7-10 MUS HIST final

Baroque- music of the period from roughly around 1600 to 1750. The time of the first Italian operas to the death of Bach

Camerata- a group of humanists, musicians, poets, and intellectuals in late Renaissance Florence who gathered under the patronage of Count Giovanni de’ Bardi to discuss and guide trends in the arts, especially music and drama.

castrato (pl. castrati)- in the Baroque era, a male singer who was castrated to make permanent his preadolescent vocal range. This produced internationally admired stars who sang in the difficult virtuosic style demanded by composers and audiences

favola in musica- Italian for “musical tale.

figured bass- in basso continuo, an ongoing bass line played by a solo instrument; harmonies to be filled in by a keyboard or lute performer are indicated by little numbers (figures) representing intervals.

genere concitato- a term used by seventeenth-century writers after Claudio Monteverdi and widespread in modern literature. This genere (“genus” or style) is one of three discussed in the preface to the composer’s eighth book of madrigals (Madrigali guerrieri ed amorosi, 1638): concitato (“agitated”). Also known as Stile concitatao.

intermedio (pl. intermedii )- short, musical-dramatic items performed between acts of a Renaissance theatrical performance.

monody- a style of song for one voice and basso continuo; the first characteristic Baroque genre and the basis of early opera.

opera- An abbreviation of opera in musica. It is a drama set to music to be sung with instrumental accompaniment by singers usually in costume. Recitative may separate the numbers, but the essence of opera is that the music is integral and is not incidental.

prima pratica-“first practice”; a term used in early seventeenth-century Italy to distinguish Renaissance polyphony from the new, more dissonant style (seconda pratica)

recitative- a form of speech-like solo singing, free in rhythm and lacking in structured melodies. It was invented as a way for music to be more subservient to the text. Toward 1700, with the development of opera, it became more standardized, with predictable melodic patterns and set cadences.

seconda pratica- “second practice”; originally Monteverdi’s term of challenge to the conservative treatment of prima pratica. a promised treatise never appeared, and Monteverdi grew increasingly involved with the monodic style.

stile rappresentativo- “representational style”; a style of singing developed in early Italian monody, then transferred to the first operas; more expressive than speech, but not as melodious as song; a dramatic recitative style in which vocal lines move freely over a simple basso continuo.

stile recitativo- a melody that imitated speech inflections; a term that became virtually synonymous with stile rappresentativo.

agréments- “embellishments”; a crucial stylistic element of French Baroque music; an extensive series of ornaments that worked in tandem with the bass harmony to punctuate the lines and to enhance their rhetorical projection.

ballet de cour- “court ballet”; spectacle of dance, poetry, and decor in which the king himself occasionally took part; the overall effect represented the divinely instituted political and social hierarchy of the French monarchy.

cantata- a Baroque vocal piece with instrumental accompaniment; originally for solo voice, later a liturgical work in several movements, often involving a choir

chaconne- a moderately fast dance in variation form

chorale concerto- a work for mixed instruments and voices based on religious texts; also called sacred concerto.

chorale partita- a large-scale multi-movement piece of music based on a chorale and written for a keyboard instrument.

consort music- early form of polyphonic instrumental chamber music, scored for a group of similar or mixed instruments, designed for domestic use.

French overture- in French Baroque opera, an orchestral introduction of a slow section with dotted rhythms, followed by a fast imitative section.

masque- courtly entertainment in Europe, featuring music, dancing, singing, and acting (often by courtiers themselves), an elaborate stage design, and costumes. masks were used by the participants for disguises.

oratorio- a large-scale dramatic work based on a religious topic, neither liturgical nor theatrical in intent, but performed in a concert setting

partita- A Baroque suite, typically for a solo instrument or chamber ensemble

passacaglia- improvisational set of triple-meter variations on cadential patterns, developed by early Baroque guitarists; later composed for solo instruments or chamber ensembles; eventually interchangeable with the chaconne.

rococo- eighteenth-century aesthetics, the emphasis on elegance, wit, and delicacy applies most closely to French solo and chamber music of the period; more or less equivalent to galant.

semi-opera- entertainments that combined spoken plays with masque-like episodes employing singing and dancing characters

toccata- “to touch”; a virtuosic keyboard piece displaying dexterity and skill

tragédie lyrique- the French equivalent of Italian opera seria, but with a focus on the preservation of the text when set to music and the frequent presence of dance interludes

virginal- a smaller member of the harpsichord family, sound is produced by a plucking mechanism when a key is pressed down; has a distinctly plangent tone

binary form- a structuring of music into two related sections, each of which is repeated.

cadenza- improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung unaccompanied by a soloist or soloists

circle of fifths- representation of the relationships among the twelve tones of the chromatic scale, their corresponding key signatures, and the associated major and minor keys, based on the interval of a perfect fifth (ascending) or perfect fourth (descending)

coloratura- elaborate melody, particularly in virtuosic vocal music.

concertino- a group of soloists in a concerto grosso, alternating with the ripieno

concerto- a musical work usually composed in three movements, featuring a solo instrumentalist accompanied by an orchestra

concerto grosso- An instrumental concerto that pits a small group of soloistic players (concertino) against a full ensemble (ripieno)

da capo aria- an aria that is designed to go back “to the beginning,” the form of which is ABA—two contrasting sections with a repetition (sometimes varied) of the first section to conclude the piece

dominant- the fifth scale degree of both diatonic scales.

episode- a solo section for an instrument within a concerto

opera seria- the noble, “serious” style of Italian opera. Has a standard alternation of recitative and aria.

ripieno- the tutti group of the orchestra in a Baroque concerto, alternating with the concertino.

siciliana- a type of aria or instrumental movement of the Baroque period, in slow time for dancing.

sinfonia- Italian for symphony

sonata da camera- Italian for “chamber sonata”; four-movement sets of instrumental dances for domestic use

sonata da chiesa- Italian for “church sonata”; four-movement sets of “abstract” instrumental pieces for use in place of sections of the Mass Proper

tonic- the first and primary degree of the diatonic scale.

trio sonata- a Baroque chamber music work written for two solo melodic instruments and basso continuo

allemande- a dance that originated in Germany and changed from a quick dance to a slower, stately movement in a broad quadruple meter when it reached France.

answer- in a fugue, the entrance of the second voice that comes in playing the subject “at the fifth”

ballad opera- an English form of theatrical entertainment consisting of a spoken play (usually comic) with many interpolated short songs, the music for which was borrowed from popular songs of the day.

chorale prelude- a single-stanza setting with which the organist might cue the congregation to sing or to provide an accompaniment to silent meditation.

countersubject- the counterpoint with which the original voice accompanies the answer in a fugue

courante- a grave triple-meter, notated in 3/2 with many lilting hemiola effects caused by patterns cutting across the pulse.

exposition- the opening portion of the sonata form, in which the tonic and principal secondary keys and principal thematic material are introduced.

fugue- a texture in which a subject in one voice is followed by two or more voices entering successively and imitating the subject

galant- aesthetic emphasis on pleasant, easily absorbed melody with light accompaniment.

gigue- a standard in dance suite. was the last movement

Passion- setting of the Crucifixion story based on one of the four New Testament gospels; Has recitative, arias, and chorus.

prelude- an instrumental introduction to works.

sarabande- standard in dance suites, was the third movement

stretto- “to tighten”; voices anticipate their predicted entries on the subject and answer in a fugue.

subject- the single main theme of a fugue.

suite- 1) an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral pieces, frequently based on dance movements, performed in a concert setting;