Mus 4 Miterms

Antiphone

A liturgical chant that precedes and follows a Psalm in the Office

Basso continuo

A system developed and commonly used in the Baroque Period, in
which an instrumental bass line is written out and one or more players of keyboard, lute
or similar instruments fill in the appropriate harmony with chords or improvised melodic
lines.ovised melodic
lines.

Cantata

A vocal chamber work with basso continuo, usually for solo voice, consisting
of several different sections.

chanson

A secular song and polyphonic setting of a French poem

Concerto grosso

Instrumental work that exploits the contrast in sonority between a
small ensemble of solo instruments and a large(r) ensemble

Discant (Notre Dame Polyphony

both parts move at roughly the same rate, with one
to three notes in the upper part for each note in the lower voice (tenor).

Dissonance

Two or more notes sounding together to produce a discord or tension

Figured Bass

Notation of numerical figures for a bass line and harmony in basso
continuo, for instrumentalist(s) to improvise and accompany the vocalist(s) on

First Practice

Governed by the rules set out by Zarlino and others, the music had to
follow its own rules and and as a result, dominated the verbal text. In other words, rules
of harmony and (musical) composition took precedence over the text

Florid Organum (Notre Dame Polyphony

texture where the upper voice sings note
groups of varying lengths above each note of the lower voice (tenor). Consequently, the
lower voice moves at a slower pace than the upper voice. The name derives from the
‘florid’ or ‘ornate’ upper part

Harmony

The sound of two or more notes heard simultaneously

Harpsichord

Keyboard musical instrument in which strings are set in vibration by
plucking. It was one of the most important keyboard instruments in European music
from the 16th through the first half of the 18th century

Hocket

(from the French hoquet ‘hiccup’), is a musical technique where two voices
alternate in rapid succession, each resting while the other sings. It was a way of dividing
a melody into two or more voices (or instruments)

Homophonic

Musical texture in which all voices move together in essentially the same
rhythm, but not the same pitches

Madrigalisms

A technique for text depiction, using musical sounds to evoke the text
almost literally.

The mass

The most important religious service in the Roman Catholic Church

Melismatic

Four and more pitches per syllable of text

Melody

A given succession of pitches in musical time. A linear succession
of musical pitches that the listener perceives as a single entity

Monody

A musical texture consisting of solo singing accompanied by one or more
instruments

Monophony/Monophonic

A single unaccompanied melodic line. (all
voices/instruments sing/play the same pitches in the same rhythm)

Neumes

In musical notation, a neume is symbol for one or a group of successive
pitches per syllable of text

Neumatic

One to three pitches per syllable of text

The office

A cycle of 8 services celebrated daily at specific times in the Roman
Catholic Church; a central focus of liturgical life in monasteries and convents

(Mass) Ordinary

parts of mass that stayed the same from day to day

Organum

refers to two or more voices singing different notes in ‘agreable’ combinations according to specific prescribed rules.

Polyphony

musical texture in which voices sing simultaneously but have musically independent parts (e.g., different pitches/contrasting rhythms

Psalm

A sung poem of praise to God, the simplest form of Gregorian chan

(mass) proper

parts of mass that changed daily depending on special liturgical
occasion, i.e., Christmas, Easter

Text-Depiction

Using musical gestures to reinforce or suggest images in a text, such
as a rising melodic line on the word “ascend.” (ex: Madrigalisms)

Text-Expression

Conveying or suggesting the emotional content of a text through
musical material. For example, the use of dissonant harmonies or intervals to convey
sadness.

Ritornello form

Standard form for fast movements in concertos of the first half of the
18th century (Baroque era) featuring an alternation between ritornello sections played
by the full orchestra and episodes which featured virtuosic passages performed by the
soloist.

Rondeau Form

a French song-form containing a refrain and verses (A B a A a b A B)

Second Practice

The text determines the music, without the application of abstract
harmonic concepts. Meaning of the text surpassed any other concern. Dissonances can
be used more freely where appropriate in order to express the text

Syllabic

One pitch per syllable of text

Troubadours

French musicians who traveled across Europe during the 12th and 13th
centuries. They mostly sang songs about courtly love

Trobairitz

Female counterpart of French Troubadors. They composed, wrote verses,
and performed for the noble courts in a region of France known as Occitan. They are
exceptional in musical history as the first known female composers of Western secular
music

Viola da Gamba

Bowed, fretted, and stringed instrument with a hollow wooden body.