Baroque Instrumental Forms: Concerto Grosso and Fugue

Vocabulary flashcards covering Baroque instrumental music forms, focusing on the components of Bach's concerto grossos, ritornello form, and the anatomy and techniques of the fugue.

Multi-movement form

A musical structure comprised of several individual pieces or movements, analogous to rooms in a house where each possesses a separate function and character.

Concerto grosso

An instrumental composition where a small group of soloists is set in contrast against a larger ensemble.

Concertino

The small ensemble of soloists in a concerto grosso, such as the combination of harpsichord, flute, and violin.

Brandenburg Concertos

A set of six concerto grossi composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1721 for different instrumental combinations and sent to the Margrave of Brandenburg in pursuit of employment.

Ritornello form

A musical form featuring an opening theme that recurs throughout the piece in fragments or complete statements, establishing familiarity across sections.

Sequence

The repetition of a melodic pattern at higher or lower pitches, commonly used to modulate and transition smoothly between musical sections.

Fugue

A complex polyphonic composition based on imitation, where versions of a melodic theme run together, expand, and overlap at different pitches across multiple voices.

Subject

The primary melodic theme of a fugue, stated alone monophonically at the beginning before additional voices enter.

Answer

The second entry of the fugue subject in an imitating voice, typically presented in the dominant key five scale steps higher or four steps lower.

Counter subject

A melodic line or recurring figure that accompanies the subject after the initial subject entry has concluded.

Episodes

Transitional, often harmonious sections occurring between subject statements in a fugue where motives are developed and modulated using sequences.

Pedal point (Organ point)

A sustained note, usually held in the bass or dominant register, over which harmonies shift and build tension.

Stretto

A section in a fugue, frequently placed near the conclusion, where entries of the subject overlap and pile up in quick succession to heighten musical tension.

Augmentation

A compositional technique in fugal writing where the duration of the subject's note values is doubled, lengthening the melodic line.

Diminution

A device where the note values of the fugue subject are shortened by half, causing the theme to be performed twice as quickly.

Inversion

A transformation of a musical subject where each melodic interval is turned upside down, reversing the direction of upward and downward pitches.