question

Abgesang

answer

see "bar form"

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Accidental

answer

sign that calls for altering the pitch of a note; raising it by a sharp, lowering it by a flat, or canceling a previous sign by a "natural"

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Ad libitum

answer

(Lat. "at pleasure") Details of execution left to the discretion of the performer

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Affection

answer

Fixed state of mind, such as rage, fear, or wonder, not unlike a persistent emotion

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Aggregate

answer

Unordered set of the Pitch-class of the Chromatic Scale

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Agrement

answer

(Fr. "charm") Ornament in French music, usually indicated by a sign

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Air

answer

1 - Tune 2 - Tuneful song in a French stage work, usually in a dance meter 3 - English or French art song with lute or viol accompaniment

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Air de cour

answer

French Monodic song

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Alberti bass

answer

Broken-chord accompaniment named after Domenico Alberti, a composer who used it frequently

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Aleatory

answer

(Lat. alea "dice") Deliberately leaving the choice of pitches, rhythmic values, or the order of events to chance

question

Allemande, alman

answer

Dance in moderate duple meter, often the first dance of a suite

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Ambitus

answer

Pitch range of a mode or plainchant

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Anthem

answer

Motet-like composition on an English text; a verse anthem is for solo voice and chorus with instrumental accompaniment, a full anthem for chorus without soloist

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Antiphonal

answer

Pertaining to a method of performance in which one group answers another

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Archlute

answer

Lute with an extra pegbox for long bass strings tuned diatonically to play bass notes in a continus; also called theorbo

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Aria

answer

(It. "air") 1 - Tune or formula for singing poetry 2 - Strophic song 3 - Songful monologue or duet in an opera or other vocal work

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Arioso

answer

(It. "airy") 1 - Short for recitativo arioso "tuneful recitative" 2 - Free lyric passage not formally organized as an aria

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Arpeggio

answer

(from It. arpa "harp") broken-chord figure

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Atonal (atonality)

answer

pertaining to music that avoids a tonal center but is not built on serial principles

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Authentic

answer

a mode's primary form, in which the final is the lowest note of the octave range, see also plagal

question

ballad opera

answer

18th century English comic play with songs in which new texts are set to familiar tunes

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ballade

answer

1 - one of the French formes fixes of the 14th and 15th centuries, each stanza having an overall AAB form 2 - Instrumental piece inspired by the genre of narrative poetry 3 - Composed setting of a narrative poem

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Ballet

answer

Entertainment in which both professionals and guests danced; later, a stage work danced by professionals

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Bar Form

answer

Song form in which the first melodic component is sung twice with different texts (the two stollen); the remainder (the Abgesang) is sung once

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Baroque

answer

(from Port. barroco "misshapen," as in a bulbous pearl) 1 - Bizarre, extravagant 2 - Period of music history from ca. 1580 to ca. 1730

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Basse danse

answer

Family of dances, some duple, some triple, or a mixture of the two, whose music was often improvised over a tenor cantus firmus

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Basso continuo

answer

A foundation for improvised chords that filled in the harmony in the baroque period; see also figured bass

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Bel canto

answer

(It. "beautiful singing") Smooth, fluent, vocal line that shows off the singer's voice

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Binary

answer

(Lat. "made up of two") A two-part form

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Blue notes

answer

Lowered 3rd, 7th, and sometimes 5th degrees of the major scale, used especially in African-American music

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Blues

answer

1 - Standard 12-bar progression: I-I-I-I-IV-IV-I-I-V-IV-I-I 2 - African-American vocal genre

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Bridge

answer

see Transition

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Cadence

answer

Melodic or harmonic succession that closes a musical phrase, section, or composition. A cadence may be evaded by preparing the close but then moving on.

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Cadenza

answer

(It. "cadence") Improvised passage usually placed just before the end of a piece or section

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Camerata

answer

Circle of intellectuals and ameteurs of the arts that met in Florence at the home of Giovanni Bardi in the 1570s and 1580s

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Canon

answer

(Gr. kanon "rule") 1 - Rule for performing music, particularly for deriving more than one voice from a single line of notated music, as when several voices sing the same melody, entering at certain intervals of time or singing at different speeds simultaneously 2 - Composition in which the voices enter successively at determined pitch and time intervals, all performing the same melody.

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Cantata

answer

(It. "sung") 1 - Composition for solo voice containing recitatives and arias 2 - sacred concerto

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Cantus firmus

answer

(Lat. "plain chant", pl. cantus firmi) Plainchant or other melody used as a basis for a polyphonic composition

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Canzona

answer

In the 16th century an instrumental chanson; later, a piece for ensemble in several sections or tempos

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Chaconne

answer

(Fr; Sp. chacona; It. ciaccona) 1 - Dance song in triple time, originating in Latin America 2 - A composition having an extended pattern of chords 3 - French dance with refrains

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Chanson

answer

(Fr. song) Secular French song, either of popular origin or composed anew, usually arranged polyphonically

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Chitarrone

answer

see Archlute

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Choirbook

answer

Large-format manuscript or printed book of music notation large enough to be read by the choir standing around it

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Chorale

answer

Strophic hymn used in the German Lutheran Church

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Chorale Prelude

answer

Organ arrangement of a chorale played before the congregation sings it

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Chord

answer

three or more simultaneous pitches heard as a single entity

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Chromatic (chromaticism)

answer

1 - One of the genera of Greek music 2 - Pertaining to a melody or scale that uses successive half steps 3 - In mid-16th-century Madrigals, writing many black notes in the time signature

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Classic, classical

answer

1 - Art music as opposed to vernacular or entertainment music 2 - Period or style from ca. 1730 to ca. 1820

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Clausula

answer

(Lat. end, concluding sentence or verse) 1 - Cadence 2 - Phrase of plainchant 3 - Measured organum set to melismatic fragment of plainchant

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Clavecin

answer

French term for harpsichord

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Coda

answer

(It. tail) A supplementary ending to a composition

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Collegium musicum

answer

Ensemble or orchestra made up mostly of amateurs such as university students

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Color

answer

(From Lat. rhetoric "ornament", particularly repetition) In an isorhythmic composition, a repeated melodic, as opposed to rhythmic, pattern

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Commedia dell'arte

answer

Professional, improvised Italian comedy of the 16th and 17th centuries using standard characters

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Concertato

answer

(adj. from It. concertare "to agree upon or act together) 1. Concerted, that is, joining instruments and voices 2. Performing as a soloist, as in violino concertato

question

Concertino

answer

(It. "little concerto") Ensemble of few solo instruments, as opposed to concerto grosso, large ensemble with numerous players to part

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Concerto

answer

(Fr. concert; Eng. consort) 1. Ensemble of instrument or voices. 2. Composition for instruments or voices 3. Composition in which one or more solo performers join an orchestral ensemble

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Concerto Grosso

answer

(It. "large concerto") 1. Tutti or Ripieno - the full orchestra in a concerto 2. Composition for a full orchestra or for such an orchestra alternating with a small group of soloists, the concertino

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Concitato

answer

(It. "excited") Style in which a single note or chord is rapidly repeated, mixed with fanfares, to suggest belligerence and battle

question

Conductus

answer

1. Medieval Monophonic song, usually sacred, on rhythmical Latin verse 2. Measured Polyphonic setting of an original melody

question

Consonance

answer

Interval or chord that has a stable, agreeable sound. In early times only octaves, fifths, and fourths were considered consonant; later, thirds and sixths were included

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Contrafactum

answer

(pl. contrafacta) Composition in which a new text is substituted for the original one -- for example, a sacred text for a secular one

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Counterpoint

answer

(contrapuntal) Artful combination of two or more simultaneous melodic lines

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Courante, corrente

answer

Fluent dance in moderate triple meter

question

Da capo aria

answer

Two-section aria form. The first section is repeated after the second section's close, which carries the instruction da capo (It. "from the head")

question

Development

answer

Process or section in which a subject is taken apart, combined with other ideas, and reworked

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Diatonic

answer

1. One of the genera of Greek music 2. Pertaining to a melody or scale that mixes whole tones and semitones without consecutive half steps

question

Diminution

answer

1. Uniform reduction of note values in a melody or phrase 2. Replacing a long note with a run or other figure composed of short notes, also called "division"

question

Discant

answer

(Lat. "singing apart") 1. Treble part 2. Improvised or written polyphony in which voices move at same speed, particularly when all are measured

question

Dissonance

answer

(dissonant) 1. Interval or chord that is disagreeable or that requires resolution. Seconds, tritones, and sevenths, and chords containing them are considered dissonant. 2. A note not belonging in a chord, a nonharmonic tone

question

Ditone

answer

Interval spanning two whole tones

question

Divertissement

answer

(Fr. "entertainment, diversion") Entertaining episodes of ballet, tuneful airs, and spectacle within serious French operas

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Dodecaphonic

answer

Pertaining to composition with 12-Tone rows

question

Dominant

answer

5th degree of a major or minor scale

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Drone

answer

Note or notes, usually in the bass, sustained throughout an entire piece or section

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Duplum

answer

(Lat. duplus "double") Voice part in early polyphony set against a tenor

question

Dynamics

answer

variation of loudness and intensity

question

Emfindsamkeit

answer

(Ger. "sentimentality, sensitivity"; adj. empfindsam) Quality of refined passion and melancholy in 18th century music

question

Enharmonic

answer

1. One of the genera of Greek music 2. Pertains to a melody or scale that uses steps smaller than a semitone 3. Pertains to a change in the notation and function of a single pitch, as from Eb to D#

question

Episode

answer

Passage, especially in a fugue, that does not state the principal subject

question

Ethos

answer

(Gr. "custom") Character, mood, or emotional effect of a certain tonos, mode, meter, style, or composition

question

Etude

answer

Exercise to develop instrumental technique

question

Exposition

answer

Section of a fugue, sonata, or concerto in which the main subject or subjects are announced

question

Expressionism

answer

Exaggerated and extreme subjectivity in artistic expression

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Fancy

answer

Fantasy for a solo instrument or ensemble

question

Fantasia

answer

(It. "fantasy") 1. Instrumental composition lacking a strict form, often improvisatory 2. Instrumental piece developing an abstract subject, often invented by the composer

question

Fauxburdon

answer

(Fr. "false bass") Scheme for improvising a third part between a plainchant in the treble and a lower voice. The outer voices form parallel 6ths, while the middle voice is a 4th below the plainchant, though they start and end phrases with an octave mediated by a 5th

question

Figure, figuration

answer

Melodic pattern, usually ornamental, made of commonplace material such as scales, arpeggios, and turns, not distinctive enough to be considered a motive or theme

question

Figured Bass

answer

Thoroughbass with numbers to indicate the intervals above it that form the required chords

question

Final

answer

Step of a mode that is the normal closing note of a plainchant or tenor part

question

Finale

answer

Last movement of a work of the closing scene of an act in an Opera

question

Formes Fixes

answer

(Fr. "fixed forms") Schemes of poetic and musical repetition used in the late Middle Ages, such as virelai, rondeau, and ballade

question

Fret

answer

Raised strip of material, such as leather, guiding and aiding the stopping of strings on a fingerboard

question

Fugato

answer

Short fugue, usually in the midst of nonfugal music

question

Fuging tune

answer

Arrangement of hymn using free imitation

question

Fugue

answer

fuga, fugal (Lat. and It. "flight") 1. Composition or section of a composition in which a subject is answered or repeated successively by several parts 2. Before 1550 one type of fuga was a strict canon

question

Galant

answer

(Fr. "elegant") 1. Smart, chic, sophisticated 2. Light, homophonic early 18th century style of music that treats contrapuntal rules freely

question

Galliard

answer

Lively dance in triple meter that usually followed a pavane

question

Gamut

answer

(contraction of gamma -- greek -- and the first solmization syllable, ut, of the hard hexachord) Entire range of pitches

question

Gebrauchsmusik

answer

(Ger. "utilitarian music") Music for amateurs, children, and workers to play and sing

question

Genera

answer

(Lat. "classes"; sing. genus) In Greek music, three classes of melody or ways of tuning the tetrachord: diatonic, chromatic, and enharmonic

question

Gesamtkunstwerk

answer

(Ger. "joint or integrated artwork") Theatrical work envisioned by Richard Wagner that unites poetry, scenery, staging, action, and music, all working toward a dramatic goal

question

Gigue

answer

(Eng. jig) Quick dance usually in triple meter

question

Grand Motet

answer

(Fr. "large motet") 17th and 18th century French sacred concerto for soloists, double choruses, and orchestra

question

Ground bass

answer

Pattern of bass notes repeated as a foundation for harmony

question

Gruppo

answer

Early Italian word for trill

question

Harmonia

answer

(Gr.; pl. harmoniai) Greek scale or mode having a certain octave species or configuration of intervals, not unlike a plainchant mode. Harmoniae were sometimes given ethnic names, such as Dorian and Lydian

question

Harmonic

answer

1. High thin tone produced by lightly touching the string, such as of a violin, at 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 etc. of its length. 2. Overtone, or partial, of a vibrating string or air column

question

Harmony

answer

Aspect of music that pertains to simultaneous combinations of sounds, particularly consonant ones.

question

Hemiola

answer

(from Gr. hemiolios "one and a half") Three beats against two in an equivalent amount of time, whether between voices or successive measures, as in one measure of 3/2 against two measures of 3/4

question

Heterophony

answer

Same melody performed simultaneously in more than one way, for example, simply and ornamented

question

Hexachord

answer

1. Set of 6 pitches 2. In medieval theory and practice, three types of hexachord were distinguished: according to whether the B was absent ("natural" hexachord, as in C-A); B was natural ("hard hexachord," as in G-E); or B was flat ("soft" hexachord, as in F-D with Bb)

question

Hocket

answer

(Lat. hoquetus; Fr. hoquet "hiccup") Device of splitting a melodic line between two voices, or a composition based on this device

question

Homophony

answer

Music in which the harmony is chordal and not made up of distinctive lines

question

Homorhythmic

answer

Having the same rhythm, as when several voices sing the same syllables with the same durations

question

Humanism

answer

Movement in the Renaissance to revive ancient Greek and Roman culture

question

Imitation

answer

Device of repeating a motive or melody announced in one part in a second or more parts, often at a different pitch level and not always accurately

question

Imitation Mass

answer

Mass in which movements are based on a single polyphonic model, such as a motet or madrigal, all of whose voices may be borrowed or rewored; also called a parody mass

question

Impressionism

answer

Style that evokes moods and sensuous impressions through harmony and tone color

question

Improvisation

answer

Spontaneous invention of music, embellishment, or accompaniment while performing

question

In nomine

answer

Cantus Firumus, derived from the Benedictus of Taverner's Western Wynde Mass, used in sets of instrumental variations by English composers

question

Indeterminacy

answer

Freedom from a composer's notational prescription

question

Intermedio

answer

Pastoral, allegorical, or mythological interlude of vocal and instrumental music performed before and between the acts of a spoken comedy or tragedy

question

Intermezzo

answer

A brief coming operatic work performed between the acts of a serious opera

question

Interval

answer

Distance in pitch between two notes

question

Intervall class

answer

If the half-steps or pitch classes of the chormatic octave are numbered from 0 to 11, the differences between the integers yield seven interval classes, namely the intervals possible in an octave if inversions are not counted. For example, the major third and the minor sixth belong to the same interval class 4, the pitch classes being four half-steps apart in the nearest direction

question

Intonation

answer

The first notes of a plainchant, sung by a soloist to establish the pitch for the choir, which joins the soloist to continue the chant

question

Inversion

answer

1 -- Shifting the position of the notes in a chord so that a different one is the lowers 2 -- Reversing the upward or downward direction of melodic intervals while mainting their size 3 -- In counterpoint, placing a part above a given part that had been below it.

question

Isorhythm

answer

(Gr. "equal rhythm") Repetition in a voice part (usually the tenor) of an extended pattern of durations throughout a section or an entire composition

question

Just intonation

answer

Method of tuning that affords both perfect and imperfect consonances in their purest form as demonstrated by the simple ratios of their frequencies, such as 3:2 for the perfect fifth and 5:4 for the major third

question

Key Signature

answer

Sharp(s) or flat(s) placed on line(s) or space(s) at the beginning of each staff

question

Kitharode

answer

Singer or poet who accompanies self on the kithara

question

Landler

answer

Austrian and South German dance in triple meter

question

Lauda

answer

(Lat. laudare "to praise") Italian devotional song

question

Leitmotif

answer

(Ger. "leading motive") Musical theme or motive associated with a person, thing, emotion, or idea in the drama

question

Libretto

answer

Literary text for a musical stage work

question

Lied

answer

(Ger. "song"; pl. lieder) Germon song, such as a polyphonic partsong or an accompanied art song

question

Ligature

answer

Neume-like shape used to indicate a short rhythmic pattern in the notation of the 12th to 16th centuries

question

Madrigal

answer

(It. madrigale "song in the mother tongue") 1 -- 14th century Italian verse form and its musical setting having two or three stanzas followed by a ritornello 2 -- 16th century Italian poem having any number of lines, each of seven or eleven syllables 3 -- polyphonic or concertato setting of such a poem or of a canzona, sonet, etc. 4 -- English part-song imitating the Italian models

question

Major Scale

answer

diatonic succession of notes with a major third as the third step

question

March

answer

Piece in duple meter to accompany military stepping

question

Masque

answer

English entertainment in which guests and professionals joined in a dance peformance, sometimes including recitatives, songs, and choruses

question

Measure

answer

Metrical unit set off by barlines

question

Meistersinger

answer

(Ger. "master singer") German singer and composer of a song practiced by 14th-16th century burgher-musicians' guilds

question

Melisma (Melismatic)

answer

Flowing passage of many notes sung to a single syllable, particularly of plainchant

question

Melodrama

answer

Theatrical genre that combined spoken dialogue with background music

question

Melody

answer

1 - succession of tones perceived as coherent line 2 - tune 3 - principal part accompanied by other parts or chords

question

Meter

answer

Pattern of beats in a measure

question

Minimalism

answer

Type of music deliberately limiting musical material and vocabulary, often marked by continual repetition of a short melody, figure, or chord with only slight variation

question

Minnesinger

answer

(Ger. "singer of love") Composer or singer of medieval German song, particularly about love

question

Minor Scale

answer

Diatonic succession of notes with a minor third as the third step and optional lowered sixth and seventh steps

question

Minuet

answer

Dance in triple meter usually followed by a second minuet, called "Trio," after which the first minuet returns

question

Mode

answer

1 - Melody type characterized by a certain final or ending pitch, a particular arrangement of tones and semitones, and an approximate ambitus 2 - Rhythmic pattern of two or three short and longer duartions - for example, Mode 1, long-short

question

Modulation

answer

Change from one tonality to another in the course of a composition

question

Monochord

answer

Instrument used to locate intervals through dividing and measuring lengths of its single string

question

Monody

answer

Accompanied solo song

question

Motet

answer

(from Fr. mot "word") Polyphonic vocal composition, most often on a sacred text

question

Motetus

answer

Duplum or Triplum voice part in early polyphony to which words are set

question

Motive

answer

Short melodic or rhythmic idea

question

Motto

answer

1 - Musical idea that recurs 2 - Introduction of the main idea in the voice, prior to the completion of the instrumental ritornello, in what is called a "motto aria"

question

Musica ficta

answer

(Lat. "feigned music") 1 - Practice of raising or lowering by a semitone the pitch of a written note in a polyphonic texture, particularly at a cadence, for the sake of smoother harmony or stronger part movement 2 - In early music, notes outside the standard camut, which excluded all flatted and sharped notes except Bb

question

Musique concrete

answer

(Fr. "concrete music") Natural sounds that are stored, combined, modified, and arranged

question

Musique mesuree

answer

(Fr. "measured music") Style of 16th century French music in which poetry simulating the ancient Greek and Latin syllable quantities is set to combinations of long and short notes that do not fit in regular meter

question

Neo-Classicism

answer

Movement in the 20th century to revive forms, genres, and styles of the 18th century

question

Neume

answer

Sign placed above a syllable to indicate the pitch height of one or more plainchant notes

question

Notation

answer

Writing down of music, usually on a staff of lines, using signs that define the pitch, duration, and other qualities of sound

question

Octave Species

answer

Arrangement of intervals, such as whole tones and semitones, in an octave

question

Office

answer

Monastic ritual celebrated at certain hours of the day and night

question

Opera

answer

(It. "work") 1 - Dramatic stage composition, ordinarily in two or more acts 2 - work

question

Opera buffa

answer

(It. "comical opera") Italian full-length comic opera sung throughout

question

Opera comique

answer

(Fr. "comic opera") French full-length comic opera with spoken dialogue instead of recitative

question

Opera seria

answer

(It. "serious opera") Serious Italian opera of the 18th century, purged of comic scenes and characters

question

Opus

answer

(Lat. "work"; pl. opera) A composition or set of compositions

question

Oratorio

answer

Composition for solo singers, chorus, and instruments, usually dramatic and on a biblical or religious subject

question

Oratorio volgare

answer

Oratorio on a vernacular

question

Orchestration

answer

1 - Art of assigning musical material to individual instruments 2 - The product of this process

question

Ordinary

answer

(Lat. ordinarium missae "the ordinary of the Mass") Texts and plainchants of a mass that remain the same throughout the church calendar, such as the Kyrie and Gloria

question

Ordre

answer

(Fr. "order") French collection of pieces that are mostly in dance rhythms, such as a suite

question

Organum

answer

Improvised or written voice part sung against a plainchant, or the work resulting from this procedure

question

Ornament, ornamentation, ornamented

answer

Decorative element, such as a trill or turn, written or improvised, that adds expression or charm to a melodic line

question

Ostinato

answer

Short melodic figure persistently repeated, most often in the bass

question

Ottava rima

answer

(It. "eighth rhyme") Poem of eight eleven-syllable lines in which the eighth line rhymes with the seventh

question

Ouverture

answer

(Fr. "opening") 1 - French overture in two-part form, the first slow and majestic with dotted rhythms, the second quick, fluent, and fugal, after which the first section is often recalled 2 - A suite having such an introduction

question

Overture

answer

Introduction to a stage work, oratorio, or instrumental suite, later also a breif orchestral work in one movement.

question

Partbook

answer

Volume, particularly printed, containing music for a single vocal or instrumental part of a polyphonic ensemble

question

Partita

answer

Single variation of a theme or a set of such variation

question

Passacaglia

answer

(It.; Sp. passecalle; Fr. passecaille) 1 - Pattern of guitar chords played before and between strophes of a song 2 - Pattern of pitches usually serving as a foundation for harmony

question

Passion

answer

Setting of a New Testament account of the crucifixion of Jesus

question

Pastoral

answer

Poetic genre to which the early operal librettos, such as Euridice of 1600, belonged

question

Pavane, pavana, paduana

answer

Slow, stately dance in duple meter, often followed by a galliard

question

Periodicity

answer

Quality of being organized in discrete phases and periods

question

Petit motet

answer

(Fr. "little motet") French version of the sacred concerto for a few voices

question

Phrygian cadence

answer

Cadence in which the lowest voice descends by a semitone and the highest ascends by a whole tone

question

Pitch-class

answer

One of the twelve pitches of the chromatic scale without reference to register, such as C when it refers to all Cs in the gamut

question

Plagal

answer

(Gr. plagios, "placed sideways") Refers to the collateral mode that shares a final with an authentic mode and has a range approzimately a fourth lower

question

Plainchant, plainsong

answer

(Lat. cantus planus) Monophonic sacred chant or song of the Christian church, performed in free rhythm

question

Polychoral

answer

Texture in which two or more choruses alternate and join together

question

Polyphony (polyphonic)

answer

Musical texture consisting of two or more lines of melody

question

Polytonality

answer

Combines two or more lines of melody that are in different tonalities

question

Prelude

answer

Introductory piece in an opera, suite, or instrumental composition

question

Program Music

answer

Music that is descriptive, narrative, or that develops a non-musical subject

question

Prologue

answer

Dramatic scene or speech before the beginning of a spoken or musical stage work

question

Proper

answer

(Lat. proprium de rempore "proper of the time") Texts and plainchants of the mass that are assigned to particular days in the church calendar

question

Psalm tone

answer

Formula for chanting psalms on a reciting tone, which varies with the mode, including patterns for beginning, continuing, temporarily resting, resuming, and closing

question

Pythagorean tuning

answer

Having perfect consonances in ratios of 2:1 (octave), 3:2 (fifth), 4:3 (fourth), unlike other intervals, which have irrational ratios, such as 81:64 (ditone, or major third)

question

Quodlibet

answer

(Lat. "whatever you please") Composition juxtaposing several borrowed melodies

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