 1 2 | etc.) or some multiple of two (such as four
or eight).

form

The structure of a musical work; the way in which its individual units are put together

heterophony

Heterophonic texture. The simultaneous playing or singing of two or more slightly different versions
of a melody

homophony

Homophonic texture. A musical texture in which a principal melody is performed with supporting
accompaniment. This is the texture of most contemporary popular songs

imitation

A shortened form of the term “imitative counterpoint”: the same theme introduced by different
instruments or voices in succession

melisma

A single syllable of text sung to many notes

meter (of music)

An underlying pattern of beats that maintains itself consistently throughout a work

modulate

To move to a different key area

monophony

Monophonic texture. A musical texture consisting of a single melodic line

ostinato

A short pattern of notes repeated over and over

polyphony

Polyphonic texture. A musical texture consisting of multiple lines of equal importance

refrain

The same words with the same basic melody recurring at regular intervals over the course of a work

register

The range of a pitch or series of pitches, usually described as high, middle, or low

strophic form

A type of form in which every verse (strophe) of text is sung to the same music

syncopation

Syncopated rhythm. A type of rhythm in which the notes run against the regular pulse of the musical
meter, with accents on beats other than the ones usually accented

texture

The number and general relationship of musical lines or voices to one another

timbre

Tone color. The character or quality of a sound

tonal

A style of writing that establishes a central note (the tonic) as a harmonic and melodic center of
gravity, which in turn creates the potential for a strong sense of resolution and closure

tonality

A system of organizing pitches (both melodies and harmonies) around a central note, as opposed to
atonality, a system with no tonal center

tonic

The note that establishes a key, based on its distinctive relationship with a particular set of harmonies
or other notes in the underlying scale. Also, the chord based on the first scale degree

anthem

An English sacred choral work

ballad

A poem or song that tells a story.

bar form

A melodic form in which the opening phrase is sung twice and a contrasting phrase follows (AAB).
Also called song form

basso continuo

“Continuous bass”; a small ensemble, widely used in music of the Baroque, that plays throughout a
work and provides an underlying bass line and harmonies. It consists of two instruments: one that
can sustain long notes (such as a bass viol, a cello, or a bassoon), and one that can play chords (such
as a lute, a harpsichord, or an organ)

cantata

A type of vocal genre typically sung during a service of worship. In Italian, “that which is sung,” as
opposed to sonata, “that which is played”

comic opera

In Italian, opera buffa. A genre that uses many of the same conventions as serious opera—arias,
recitatives, ensembles, choruses—but with plots revolving around believable, everyday characters
rather than mythical or historical figures

concerto

An instrumental genre for a soloist (or sometimes more than one soloist) and a larger ensemble

episode

In a fugue, a passage in which the subject is not present

falsetto

A technique for singing in a very high range by which a singer causes the voice to bypass the larynx,
which is the part of the throat that otherwise gives men’s voices a deeper register

fugal exposition

The opening section of a fugue, in which all the voices enter with the main subject

fugue

A polyphonic work based on a central theme and employing imitation

ground bass

A short pattern of notes repeated over and over; another name for an ostinato in the bass part

libretto

The text (words) of an opera

middle entries

In a fugue, later entries of the subject, after the exposition

motet

In the music of the Renaissance and Baroque, a sacred choral work used in both Catholic and
Protestant services

opera seria

Italian for “serious opera”; Italian Baroque opera on a serious subject, typically consisting of
alternating recitatives and da capo arias

oratorio

A work musically similar to an opera but not staged, and usually on a sacred topic. It’s “not staged”
in the sense that it doesn’t feature the costumes, scenery, and action typical of an opera

ritornello

Italian for “little return”; name for the statement and return of the full ensemble, in a work alternating
between the orchestra and soloist or soloists

sectional form

A form in which each verse or half-verse receives its own material

sonata

A type of instrumental genre, usually for one or two instruments; literally, a work that is played, as
opposed to sung (“cantata”)

suite

In the Baroque Era, a series of individual dance movements, typically in a variety of types such as
minuets, gavottes, and gigues, and a variety of characters such as fast versus slow, lively versus
stately, duple versus triple

trio sonata

A work for two high-ranged instruments (such as two violins, or two oboes, or two flutes) and basso
continuo

anacrusis

A starting note that falls on a beat before the downbeat. Also called a pickup beat or an upbeat

antecendent

In periodic phrase structure, an opening phrase that sets up the consequent phrase to follow

cadenza

in a concerto, an elaborate improvisation by the soloist on themes heard earlier in the movement,
with no accompaniment from the orchestra. It occurs near the end of the recapitulation

consequent phrase

In periodic phrase structure, a closing phrase that follows an antecedent phrase and creates a sense
of musical completion

contrafactum

A work setting new words to an established melody

cyclic form

A form in which individual movements of a multimovement work are linked in some tangible and
distinctive way, usually through the use of a common musical idea.

double variations

A type of theme-and-variations form featuring two themes, each of which is varied in alternation

double-exposition form

A structure based on sonata form but with two expositions, one for the orchestra alone and one for
the soloist and orchestra together. It also includes, near the end of the recapitulation, a cadenza for
the soloist

exposition

The section in a sonata-form movement that introduces (“exposes”) all of the movement’s themes

minuet form

Also known as “minuet-and-trio form.” A ternary-form (|A|B|A| or (|A|B|Aʹ|) in which the opening
section, known as the minuet proper (A), is followed by a contrasting trio (B), which is followed by
a repeat (or varied repeat) of the minuet proper. The movement is always in triple meter and its
individual units—the minuet proper and the trio—are each in some type of binary form

mode

A type of scale on which a melody is based. Since the Baroque Era (ca. 1600 onward), the term is
used to distinguish between major and minor modes.

periodic phrase structure

A musical structure in which antecedent and consequent phrase units make up a larger whole

recapitulation

The third and final section of a sonata-form movement, in which all of the themes presented in the
exposition return, all in the tonic key

rondo form

A form in which an opening theme (A) returns repeatedly over the course of the movement,
interspersed with contrasting ideas (B, C, etc.), for example, the pattern |A|B|A|C|A|

rounded binary form

A binary form in which the opening idea (A) returns (often varied [Aʹ]) in the tonic key about halfway
through the second section, “rounding out” the form

scherzo

In Italian, “joke.” A lighthearted movement in a fast tempo and in triple meter,
similar in form to the minuet.

sonata form

A musical structure consisting of an exposition, development, and recapitulation, allowing for the
presentation, development, and resolution of multiple themes within a single movement. Sonata form
was widely used throughout the Classical Era and the nineteenth century

theme-and-variations form

A form in which a theme is presented and then altered in some way—through harmony, melody,
texture, dynamics, or some combination of these—in a succession of individual variations