HUM 310 Romanticism Terms

Key Terms

1. Alliteration: A literary device involving the repetition of initial sounds in successive or closely associated words or syllables.

2. Aquatints: A type of print produced by an engraving method similar to etching but involving finely granulated tonal areas rather than line alone.

3. Arpeggio: The sounding of the notes of a chord in rapid succession.

4. Assonance: A literary device involving similarity in sound between vowels followed by different consonants.

5. Bel canto: (Italian: “beautiful singing/song”) An operatic style characterized by lyricism and vocal embellishment.

6. Dialectic: In Hegelian philosophy, the process by which every condition (“thesis”) confronts an opposite condition (“antithesis”) to resolve in synthesis.

7. Dissonance: In music, an inharmonious or harsh sound.

8. Études: (French: “study”) An instrumental study designed to improve a player’s performance technique.

9. Free verse: Poetry is based on irregular rhythmic patterns rather than on the conventional regular use of meter.

10. Idée fixe: (French: “fixed idea”) A term used by Berlioz for a recurring theme in his symphonic works..

11. Impromptus: (French: “improvised”) A short keyboard composition that sounds like it is improvised.

12. Leitmotif: (German: “leading motif”) A short musical theme that designates a person, object, place, or idea and that reappears throughout a musical composition.

13. Lied: (German: “song”) An independent song for solo voice and piano; “art song”.

14. Music-drama: A unique synthesis of sound and story in which both are developed simultaneously and continuously; a term used to describe Wagner’s later operas.

15. Nocturnes: A slow, songlike piece, usually written for piano; melody played by the right hand and the soft accompaniment by the left.

16. Opus: (Latin: “work”) A musical composition; followed by a number that designates its chronological place in musical composition in its order of publication.

17. Prima Ballerina: The first, or leading, female dancer in a ballet company.

18. Scherzo: (Italian: “joke”) A swift, light movement, commonly in triple time.

19. Sublime: Aspects of nature and its mysterious grandeur that inspire feelings of awe and terror.

20. Tone Color: The distinctive quality of a musical sound made by a voice, a musical instrument, or a combination of instruments.

Virtuoso: One who exhibits great technical ability, especially in musical performance; also used to describe musical composition demanding great technical skill.