Music History II Unit 2 Terms

coda

supplementary ending to a coda or movement; a concluding section that lies outside the form as usually described.

neoclassicism

Trend in music from the 1910s to the 1950s in which composers revived, imitated, or evoked the styles, genres, and forms of pre-romantic music, especially those of the eighteenth century.

absolute music

Music that is independent of words, drama, visual images, or any kind of representation.

organicism

Belief that musical works should be organic.

program

Text to accompany an instrumental work of PROGRAM MUSIC, describing the sequence of events depicted in the music.

program music

Instrumental music that tells a story or follows a narrative or other sequence of events, often spelled out in an accompanying text called a PROGRAM.

organic

Adjective describing a musical work in which all the parts are derived from a common source and relate to one another and to the whole like the parts of a single organism.

song cycle

A group of art songs performed in succession that tells or suggests a story.

modified strophic form

Variant of strophic form in which the music for the first stanza is varied for later stanzas, or in which there is a change of key, rhythm, character, or
material.

ballad

Long narrative poem, or musical setting of such a poem. (2) Late-eighteenth-century German poetic form that imitated the folk ballad of England and Scotland and was set to music by German composers. The ballad expanded the Lied in both form and emotional content.

character piece

A piece of characteristic music, especially one for piano.

mazurka

A type of Polish folk dance (and later ballroom dance) in triple meter, characterized by accents on the second or third beat and often by dotted figures on the first beat, or a stylized piano piece based on such a dance.

nocturne

Type of short piano piece popular during the romantic period, marked by highly embellished melody, sonorous accompaniments, and a contemplative mood.

polonaise

A stately Polish processional dance in triple meter, or a stylized piece in the style of such a dance.

waltz

Type of couple dance in triple meter, popular in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, or a short, stylized work for the piano in the style of such a dance.

rubato

Technique common in romantic music in
which the performer holds back or hurries the written note values, distorting the strict tempo for expressive purposes.

ballade

Instrumental piece inspired by the genre of narrative poetry.

concert étude, étude

An instrumental piece designed to develop a particular skill or performing technique. Certain nineteenth-century études that contained significant artistic content and were played in concert were called concert études.

idée fixe

Term coined by Hector Berlioz for a melody that is
used throughout a piece to represent a person, thing, or idea, transforming it to suit the mood and situation.

parlor song

Song for home music-making, sometimes performed in public concerts as well.

grand opera

A serious form of opera popular during the romantic era that was sung throughout and included ballets, choruses, and spectacular staging.

lyric opera

romantic opera that lies somewhere between light opéra comique and grand opera.

opéra bouffe

romantic operatic genre in France that emphasized the smart, witty, and satirical
elements of opéra comique.

bel canto

Elegant Italian vocal style of the early nineteenth century marked by lyrical, embellished, and florid melodies that show off the beauty, agility, and fluency of the singer's voice.

cabaletta

In the operatic scene structure of the nineteenth century, the last part of an aria or ensemble, which was lively and brilliant and expressed active feelings, such as joy or despair. See also cantabile, tempo di mezzo, and tempo d’attacco.

cantible

Songful, lyrical, in a songlike style. (2) In the operatic scene structure developed by Gioachino Rossini in the early nineteenth century, the first section of an aria or ensemble, somewhat slow and expressing a relatively calm mood.

tempo d'attacco

The first fast movement, following the recitative, in a nineteenth-century operatic aria or duet. It usually contains dialogue and action and leads to a more lyrical and static second movement or section.

tempo di mezzo

In the early nineteenth century, the middle section
of an aria or ensemble, usually an interruption or a transition, that falls between the cantabile and the cabaletta.

melodrama

A genre of musical theater that combined spoken dialogue with background music.

Gesamtkunstwerk

Term coined by Richard Wagner for a dramatic work in which poetry, scenic design, staging, action, and music are integrated into one artistic expression.

Meistersinger

Type of German amateur singer and poet-composer of the fourteenth through seventeenth centuries, who was a member of a guild that
cultivated a style of monophonic song derived from Minnelieder.

music drama

Nineteenth-century GENRE created by Richard Wagner in which drama and music become so interdependent as to express a kind of absolute oneness.

Leitmotiv, leitmotive

In an opera or music drama, a motive, theme,
or musical idea associated with a person, thing, mood, or idea, which returns in original or altered form throughout.

symphonic poem

Term coined by Franz Liszt for a one-movement work of program music for orchestra that conveys a poetic idea, story, scene, or succession of moods by presenting themes that are repeated, varied, or transformed.

thematic transformation

A method devised by Franz Liszt to provide unity, variety, and a narrative-like logic to a composition by transforming the thematic material into new
themes or other elements, in order to reflect the diverse moods needed to portray a programmatic subject.

developing variation

Term coined by Arnold Schoenberg for the process of deriving new themes, accompaniments, and other ideas throughout a piece through variations of a germinal idea.

capriccio

In the Baroque period, a fugal piece in continuous imitative counterpoint. (2) In the nineteenth century, a short composition in free form, usually for piano.