survey of western music history

affect / doctrine of affections

The Baroque belief that a musical movement should express one consistent emotional state using rhythm, harmony, and melodic gestures to "move the passions."

aleatoric music

20th-century technique where musical elements (pitch, rhythm, form) are left to chance or performer choice; associated with John Cage.

atonality

Music without a tonal center; rejects major/minor hierarchy; developed by Schoenberg and the Second Viennese School.

bi-/polytonality

Use of two keys simultaneously or more than two; characteristic of modernists like Stravinsky.

antiphonal / polychoral

Style where two choirs (or groups of instruments) sing/play in alternation; famously used in Venetian church music by Giovanni Gabrieli.

Baroque

Period (c.1600–1750) of dramatic contrasts, ornamentation, basso continuo, and the rise of opera; represented by Bach, Handel, Monteverdi.

Bayreuth

Wagner’s purpose-built theater with hidden orchestra pit and unique acoustics; home of the annual Wagner Festival.

bop (bebop)

Fast, virtuosic jazz style of the 1940s with complex harmony and improvisation; pioneered by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

castrato vs. countertenor

Castrato: prepubescent castration produced powerful high voices (Baroque opera). Countertenor: modern high male voice (alto/mezzo range) using natural technique.

Classical

Period c.1750–1800 emphasizing clarity, symmetry, balance, and standardized forms like sonata and symphony.

Empfindsamer Stil

Mid-18th-century German “sensitive style” with expressive nuance, sudden contrasts, and speech-like phrasing; associated with C. P. E. Bach.

Florestan & Eusebius

Schumann’s fictional alter egos symbolizing contrasting sides of his personality—Florestan (impulsive) and Eusebius (reflective).

impresario

Producer/organizer who manages performances, hires artists, secures funds; e.g., Diaghilev.

impressionism / impressionists

Late 19th–early 20th-century style emphasizing mood, color, atmosphere, and whole-tone/modal scales; associated with Debussy and Ravel.

isorhythm / isorhythmic

Medieval technique using repeating rhythmic pattern (talea) and repeating melodic pattern (color), especially in motets.

Kalevala

Finnish national epic inspiring nationalist works, especially by Jean Sibelius.

Le Hot Club de France

1930s Parisian jazz group/venue featuring Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli; center of Gypsy jazz.

leitmotif

Recurring musical idea representing a character, object, or idea; used extensively by Wagner.

idée fixe

“Fixed idea” — recurring theme representing an obsession or character, coined by Berlioz in Symphonie fantastique.

Les Six

Group of six early 20th-century French composers rejecting Romantic and Impressionist excess (Milhaud, Poulenc, Honegger, Auric, Tailleferre, Durey).

lied / lieder

German art song for voice and piano; developed by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms.

Mannheim School

Influential 18th-century orchestra and compositional style centered in Germany; famous for precision, dynamics (“Mannheim crescendo”), and orchestral effects that shaped the Classical symphony.

Medieval

Period c.500–1400 featuring chant, modes, troubadours, early notation, and the beginnings of polyphony.

minimalism / minimalists

Late 20th-century style using repetition, steady pulse, gradual processes; associated with Reich, Glass, Riley.

monophony

Music/chants sung or played in unison, usually only one singer or instrument, without accompaniment

musique concrète

Early electronic music using recorded natural sounds manipulated through tape techniques; pioneered by Pierre Schaeffer.

nationalism

Musical expression of national identity through folk melodies, rhythms, and myths; prominent in 19th–20th centuries.

Neo-Classical

20th-century revival of Classical clarity and balance with modern harmony; associated with Stravinsky and Prokofiev.

opera

Staged drama combining music, singing, orchestra, acting, and design; originated c.1600 with the Florentine Camerata.

opera buffa

Comic Italian opera with everyday characters, fast dialogue, and witty ensembles; seen in Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro.

opera seria

Noble, serious Baroque/Classical opera with virtuosic arias, often for castrati; associated with Handel.

pants role

Operatic role where a woman (mezzo-soprano) portrays a young male character.

Renaissance

c.1400–1600 era of smooth modal polyphony, imitation, and sacred motets; epitomized by Palestrina.

Romantic

19th-century style emphasizing emotion, individuality, expanded harmony, and programmatic elements.

rondo form

Form with recurring refrain (A) alternating with contrasting episodes (B, C…); e.g., ABACA, ABACABA.

Second Viennese School

Schoenberg, Webern, Berg—pioneers of atonality and the twelve-tone system.

sonata-allegro form

Classical first-movement form: exposition, development, recapitulation.

song cycle

Group of art songs linked by narrative, themes, or poetry; e.g., Schubert’s Winterreise.

sturm und drang

“Storm and stress”: intense, dramatic 18th-century style featuring emotional extremes; used by Haydn and Mozart.

third-stream music

Mid-20th-century fusion of jazz and classical idioms; term coined by Gunther Schuller.

Tin Pan Alley

NYC music-publishing center (1890s–1950s) producing American popular songs and early Broadway standards.

tone poem / symphonic poem

One-movement orchestral work depicting a poem, story, or idea; created by Liszt and expanded by Richard Strauss.

Treatise on Instrumentation

Berlioz’s 1844 manual defining orchestral colors and techniques; foundational for modern orchestration.

twelve-tone / dodecaphonic serialism

System using all twelve chromatic tones in a fixed order (tone row); invented by Schoenberg.

Armstrong, Louis

Groundbreaking jazz trumpeter/vocalist; pioneered swing, improvisation, and scat singing.

Beethoven

Transitional Classical–Romantic composer who expanded form, harmony, and expressive scope; wrote nine symphonies and late quartets; author of Heiligenstadt Testament.

Berlioz

Radical French Romantic known for innovative orchestration and programmatic works like Symphonie fantastique.

Boulanger, Nadia

Legendary French teacher, conductor, and composer who trained many major 20th-century composers, including Copland, Glass, and Quincy Jones; emphasized counterpoint and musical expressiveness. Impacted many americans

Burleigh, H. T.

African American composer/singer who popularized spirituals in concert form and influenced American musical nationalism.

Cage

Avant-garde composer of aleatoric music, prepared piano, and silence (4'33").

Chopin

Polish Romantic composer famed for expressive piano works—nocturnes, mazurkas, polonaises, études.

Debussy

Founder of musical Impressionism; used innovative timbre and harmony; works include La Mer and Prélude à l'après-midi d’un faune.

Diaghilev

Influential ballet impresario, founder of the Ballets Russes; commissioned major works by Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel, etc.

Tan Dun

Contemporary Chinese composer blending Western orchestration with Chinese instruments; known for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Ellington

Composer/bandleader whose sophisticated jazz orchestration and harmony defined big-band era.

Gershwin

American composer blending classical and jazz idioms; wrote Rhapsody in Blue, Porgy and Bess, and Tin Pan Alley hits.

Liszt

Virtuosic Romantic pianist and composer; invented the symphonic poem and advanced harmonic language.

The Mighty Handful / Five

Russian nationalist composers who crafted a distinct musical identity (Balakirev, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Cui).

Les Paul

Pioneer of solid-body electric guitar and multitrack recording; major influence on modern pop music.

Les Six

Group of French composers rejecting Romantic and Impressionist styles for clarity and wit.

Schoenberg

Leader of the Second Viennese School; developed atonality and the twelve-tone method.

Schubert

Early Romantic master of melody and lieder; composer of major song cycles like Winterreise.

Second Viennese School

Schoenberg, Webern, Berg; pioneers of serialism and modernist expression.

Still

“Dean of Afro-American composers”; integrated blues, jazz, and spirituals into classical music; known for Afro-American Symphony.

Stravinsky

Leading 20th-century modernist; Russian-born composer known for rhythmic complexity and innovation; early ballets (The Firebird, Petrushka, The Rite of Spring) caused a revolution in modern music. 

Wagner

Revolutionary Romantic composer; created music drama, leitmotifs, and the massive Ring cycle; built Bayreuth theater.

Weber

Early German Romantic opera composer; Der Freischütz established supernatural/folk elements in German opera.

homophony

A single melody accompanied with chords or other sounds. All parts are moving together, melodies and harmonies are aligned, 

polyphony

multiple independent and important melodies/parts sung/played at the same time