Music Appreciation Chapters 21-33 – Flashcards
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Theme
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melodic idea used as a basic building block in the construction of a composition
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Thematic development
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musical expansion of a theme by varying its melodic outline, harmony, or rhythm
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Motive
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short melodic or rhythmic idea; the smallest fragment of a theme that forms a melodic-harmonic-rhythmic unit
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Absolute music
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music that has no literacy, dramatic, or pictorial program
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Chamber music
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ensemble music for up to about ten players, with one player to a part
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String quartet
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One of the most common chamber ensembles, made up of two violins, viola, and cello. The first violin has the melody and the other three instruments provide accompaniment.
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Divertimento
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classical instrumental genre for chamber ensemble or soloist, often performed as light entertainment
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Serenade
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classical instrumental genre that combines elements of chamber music and symphony, often performed in the evening or at social functions
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Rocket theme
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a quick, aggressively rhythmic theme rising from low to high register
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Steam roller
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effect from the use of drawn-out crescendos slowly gathering force as they rise to a climax
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Cadenza
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virtuostic solo passage in the manner of an improvisation, performed near the end of an aria or a movement
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Sonata
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instrumental genre in several movements for soloist or small ensemble
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Mass
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central service of the Roman Catholic Church
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Requiem mass
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Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead
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Oratorio
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large-scale dramatic genre originating in the Baroque, based on a text of religious or serious character, performed by solo voices, chorus, and orchestra; similar to opera, but without scenery, constumes, or action
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Opera seria
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tragic Italian opera (serious)
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Opera buffa
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Italian comic opera, sung throughout
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Ballad
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English comic opera, usually featuring spoken dialogue alternating with songs set to popular tunes; also called dialogue opera
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Singspiel
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comic German drama with spoken dialogue; the immediate predecessor of Romantic German opera
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Opera comique
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French comic opera, with some spoken dialogue
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Strophic
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song structure in which the same music is repeated with every stanza (stophe) of the poem
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Through-composed
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song structure that is composed from beginning to end, without repetitions of large sections
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Modified strophic
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song structure that combines elements of strophic and through-composed forms; a variation of strophic form in which a section might have a new key, rhythm, or varied melodic pattern
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Lied
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German for "song"; most commonly associated with the solo art song of the nineteenth century, usually accompanied by piano
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Song cycle
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group of songs, usually Lieder, that are unified musically or through their texts
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Etude
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study piece that focuses on a particular technical problem
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Nocturne
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"night piece"; common in the nineteenth century, often for piano
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Prelude
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instrumental work intended to precede a larger work
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Polonaise
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stately Polish processional dance in triple meter
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Mazukra
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type of Polish folk dance in triple meter
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Shape-note
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musical notation system originating in nineteenth-century American church music in which the shape of the note heads determines the pitch; created to aid music reading
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Program music
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instrumental music endowed with literary or pictorial associations, especially popular in the nineteenth century
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Bel canto
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"beautiful singing"; elegant Italian vocal style characterized by florid melodic lines delivered by voices of great agility, smoothness, and purity of tone
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Music drama
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Wagner's term for his operas
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Leitmotif
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"leading motive," or basic recurring theme, representing a person, object, or idea, commonly used in Wagner's operas
