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interval spanning 8 notes of the scale

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octave

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the smallest interval used in Western music; divides the octave into 12 of these

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half steps

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two half steps

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whole step

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made up of 12 half steps; used by Romantic-era composers to charge the music with emotion

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chromatic scale

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built on patterns of seven whole and half steps that form major and minor scales

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diatonic scale

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#; a symbol that raises a pitch by a half step

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sharp

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b; a symbol that lowers a tone by a half step

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flat

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tritonic (three note patterns), pentatonic (five) and heptatonic (seven note patterns other than major and minor)

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other scales used around the world include...

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used by some world cultures; intervals smaller than half steps; used in scales from other cultures, like Indian ragas, that have extra-musical associations

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microtones

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a composition is set in the ___ of C major, so it is built around the central tone C, using harmonies formed by the C-major scale

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key

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basic harmonic principle at work in most Western music written from around 1600 to 1900

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tonality

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created by a specific pattern of whole (W) and half (H) steps (W-W-H-W-W-W-H); can be built with this pattern starting on any pitch

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major scale

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do; the ultimate point of rest

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tonic

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sol, represents the active harmony

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dominant

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has a lowered third degree; very different mood and coloring; pattern is (W-H-W-W-H-W-W); may begin on any of the twelve tones of an octave

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minor scale

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half steps; rest of the notes without sharps or flats are whole step

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E to F and B to C

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some music of India; the scale formations contain certain pitches that are heard only in one direction; have extra-musical associations, like w/certain emotions or seasons, etc.

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ragas

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built on the first scale tone; the home base to which active chords need to resolve; the three-note chord (triad) built on the first scale tone known as the I chord

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tonic chord

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the dominant on V and subdominant on IV (Amen); both resolved on chord I

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active chords

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when composers shift the pitch level of an entire work

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transposition

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when composers change the center, or key, during a work

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modulation

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create tension and drama

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composers change the key, or modulate, during a piece to...

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1600-1750 (ended with the death of Bach); a time of turbulent change in politics, science, and the arts; also a time of religious wars (Protestants vs. Catholics) and of exploration and colonization of the New World; era of absolute monarchy

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Baroque era

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middle-class culture, with music-making centered in the home, church, and at the universities; art portrayed scenes of burgeois life

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the Baroque era saw the rise of...

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a group at the universities where music-making centered; still functions on many campuses today

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collegium musicum

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the singing of psalms, important to both Protestants and Catholics

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in the New World, music served religion through...

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creative artists played a variety of roles in Baroque society; some famous painters were also ambassadors and friends of princes; composer also a priest; artists usually functioned under royal or princely patronage or were employed by a church or city administration; in all cases, artists were in direct contact with their public

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role of the artist

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a new style introduced during the Baroque era; features a solo song with instrumental accompaniment

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monody

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groups of writers and musicians (such as the Florentine Camerata) to recreate the musical-dramatic art of ancient Greece

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monody was developed by...

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notated harmony with this; a shorthand that allowed the performer to supply the chords through improvisation

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figured bass

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the bass part; often played by two instruments (harpsichord and cello, for example)

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basso continuo

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established in the Baroque era; a shift to a simpler style based on a single-line melody and less complex harmonies; the thrust to the keynote, or tonic, became the most powerful force in music

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major-minor tonality system

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tuning system established in the Baroque era; allowed instruments to play in any key without any unpleasant sounds

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equal temperment

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moved more freely

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early Baroque music...

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is characterized by regular rhythms and continuous melodic expansion

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later Baroque style...

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the level of virtuosity and playing techniques rose

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as musical instruments developed technically...

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expressed during the Baroque period; the union of text and music

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doctrine of the affections

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women musicians

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the professional singers and instrumentalists of the Baroque era included

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a group of Florentine writers, artists, and musicians that first cultivated monody; name is derived from the Italian word for "salon"; were aristocratic humanists who aimed to resurrect the musical-dramatic art of ancient Greece; deduced that music must heighten the emotional power of the text; egnaged in excited discussions about le nuove musiche (the new music) which they proudly named "the expressive style"

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Florentine Camerata

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invented during the Baroque period; when the Camerata engaged in excited discussions about le nuove musiche, which they proudly named "the expressive style"; soon realived that this style could be applied not only to a short poem but also to an entire drama; most important new genre of the Baroque era; a large-scale drama that combines poetry, acting, scenery, and costumes with singing and instrumental music

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opera

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dissonance and dynamics for emotional intensity and color; rhythm and melody

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Baroque musicians used

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a male singer who was castrated during boyhood in order to preserve the soprano or alto register of his voice for the rest of his life; after years of training had an incredibly agile voice of enormous range and lung power

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castrato

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a prolific Italian composer of secular and sacred music; a singer and participant in the famous literary academies of early 17th century Venice; noted singer and composer of cantatas, madrigals, and solo motets in the virtuosic new style (monody)

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Barbara Strozzi

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orchestral overture (may introduce melodies from the aria), solo arias (lyrical songs which release through melody the emotional tension accumulated in the course of the action; usually highley emotional) and recitatives (speechlike declamations of the text, generally advance the plot and action), and ensemble numbers, including choruses; also sometimes has sinfonias, or interludes between scenes by the orchestra

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the principal components of opera include the...

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writes the text of the opera

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librettist

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early Baroque master; wrote operas based on mythology and Roman history; helped establish the love duet as a central component of opera

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Claudio Monteverdi

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English composer; wrote Dido and Aeneas, based on The Aeneid, a Roman epic by Virgil about a man who is shipwrecked and meets Dido who falls in love with him, but he has to leave so she kills herself

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Henry Purcell

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two styles of recitative that became standard; the first is accompanied only by continuo instruments and moves with great freedom (dry), the second is accompanied by the orchestra and thus moves more evenly

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secco and accompagnato

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a formal convention that developed early in the genre's history, a ternary form

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de capo aria

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combined colorful, sumptuous dance scenes and spectacular choruses in tales of courtly love and heroic adventure; a French national style drawn from strong tradition of court ballet and classical tragedy

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tragedie lyrique

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English, a type of entertainment that combined vocal and instrumental music with poetry and dance; popular among aristocracy

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masque

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dominated late Baroque opera; music included lots on international features; dramatic works were opera seria, or serious Italian opera; later turned toward the oratorio, a music drama based on a religious subject, like Messiah in 1742

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George Frideric Handel

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Italian; a vocal genre for solo singers and instrumental accompaniment based on lyric, dramatic, or narrative poetry

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cantata

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expresses personal emotion and allows the music to dominate the story

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lyric

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writeen for performance in a play (ex: a comedy or tragedy)

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dramatic

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tells a story, following characters through a plot

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narrative

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agitated style; first introduced by Monteverdi; later used by Strozzi

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stile concitato

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