Baroque Era Study Terms

Absolutism: A form of government in which the power is concentrated to a single ruler, typically a monarch; the moral belief of right and wrong.

Aria: An elaborate solo song/duet, usually with instrumental accompaniment, performed as part of an opera or other dramatic musical composition.

Burin: A steel tool used for engraving and incising.

Camera obscura: (Latin: “dark room”) A darkened box with a hole/lens used to cast an image of an object onto a glass screen or sheet of paper for an artist to copy/trace.

Cantata: (Italian–cantare: “to sing”) A multimovement composition for voices and instrumental accompaniment; smaller in scale than the oratorio.

Chancel: The space for the clergy and choir in the area surrounding the church altar.

Château: (French: “castle”) French aristocrats' luxurious country house/castle.

Choreography: The art of composing, arranging, and/or notating dance movements.

Chromatic scale: (Latin–scala: “ladder”) A series of tones arranged in ascending or descending consecutive order.

Comédie-ballet: (French) A dramatic performance featuring song and dance interludes.

Concertato: (Latin–concertare: “to oppose/compete”) An early Baroque style in which voices or instruments of different nature are used in an opposing/contrasting manner.

Concerto: (Latin: “opposing/competing”) An instrumental composition consisting of one or more solo instruments and a larger group of instruments playing in dialog.

Concerto grosso: (“Large concerto”) The typical kind of Baroque concerto, consisting of several movements.

Continuo: The bass or bottom line of music with numbers written below/above it to indicate the required harmonies.

Cornet: (French–cornett; German–kornett) A Renaissance instrument made of wood; an early kind of trumpet.

Dynamics: The degree of loudness or softness in music.

Equal temperament: A system of tuning that originated in the seventeenth century, whereby the octave is divided into twelve half-steps of equal size.

Etching: A kind of engraving in which a metal plate is covered with resin then inscribed with a burin; acid is applied to eat away the exposed lines, which are inked before the plate is wiped and printed.

Figured bass: [See continuo definition; terms are synonymous]

Foreshortening: A perspective device by which figures/objects appear to recede or project into space.

Fugue: (“Flight”) A polyphonic composition in which a theme/subject is imitated, developed, and restated by successively entering voice parts.

Homophonic: A musical texture consisting of a dominant melody supported by a chordal accompaniment that is far less important than the melody.

Impasto: Thickly or heavily applied paint.

Libretto: (Italian: “little book”) The text of a vocal work, such as an opera/oratorio.

Marquetry: A decorative technique in which patterns are created on a wooden surface using inlaid wood, shell, or ivory.

Masque: A form of musical entertainment that included dance and poetry along with rich costumes/scenery.

Minuet: A graceful dance in three-quarter meters and moderate tempo.

Oratorio: (Latin–oratorium: “church chapel”) A musical setting of a religious/epic text for soloists, chorus, and orchestra; usually performed without theatrics.

Overture: An instrumental introduction to a longer musical piece, such as an opera.

Piazza: (Italian) A broad, open public space.

Pizzicato: (Italian) The technique of plucking a stringed instrument that is normally bowed.

Polychoral: Music written for two or more choruses, performed both in turn and together.

Prelude: A piece of instrumental music that introduces either a church service or another piece of music such as fugue; also a single-movement Romantic piano piece.

Program music: Instrumental music endowed with specific literary or pictorial content that is indicated by the composer.

Recitative: A textual passage recited to sparse chordal accompaniment; a rhythmically free vocal style popular in seventeenth-century opera.

Ritornello: (Italian: “a little return”) An instrumental section that recurs throughout the movement.

Salon: (French: “drawing room”) An elegant apartment/drawing room; an intellectual gathering held in such a space.

Score: The musical notation for all of the instruments/voices in a particular composition; a composite from which the whole piece may be conducted/studied.

Sonata: An instrumental composition consisting of three movements of contrasting tempo, usually fast/slow/fast.

Stucco: A light, pliable plaster made of gypsum, sand, water, and ground marble.

Suite: An instrumental composition consisting of a sequence/series of movements derived from court/folk dances.

Tonality: The use of a central note, called the tonic, around which all other tonal material of a composition is organized, and to which all music returns for a sense of rest and finality.

Vanitas: (Latin: “vanity”) A type of still life consisting of objects that symbolize the brevity of life and the transience of earthly pleasures and achievements.