Music Appreciation Ch. 5

fugue

Bach was a master at writing fugues. The fugue is one of the most complex forms ever written.

French Overture

Messiah opens with an instrumental overture of the type called French Overture.French Overture opens with a slow section, often including double dotted rhythms. Traditionally, the general audience would be seated before the overture began, and then the king (or queen) would enter in a stately march during the overture. The second section of the overture, after the monarch was seated was contrapuntal and fast, setting the tempo for the opening of the opera or oratorio.

Monody

an elaborated melodic line supported by a simple accompaniment. Though begun in opera, monodic texture became the defining characteristic of Baroque music- instrumental as well as vocal. Monodic style was defining of all Baroque music. Listen for the simplified style in the instrumental examples.

Aria

aria (strophic song) ...The focus of opera became the solo song, rather than choral or instrumental music, and solos were separated into two distinct styles: the aria and the recitative.

Style recitativo

The style is halfway between singing and recitation

Concerto grosso and solo concerto

The solo concerto involves one soloist, in dialogue with full orchestra. Concerto grosso pits a solo group against orchestra.

Opera

composers who sought to involve their audiences reinterpret what they learned about Greek practice to create a musical drama. Wealthy middle class of merchants. Characteristics of Opera Held in a theatre to accommodate a paying audience Characters tell the story and present it dramatically with costumes, dramatic gestures, props, and scenery. Chorus singers provide choral backgrounds and portray crowd scenes An orchestra accompanied the action on stage.

Baroque

derogatory label that means misshapen pearl. The word Baroque comes from barocco -irregular shaped pearl

Oratorio

developed out of the opera. The equivalent to opera in sacred music was the oratorio. Oratorios had the same musical content as opera, without the staging and costumes. An oratorio was a long dramatic work, often two to three hours long, just like an opera. Like opera it contained numbers- recitative, aria, chorus, and instrumental interludes. The main difference between the two was that oratorio was sung by a choir and soloists who stood in place, without acting out the drama. This was probably due to the intrinsic decorum required in narrating sacred texts: elaborate acting, scenery, and costumes would have seemed out of place in the church at that time.

Recitativo secco

had a speech-like melody with a simple basso continuo accompaniment.

chorale

was a hymn sung in the Lutheran church. The melodies came from popular music of the time so that everyone in the congregation would know the tunes

Da capo aria

was a ternary form beginning with an A section, followed by a contrasting B section. The returning A section was not written out; the performer went back to the beginning, repeating A with their own improvised ornaments.

Equal temperament

was a tuning system based upon the division of the octave into twelve equal half steps. This new system of temperament made it possible to play in any key

Recitativo accompagnato

was used in intense dramatic situations and was accompanied by the full orchestra

Ripieno

orchestra plus soloists

Basso Continuo

played by two instruments, a bass and keyboard instrument. Produced a solid bass, florid treble, and improvised chords

Recitative

the recitative (sung dialogue)...The focus of opera became the solo song, rather than choral or instrumental music, and solos were separated into two distinct styles: the aria and the recitative.

ritornello form

Listen to La Primavera for full orchestra and violin soloist(s). Notice how the full orchestra alternates with passages for the soloist(s). We call the sections where the full orchestra plays, ritornello for the fact that they return over and over again.

Florentine Camerata

The birth of opera began with the Florentine Camerata, a group of musicians, poets, scholars and scientists who met in the home of Giovanni de' Bardi, Count of Vernio (b. Florence 1534-1612) to discuss the revival of ancient Greek drama.

Antonio Vivaldi as a composer of concerti

Vivaldi established the essentials of Baroque melodic style emphasizing very simple elements: Scales- moving up and down the steps of major and minor scales Arpeggios- outlining triads of a chord, one note at a time Sequences- repeating a short melodic idea, over and over again, starting on a different pitch every time Most prolific composer of concerti - he wrote over 450!

Terraced dynamics

Volume of the music gets louder or softer by adding or subtracting instruments rather than individual instruments getting louder or softer.

Concertino

a group of soloist

program music

a piece that tells a story with music rather than words

Figured bass

a series of numerals under the bass line indicating the harmony to be supplied by the player.

Cantata

developed out of the opera. a choral composition in several movements 30-45 minutes long for solo voice(s), instruments, and chorus. From the Latin word cantare meaning "to sing" Associated with the worship music for the early Lutheran church (most are sacred) Cantata is similar to opera and oratorio Aria, recitative, chorus, and orchestra and organ were regular parts of the cantata. Each cantata was built around a simple hymn tune called a chorale Chorale melodies were taken from plainsong, folk music, and popular music

Arioso

somewhere between aria and recitative