Music Appreciation Vocabulary Lesson 3
psaltery
a plucked or struck string instrument
Motet
a polyphonic choral work set to a sacred Latin text other than the ordinary of the mass; one of the two main forms of sacred Renaissance music
pipe
a tubular wind instrument
Ballata
an Italian poetic and musical form that originated as a dance-song with the structure A BB AA
shawm
an early double-reed woodwind instrument
recorder
an early flute
sackbut
an early trombone
viol
bowed string instrument
A cappella
choral music without instrumental accompaniment
troubadours and trouvères
French nobles that composed the first large body of secular songs surviving in decipherable notation in the 12th-13th centuries
hallelujah
Hebrew for praise ye the Lord
ars nova
Latin for new art
alleluia
a Latinized form of the Hebrew hallelujah
rebec
a bowed string instrument
pavane/passamezzo
a court dance in duple meter performed in pairs
galliard
a court dance in triple meter performed in pairs
estampie
a medieval dance
Choir
a performing group
Venetian school
composers of sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century Venice who—inspired by the two widely separated choir lofts of St. Mark's Cathedral—often wrote music for several choruses and groups of instruments
Madrigal
composition for several voices set to a short secular poem, usually about love, combining homophonic and polyphonic textures and often using word painting; common in Renaissance music
Drone
consists of one or more long, sustained tones accompanying a melody
Mass ordinary
consists of texts that remain the same from day to day throughout the church year. The five sung prayers of the ordinary are the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.
Ballett/fa-la
dancelike song for several voices, mostly homophonic in texture, with the melody in the highest voice and the syllables fa-la occurring as a refrain after each stanza; common in English Renaissance music
Measured rhythm
definite time values and clearly defined meter
cantus firmus
meaning fixed melody; a chant that is used as the basis for polyphony
Organum
medieval polyphony that consists of Gregorian chant and one or more additional melodic lines
Gregorian chant
monophonic in texture and consists of melody set to sacred Latin texts and sung without accompaniment; Gregorian chant was the official music of the Roman Catholic church
Polychoral motet
motet for two or more choirs, often including groups of instruments
Word painting
musical representation of specific poetic images often found in Renaissance and baroque music
rondeau
one of the main poetic and musical forms in fourteenth- and fifteenth-century France
Lute
plucked string instrument shaped like half a pear; used in Renaissance and baroque music
School of Notre Dame
refers to Leonin and Perotin, two successive choirmasters of Notre Dame and the first notable composers known by name, and their followers
Mass
sacred choral composition made up of five sections: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei
Church modes
scales containing seven tones with an eighth tone duplicating the first an octave higher, but with patterns of whole and half steps different from major and minor scales; used in medieval, Renaissance, and twentieth-century music and in folk music
regal
small organs with reed pipes
jongleurs
wandering minstrels; juggler comes from this French word
cornett
wooden instrument with a cup-shaped mouthpiece
