Listen: Chapters 6-11
basso ostinato
a short musical gesture repeated over and over again (persistent)
fugue subject
a single main theme in the fugue
drone
a single two-note chord running continuously
sonata form
ABA form...opening exposition, development of new ideas, and a return to the opening music called the recapitulation
baroque orchestra size
Back during this period, most composers (many were also "conductors) used what was available. Most of the time the ensembles were quite small maybe 6-8 violins, 2-3 violas, 2 celli, and a contrabass (no one really knows for sure). Plus the winds/brass and ALWAYS a continuo instrument which was chosen from the harpsichord, lute, or small organ; sometimes employing two or more of these instruments for a performance, e.g. harpsichord for choruses, and organ for recitatives and arias. But this practice maybe one created for today's performances.
plainchant
Gregorian Chant
Julius Caesar (The Opera)
Handel's most famous opera, starting with a ritornello in the aria, "La giustizia" (in A B A form)
Messiah
Handel's most famous work, this oratorio is sung today at Christmas and Easter in hundreds of churches around the world. Unlike most oratorios, this composition did not have actual characters depicting a biblical story in recitative and arias, although its text is taken from the Bible. Much like an opera in concert form; the chorus has a large and varied role to play
Messiah Chorus
In the Messiah, sings the words of a group of angels that actually speaks in the Bible. Sometimes it comments on the story, like the soloists. And often the choristers raiser their voices to praise the Lord in Handel's uniquely magnificent manner.
Stylized dances
In the late Baroque, dance music such as the minuet and bouree', that had once been written for actual courtly dancing, now became stylized; in other words, meant for listening rather than dancing
Vivaldi's Violin Concerto
La stravaganza, a concerto for solo violin. The violin soloist is pitted against the basic Baroque orchestra of strings and continuo; the concerto in G begins and ends with movements in the ritornello form
symphonic four movement form
Sonata, Slow form, Minuet with trio, Closing fast movement (often a Rondo form)
baroque orchestra size
The core of the Baroque orchestra was a group of instruments of the violin family (string orchestra); added was a keyboard instrument as a continuo, usually a harpsichord.
melody type
a set of melodic formulas, figures, and patterns which are used in the composition of an enormous variety of music, especially non-Western and early Western music
gigue
a Baroque dance in a lively compound meter
sarabande
a Baroque dance in slow triple meter, with a secondary accent on the second beat
ritornello form
a Baroque musical form based on recurrences of a ritornello (the orchestral material at the beginning of a concerto grosso, which always returns later in the piece)
Galliard
a Renaissance court dance in triple meter
passacaglia
a bass line or harmonic progression, repeats over-and-over while a series of variations are performed over the top
fugue
a composition written systematically in imitative polyphony, usually with a single main theme
Brandenburg Concerto
a concerto grosso for flute, violin, harpsichord, and orchestra composed by Bach
oratorio
a dramatic form similar to opera, in which the story is told in singing, accompanied by orchestra
variation form
a form in which a single melodic unit is repeated with harmonic, rhythmic, dynamic, or timbral changes
concerto
a large composition for orchestra and solo instrument
Kemp's Jig
a lively (perky), simple dance tune in a a b form, with both a and b ending in the same cadence
bourrée
a lively French dance like a gavotte
jongleurs
a medieval secular musician
gavotte
a medium-paced French dance, popular in the 18th century
double-exposition form
a modified version of sonata-allegro form in the first movement of a concerto
dance suite
a piece consisting of a series of dances; can be performed by an orchestra
minuet
a popular 17th- and 18th-century dance in moderate triple meter
Word Painting
a popular compositional effect in which the composer tried to set the "literal" meaning of the words to music
movement
a self-contained section of a larger piece, such as a symphony or concerto grosso
figured bass
a system of notating the continuo chords in Baroque music, by means of figures; sometimes also used to mean continuo
recitative
a technique of declaiming lengthy dialogue with simple accompaniment. In recitative, there is little repetition of lines, and the singing follows the rhythm of the words
ornamentation
addition of fast notes and vocal effects (such as trills) to a melody, making it more florid and expressive; typically improvised in music of all cultures, and in Western music, is often written out
cadenza
an improvised passage for the soloist in a concerto, or sometimes in other works; in concertos, it usually comes near the ends of movements
coloratura
an ornate style of singing, with many notes for each syllable of text
opera buffa
comic opera in Italian is a genre that replaced the older opera seria tradition
ground bass
constructed form the bottom up, the bass instruments play a single short melody many times, generating the same set of repeated harmonies above it
opera
drama presented in music, with characters singing instead of speaking
Pope Marcellus Mass
famous composition by Palestrina that convinced the pope and his council that composers of complicated polyphonic church music could still set the sacred words clearly enough that the congregation could hear them
toccatas
free-formed pieces meant to capture the spirit of Frescobaldi's own improvisation (means touched in Italian)
Madrigal
harmonized love songs and featured a technique know as "word painting."
basso continuo
has the double effect of clarifying the harmony and making the texture bind or jell
continuo
has the double effect of clarifying the harmony and making the texture bind or jell
aria
highly dramatic songs in which the soloist dwells on thoughts and emotions, with lengthy elaborate runs and high notes
troubadour
love song composers in France
minnesingers
love song composers in Germany
trouveres
love song composers in Northern European countries
Gregorian Chant
named after Pope Gregory who standardized the unaccompanied melodies used in the church service
A cappella
performed by voices alone
Estampie
stamp your foot dance music
texture type in Baroque
standard texture type is polyphonic (or contrapuntal), consists of mainly just a melody and bass count as contrapuntal because of the independent melodic quality of the bass
chorale
the German name for hymns in four parts similar to those found in hymnals today
Don Giovanni
the Italian term for the great lover of all women, Don Juan (one of Mozart's operas)
libretto
the complete book of words for an opera, oratorio, cantata, etc.
Hildegard of Bingen
the first great woman composer; composed plainchant melodies in her own highly individual style, to go with poems that she wrote for special services at her convent
concerto grosso
the main early Baroque type of concerto, for a group of solo instruments and a small orchestra
castrato
the soprano/alto male singer in an Italian opera (males subject to castration to maintain high vocal range through puberty)
absolutism
the time of belief in the divine right of kings, the idea that the right of kings to rule was absolute--total, unlimited--because they were chosen by God
opera seria
the traditional style of opera started in the 1600's by composers such as Monteverdi; based on historically-inaccurate versions of old Greek and Roman stories and myths
Bernart de Ventadorn
was one of the finest troubadour poets and probably the most important musically