Exploring Music Ch. 17-22

interval spanning 8 notes of the scale

the smallest interval used in Western music; divides the octave into 12 of these

two half steps

made up of 12 half steps; used by Romantic-era composers to charge the music with emotion

built on patterns of seven whole and half steps that form major and minor scales

#; a symbol that raises a pitch by a half step

b; a symbol that lowers a tone by a half step

tritonic (three note patterns), pentatonic (five) and heptatonic (seven note patterns other than major and minor)

used by some world cultures; intervals smaller than half steps; used in scales from other cultures, like Indian ragas, that have extra-musical associations

a composition is set in the ___ of C major, so it is built around the central tone C, using harmonies formed by the C-major scale

basic harmonic principle at work in most Western music written from around 1600 to 1900

created by a specific pattern of whole (W) and half (H) steps (W-W-H-W-W-W-H); can be built with this pattern starting on any pitch

do; the ultimate point of rest

sol, represents the active harmony

has a lowered third degree; very different mood and coloring; pattern is (W-H-W-W-H-W-W); may begin on any of the twelve tones of an octave

half steps; rest of the notes without sharps or flats are whole step

some music of India; the scale formations contain certain pitches that are heard only in one direction; have extra-musical associations, like w/certain emotions or seasons, etc.

built on the first scale tone; the home base to which active chords need to resolve; the three-note chord (triad) built on the first scale tone known as the I chord

the dominant on V and subdominant on IV (Amen); both resolved on chord I

when composers shift the pitch level of an entire work

when composers change the center, or key, during a work

create tension and drama

1600-1750 (ended with the death of Bach); a time of turbulent change in politics, science, and the arts; also a time of religious wars (Protestants vs. Catholics) and of exploration and colonization of the New World; era of absolute monarchy

middle-class culture, with music-making centered in the home, church, and at the universities; art portrayed scenes of burgeois life

a group at the universities where music-making centered; still functions on many campuses today

the singing of psalms, important to both Protestants and Catholics

creative artists played a variety of roles in Baroque society; some famous painters were also ambassadors and friends of princes; composer also a priest; artists usually functioned under royal or princely patronage or were employed by a church or city administration; in all cases, artists were in direct contact with their public

a new style introduced during the Baroque era; features a solo song with instrumental accompaniment

groups of writers and musicians (such as the Florentine Camerata) to recreate the musical-dramatic art of ancient Greece

notated harmony with this; a shorthand that allowed the performer to supply the chords through improvisation

the bass part; often played by two instruments (harpsichord and cello, for example)

established in the Baroque era; a shift to a simpler style based on a single-line melody and less complex harmonies; the thrust to the keynote, or tonic, became the most powerful force in music

tuning system established in the Baroque era; allowed instruments to play in any key without any unpleasant sounds

moved more freely

is characterized by regular rhythms and continuous melodic expansion

the level of virtuosity and playing techniques rose

expressed during the Baroque period; the union of text and music

women musicians

a group of Florentine writers, artists, and musicians that first cultivated monody; name is derived from the Italian word for "salon"; were aristocratic humanists who aimed to resurrect the musical-dramatic art of ancient Greece; deduced that music must heighten the emotional power of the text; egnaged in excited discussions about le nuove musiche (the new music) which they proudly named "the expressive style"

invented during the Baroque period; when the Camerata engaged in excited discussions about le nuove musiche, which they proudly named "the expressive style"; soon realived that this style could be applied not only to a short poem but also to an entire drama; most important new genre of the Baroque era; a large-scale drama that combines poetry, acting, scenery, and costumes with singing and instrumental music

dissonance and dynamics for emotional intensity and color; rhythm and melody

a male singer who was castrated during boyhood in order to preserve the soprano or alto register of his voice for the rest of his life; after years of training had an incredibly agile voice of enormous range and lung power

a prolific Italian composer of secular and sacred music; a singer and participant in the famous literary academies of early 17th century Venice; noted singer and composer of cantatas, madrigals, and solo motets in the virtuosic new style (monody)

orchestral overture (may introduce melodies from the aria), solo arias (lyrical songs which release through melody the emotional tension accumulated in the course of the action; usually highley emotional) and recitatives (speechlike declamations of the text, generally advance the plot and action), and ensemble numbers, including choruses; also sometimes has sinfonias, or interludes between scenes by the orchestra

writes the text of the opera

early Baroque master; wrote operas based on mythology and Roman history; helped establish the love duet as a central component of opera

English composer; wrote Dido and Aeneas, based on The Aeneid, a Roman epic by Virgil about a man who is shipwrecked and meets Dido who falls in love with him, but he has to leave so she kills herself

two styles of recitative that became standard; the first is accompanied only by continuo instruments and moves with great freedom (dry), the second is accompanied by the orchestra and thus moves more evenly

a formal convention that developed early in the genre's history, a ternary form

combined colorful, sumptuous dance scenes and spectacular choruses in tales of courtly love and heroic adventure; a French national style drawn from strong tradition of court ballet and classical tragedy

English, a type of entertainment that combined vocal and instrumental music with poetry and dance; popular among aristocracy

dominated late Baroque opera; music included lots on international features; dramatic works were opera seria, or serious Italian opera; later turned toward the oratorio, a music drama based on a religious subject, like Messiah in 1742

Italian; a vocal genre for solo singers and instrumental accompaniment based on lyric, dramatic, or narrative poetry

expresses personal emotion and allows the music to dominate the story

writeen for performance in a play (ex: a comedy or tragedy)

tells a story, following characters through a plot

agitated style; first introduced by Monteverdi; later used by Strozzi