Test study guide music appreciation

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recitative
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a vocal passage of narrative text that a singer delivers with natural rhythms of speech
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oratorio
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These are dramas presented by soloists, an orchestra, or a chorus in a concert format without the use of costumes,stage, or scenery., a musical composition for voices and orchestra based on a religious text
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concerto grosso
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a baroque composition for orchestra and a group of solo instruments, standard three movement piece (slow-fast-slow) that is characterized by a concertino (small group of instruments) pitted against a ripieno (a larger group of instruments.)
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chorale prelude
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a polyphonic composition, usually an organ, built on a chorale tune; popular during the baroque era
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Aria
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an elaborate song for solo voice, a self-contained composition for solo voice, usually with instrumental accompaniment and usually found within the context of an opera, oratorio or cantata
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chorus
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A group of singers distinct from the principal performers in a dramatic or musical performance; also the song or refrain that they sing. In classical Greek tragedy a chorus of twelve or fifteen masked performers would sing, with dancing movements, a commentary on the action of the play, interpreting its events from the standpoint of traditional wisdom. This practice appears to have been derived from the choral lyrics of religious festivals.
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cantata
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a musical composition for voices and orchestra based on a religious text
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Chorales
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Melodies associated with strophic religious texts that came to be used in the Lutheran tradition.
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Baritone
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The middle male voice, between bass and tenor, usually the villain or comic relief in tragic opera.
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bass
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the lowest adult male singing voice
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baroque
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Style in art and architecture developed in Europe from about 1550 to 1700, emphasizing dramatic, curving forms, elaborate ornamentation, and overall balance of disparate parts. Associated with Catholicism. Famous Composers: Bach, Handel, Purcell, Lully
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baroque suite
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group a collection of misc. dances together in a genre
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bravo
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a cry of approval as from an audience at the end of great performance
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church cantata
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a cantata with religious words
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colorature soprano
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The ornamentation of music written for the voice with florid passages, especially trills and runs; Vocal music characterized by florid ornamental passages.; A singer, especially a soprano, specializing in such ornamentation.
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diva
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a distinguished female operatic singer
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fugue
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a musical form consisting of a theme repeated a fifth above or a fourth below its first statement, a type of contrapuntal composition or technique of composition for a fixed number of parts, normally referred to as \"voices\", irrespective of whether the work is vocal or instrumental
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Libretto
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the words of an opera or musical play
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Lyric voice
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personal, feelings of a single speaker, emotional
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mezzo soprano
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A range of the female singing voice lower than soprano and higher than alto.
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operetta
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Comic or lighthearted operas of the kind written by Gilbert and Sullivan. They generally have a substantial amount of spoken (not sung) dialougue.
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overture
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orchestral music played at the beginning of an opera or oratorio
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prompter
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primary duty is to feed lines to actors when they forget them. The prompter must follow every line in rehearsal and performance, knowing when the line should be delivered, and providing assistance when it's not.
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ritornello form
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the word for a recurring passage for orchestra in the first or final movement of a solo concerto or aria (also in works for chorus). In ritornello form, the tutti opens with a theme called the ritornello (refrain). This theme, always played by the tutti, returns in different keys throughout the movement. However, it usually returns in incomplete fragments.
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supertitles
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translation of the words of a foreign opera (or choral work) projected on a screen above the stage
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tenor
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the pitch range of the highest male voice
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trio
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a musical composition for three performers
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