Untitled Flashcards Set

Cantata

An intimate vocal composition featuring a solo singer accompanied by a basso continuo.

Recitative

A style of singing intended to approximate the natural inflections of speech.

Masque

A staged dramatic entertainment of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, especially popular in England.

Dido and Aeneas

Henry Purcell’s opera that uses music throughout to unify a dramatic whole.

Sonata da camera

A Baroque instrumental composition in several dance-like movements, intended for performance in a chamber.

Allemande

A German dance in duple meter.

Venice

City where Vivaldi served as music director of an orphanage/convent for girls.

The Subject

Term that describes the initial theme of a fugue.

Pedal Point

A pitch, usually in the bass, that is sustained while other parts move more rapidly above it.

Cantata, Fugue, Concerto, Sonata

Genres that Bach composed; note he did not compose opera.

Chorale Cantata

A church cantata in which one or more movements use a chorale melody.

Opera Buffa

Term that describes Italian comic opera.

Major

Keys that Classical composers preferred.

Fortepiano

Instrument invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1720, allowing a wider range of dynamics.

Rondo

Form that features a main theme set in the tonic, known as the refrain, alternating with contrasting sections.

Haydn

Composer who perfected the String Quartet.

Esterházy

The aristocratic family that employed Haydn for several years.

Singspiel

A German opera that featured tuneful solo numbers and spoken dialogue instead of recitative.

The Magic Flute

Mozart’s piece especially rich in Masonic symbolism.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Famous historical figure in honor of whom Beethoven originally composed his Symphony No. 3.

All of them—Four

Number of movements in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 where the four-note motive occurs.

Basso Continuo

Continuous bass line in Baroque

Aria

A solo song in opera, cantata, or oratorio

Anthem

A choral composition based on religious text

Sonata da chiesa

church sonata, usually with 4 movements

Sarabande

Slow, triple meter spanish dance

Antonio Vivaldi

Italian baroque composer known for 4 seasons

Fugue

Contrapuntal composition where a theme is introduced and developed through interweaving musical lines

Johann Sebastian Bach

German Baroque composer

Opera Seria

Serious opera, classical or mythological themes

Opera

Dramatic work combining singing, instruments, acting and staging in Baroque