Music History Flashcards

Flashcards for music history terms and definitions.

A cappella

Choral music without instrumental accompaniment.

Alleluia

A Latinized form of the Hebrew hallelujah (praise ye the Lord).

Church modes

Scales containing seven tones with an eighth tone duplicating the first an octave higher, but with patterns of whole and half steps different from major and minor scales; used in medieval, Renaissance, and twentieth-century music and in folk music.

Drone

Long, sustained tone or tones accompanying a melody.

Humanism

The dominant intellectual movement of the Renaissance, focusing on human life and its accomplishments.

Lute

Plucked string instrument shaped like half a pear; used in Renaissance and baroque music.

Madrigal

A piece for several solo voices set to a short poem, usually about love.

Mass ordinary

Roman Catholic Church texts that remain the same from day to day throughout most of the year: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.

Measured rhythm

With definite time values and clearly defined meter. For the first time in music history, notation indicated precise rhythms as well as pitches.

Minstrel

Medieval wandering performers who provided entertainment in castles, taverns, and town squares.

Motet

Polyphonic choral work set to a sacred Latin text other than that of the mass; one of the two main forms of sacred Renaissance music.

Organum

Medieval polyphony that consists of Gregorian chant and one or more additional melodic lines.

Troubadour

During the Middle Ages, poet-musician who lived in southern France and wrote poems in the Provencal language.

Trouvére

During the Middle Ages, poet-musician who lived in northern France and wrote poems in Old French.

Word painting

Musical representation of specific poetic images— for example, a falling melodic line to accompany the word descending— often found in Renaissance and baroque music.

Gregorian chant

Consists of melody set to sacred Latin texts and sung without accompaniment. (The chant is monophonic in texture.)

New art (ars nova)

A term used by musical theorists to describe the profound stylistic changes of Italian and French music in the fourteenth century.

Organum

Medieval polyphony that consists of Gregorian chant and one or more additional melodic lines.

Renaissance

Term used to describe the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Europe, a period of geographic exploration and adventure as well as intellectual curiosity and individualism. (p.64)Beginning around 450 with the disintegration of the Roman empire, the early Middle Ages were a time of migrations, upheavals, and wars. But the later Middle Ages (until about 1450) were a period
of cultural growth: Romanesque churches and monasteries (1000– 1150) and Gothic cathedrals (1150–1450) were constructed, towns grew, and universities were founded. The later Middle Ages also witnessed the Crusades, a series of wars undertaken by European Christians— primarily between 1096and 1291— to recover the holy city of Jerusalem from the Muslims. During the Middle Ages a verysharp division existed among three main social classes: nobility, peasantry, and clergy.

School of Notre Dame

The University of Paris attracted leading scholars, and the Cathedral of Notre Dame (begun in 1163) was the supreme monument of Gothic architecture. Two successive choirmasters
of Notre Dame, Leonin and Perotin, are among the first notable composers known by name. They and their followers are referred to as the school of Notre Dame.

Troubadour

During the Middle Ages, poet-musician who lived in southern France and wrote poems in the Provencal language.

Trouvére

During the Middle Ages, poet-musician who lived in northern France and wrote poems in Old French.

Word painting

Musical representation of specific poetic images— for example, a falling melodic line to accompany the word descending— often found in Renaissance and baroque music.

Words and Music

In the Renaissance, as in the Middle Ages, vocal music was more important than instrumental music.

Texture

The texture of Renaissance music is chiefly polyphonic.

The texture of Renaissance music is chiefly polyphonic.

The texture of Renaissance music is chiefly polyphonic.

THe texture of Renaissance music is chiefly polyphonic.

Rhythm and Melody

In Renaissance music, rhythm is more a gentle flow than a sharply defined beat. This is because each melodic line has great rhythmic independence: when one singer is at the beginning of his or her melodic phrase, the others may already be in the middle of theirs.

Hildegard of Bingen (1098– 1179)

A visionary and mystic, she was active in religious and
diplomatic affairs. She also wrote poetry and music; treatises on theology, science, and medicine; and a musical drama, Ordo virtutum (Play of the Virtues), which is the earliest known morality play.

Beatriz, Countess of Dia (late twelfth century)

A trobairitz from the town of Dia in southern France — wrote love songs that have survived.

Guillaume de Machaut (1300– 1377)

Who was famous as both a musician and a poet, was born in
the French province of Champagne.

Josquin Desprez (c. 1450– 1521)

A contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci and Christopher Columbus, was a master of Renaissance music.

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (about 1525– 1594)

Among the most important Italian Renaissance composers, devoted himself to music for the Catholic church. His career was thus centered in Rome, where he held important church positions, including that of music director for St. Peter’s.

Thomas Weelkes (1575– 1623)

Among the finest English madrigalists, an organist and church
composer.

John Dowland (1563– 1626)

The leading English composer of lute songs was John Dowland, a virtuoso performer on the lute famous throughout Europe.

Pierre Francisque Caroubel (1576– 1611)

Frech violinist.