Discovering Music Quiz 2

What is Gregorian chant? What makes chant a chant?

Gregorian chant is a recitation of words upon a repeated musical pattern, which is monophonic, in Latin, and non-metrical.

What’s the difference between the Mass Ordinary & the Mass Proper?

The Mass Ordinary is performed at non-special events, like an ordinary Sunday morning at church. The Mass Proper is only performed for holidays and other special events, which has extra movements added based on the event

What’s the difference between monophony & polyphony?

Monophony is one line being sung, while polyphony is multiple lines being sung, and not always in unison.

Discuss the religious politics of the Council of Trent & the Counterreformation and how it relates to the mass setting. What was the musical controversy and what was the Council of Trent’s decision? Use a composer in your example.

The Council of Trent wished to reform the Catholic Church from inside, with the biggest musical debate being about monophony vs. polyphony. Palestrina is credited with saving church music, because he wrote a polyphonic mass that was still understandable, which was the biggest concern with polyphony in the eyes of the Council of Trent. The Council of Trent allowed polyphony because of this mass by Palestrina.

What are 3 defining elements of opera?

1. Music+Drama+Spectacle

2. No Amplification

3. Every part is traditionally sung with no spoken dialogue

What are the dramatic functions of recitative vs. aria? And how are they different musically?

Recitative is when the text is set to sound like sung speech, where the action happens and the plot advances. Aria is a melodic solo, where they show off their voice, and it is where the emotion and reflection happens.

Who was the intended audience for baroque operas and why? How do the plots of these operas reflect who they were written for?

Baroque operas were intended for royalty, being private and exclusive to the royal court, who hired these composers. The plots of these operas were about noble characters, glorifying them and making them seem like heroes.

Describe the scandal surrounding the production of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro & how it relates to Enlightenment ideals & politics during his time. Why was the opera considered controversial during its time?

Mozart’s production of Marriage of Figaro was problematic because of the ideas originally conveyed in the play, which provided the mindset of the middle class fighting back against cruel royalty. The nobility was scared of the play causing issues, because they did not want the middle class to realize the power they had and the accessibility they were gaining. He decided to remove the controversial parts and change the theme. The ideals of the Enlightenment period especially focused on a shift from Monarchy to Democracy, which ties back into how the middle class was gaining power and how that was shown in original play.

How does musical Romanticism differ from the Classical period & Enlightenment ideals?

Musical Romanticism differs from the Classical Period & Enlightenment ideals through being about the extremes and the freedom of personal expression. It was more emotional and less about science, focusing more on the individual rather than entire classes.

Compare/contrast the differences in vocal style between baroque opera & verismo opera.

Verismo was more about realism, trying to show off a character’s emotions instead of the voice of the singer. Baroque singers were showing off their own voice, as a display of “vocal fireworks”.

Palestrina

Renaissance (1525-1594)

Handel

Baroque (1685-1759)

Wagner

Romantic (1813-1883)

Schumann

Romantic (1810-1856)

Bach

Baroque (1685-1750)

Mozart

Classical (1756-1791)

Rossini

Romantic (1792-1868)

Madrigal - What is it and what era?

Renaissance: Non-sacred vocal music which started as a form of entertainment for amateur singers, included a lot of text-painting

Florentine Camerata

Group of Italian artists, poets, and musicians who invented opera in the late 1500s/early 1600s, studied Greek tragedies

Castrato - what is it and what era?

Baroque: A male singer who had been castrated as a child in order to preserve the high range of a boy’s voice

Da capo aria - list form and era

Baroque: A section, B section, A’ section: B sections differs in tempo/key/mood, A’ section is the first section with added ornamentation

Bel Canto - what does it mean & how does it relate to opera?

Means beautiful singing, operas have singers show off all the facets of the human voice (fast coloratura, long phrases, legato and staccato, messa di voce)

Opera Seria vs. Opera Buffa

Opera Seria = Serious opera, tragic opera | Opera Buffa = Comic opera, funny opera

Verismo opera - describe plot & musical style

Musically more reasonable, less concerned with showing off the voice and more concerned with the story, which are now about the average person and the tragedies surrounding normal life

Gesamtkunstwerk - what does it mean & who invented it?

Means “total art work”, everything is decided by the composer. Wagner is the inventor, who believed he should be in charge of every part of the entire process.

leitmotif - what is it, what’s its purpose, and who popularized it?

A short musical motive which represents a character, event, object, location, emotion, or idea. Popularized by Wagner, meant to be a unifying element that allows the audience to recall back to previous sections

Regietheater

The practice of directors choosing to set an opera in a different time period and/or setting than the original in order to “update” it