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Music Appreciation Exam 1

Terms in this set (49)

John Cage and 4'33"
Made a composition that was literally just silence. Makes audience focus on whatever noises are being made - audience "composes" this piece
Music Definition
Part of the world of sound.

An art based on the organization of sounds in time.
Pitch
The relative highness or lowness we hear in a sound
Dynamics
Degree of loudness or softness in music
Tone Color (Timbre)
Quality of sound

Ex. Bright, dark, rich, mellow etc.
Range of singers voice depends on...
Training and physical makeup
Male/Female voice ranges
Male - Tenor, Baritone, Bass (thicker vocal cords = lower pitch)

Female - Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Alto (or contralto)
Largest section in the orchestra
Strings
What instrument group has the greatest versatility and expressive range
Strings
Highest pitched orchestral instrument
Piccolo
Stairway to heaven recorders
They're in the song
What replaced the harpsichord?
Piano
Rhythm
A recurring pattern of tension and release, of expectation and fulfillment

Flow of music through time
What are the two parts of a beat
upbeat and downbeat
Meter
Organization of beats into regular groups

Quadruple is the most common in Western music
What makes music interesting
Violation of expectation
Musical texture
How many different layers of sound are heard at once, what kind of layers they are, and how they are related to each other

Transparent, dark, thick, heavy, etc.

Monophonic, Polyphonic, Homophonic
Monophonic texture
Having one sound
Polyphonic texture
Having many sounds
Imitation
Sound or instrument is restated immediately by another
Homophonic texture
Main melody accompanied by chords

Attention focused on melody, supported by sounds of ordinate interest.

Ex. Row row row your boat
Techniques that create musical form
repetition - creates a sense of unity

Contrast - provides variety

Variation - Gives a work unity and variety at the same time
Musical form
The organization of musical elements in time
Three part ternary
A B A
Percussion
Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Bass Drum, Snare Drum, Cymbals, Timpani
Strings
Harp, Piano, First Violins, Second Violins, Viola, Cellos, Double Basses
Woodwinds
Bass Clarinet, Piccolo, Clarinets, Flutes, Bassoons, Oboes, English Horn, Contrabassoon
Brass
French Horns, Trumpets, Trombones, Tuba
Style in music refers to...
A characteristic way of using melody, rhythm, tone color, dynamics, harmony, texture, and form.
Autotune is...
A digital processor that corrects out-of-tune vocal performance
Middle Ages
450-1450

Dominated by the Roman Catholic Church

Sharp division between social classes

Mostly Vocal - Church

Gregorian Chant - texture was Monophonic

Hardly any instruments (Church frowned upon them - Pagans) (exception of pipe organ)
The Renaissance
1450-1600

"rebirth"

Catholic church far less powerful than in Middle ages

Idea of "universal man" - every educated son expected to be trained in music

Composers often used word painting

Texture was chiefly polyphonic

More gentle flow than sharply defined beat

Palaestrina, Pope Marcellus Mass

The Renaissance Lute song - Flow my tears (lute

Instrumental music became more important
Baroque period
1600-1750

"bizarre, flamboyant, elaborately ornamented"

Aristrocracy - musicians for courts etc.

Still religious influence - emotional and theatrical qualities to make worship more attractive
Two main Baroque composers
Bach and Handel
Characteristics of Baroque music
usually expressed one basic mood - what begins joyfully will remain joyful (affections)

Rhythm - moving forward. Beat far more emphasized than in Renaissance

Melody - feeling on continuity

Dynamics - continuity, but when they shift its sudden

Texture - predominantly polyphonic
Terraced dynamics
alternation between loud and soft
Where did common citizens hear music during the baroque period
church
Movement
Baroque period

a piece that sounds fairly complete and independent of a larger composition
Before 1800s music was written to order, to meet specific demands that came mainly from...
Churches and aristocratic courts
Fugue
Baroque period

Polyphonic composition based on one main theme (the subject)

Throughout the fugue different melodic lines called voices imitate the subject
Where was opera born
Italy
Monteverdi and "orfeo"
Baroque composer

Orfeo = opera about Orpheus, a gifted musician of greek myth
Aria
A song for solo voice with orchestral accompaniment

Expresses an emotional state
Recicative
A vocal line that imitates the rhythms and pitch fluctuations of speech
Baroque opera subject matter
Greek mythology and ancient history
Basso ostinato
Ground bass

Bass repeated over and over while the melodies change
How is Bach's music unique
Combination of polyphonic texture and rich harmony
Oratorio
Large scale composition for chorus, vocal soloists, and orchestra

Usually set to narrative texts

Usually based on bibilical stories
Handel's messiah
composed in 24 days

At first poorly received (christian text in theater)

Took about 10 years to become popular
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