The Baroque Period
Book: Music: An Appreciation by Roger Kamien
Terms : Hide Images
| 1804588850 | affections | emotional states like joy, grief, and agitation represented in baroque music through specific musical languages | 0 | |
| 1804588851 | terraced dynamics | the sudden shift of dynamics characteristic of Baroque music | 1 | |
| 1804588852 | clavichord | baroque keyboard instrument in which sound is produced by means of brass blades striking strings, capable of making gradual dynamic changes, but within a narrow volume range | 2 | |
| 1804588853 | basso continuo | Baroque accompaniment made up of a bass part usually played by two instruments: a keyboard plus a low melodic instrument | 3 | |
| 1804588854 | figured bass | bass part of a baroque accompaniment with figures (numbers) above it indicating the chords to be played | 4 | |
| 1804588855 | movement | piece that sounds fairly complete and independent but is part of a larger composition | 5 | |
| 1804588856 | tutti | in Italian: all; the full orchestra, or a large group of musicians contrasted with a smaller group | 6 | |
| 1804588857 | ritornello form | compositional form usually employed in the baroque concerto grosso, in which the tutti plays a refrain, alternating with one or more soloists playing new material | 7 | |
| 1804588858 | ritornello | a repeated section of music usually played by the full orchestra, or tutti | 8 | |
| 1804588859 | subject | theme of a fugue | 9 | |
| 1804588860 | answer | second presentation of the subject in a fugue, usually in the dominant scale | 10 | |
| 1804588861 | countersubject | in a fugue, a melodic idea that accompanies the subject fairly constantly | 11 | |
| 1804588862 | episode | transitional section in a fugue between presentations of the subject, which offers either new material or fragments of the subject or countersubject | 12 | |
| 1804588863 | stretto | compositional procedure used in fugues, in which a subject is imitated before it is completed; one voice tries to catch the other | 13 | |
| 1804588864 | pedal point | a single tone, usually in the bass, which is held while the other voices produce a series of changing harmonies against it | 14 | |
| 1804588865 | inversion | variation of a fugue subject in which each interval of the subject is reversed in direction | 15 | |
| 1804588866 | retrograde | variation of a fugue subject in which the subject is presented by beginning with its last note and proceeding backward to the first | 16 | |
| 1804588867 | augmentation | variation of a fugue subject in which the original time values of the subject are lengthened | 17 | |
| 1804588868 | diminution | variation of fugue subject in which the original times values of the subject are shortened | 18 | |
| 1804588869 | prelude | short piece usually serving to introduce a fugue or another composition | 19 | |
| 1804588870 | libretto | text of an opera | 20 | |
| 1804588871 | librettist | dramatist who writes the libretto of an opera | 21 | |
| 1804588872 | aria | song for solo voice with orchestral accompaniment, usually expressing an emotional state through its outpouring of melody | 22 | |
| 1804588873 | recitative | vocal line in an opera, oratorio, or cantata that imitates the rhythms and pitch fluctuations of speech, often serving to lead into an aria | 23 | |
| 1804588874 | ensemble | in opera, a piece performed by three or more solo singers | 24 | |
| 1804588875 | chorus | a group of singers performing together, generally with more than one to a part | 25 | |
| 1804588876 | prompter | person who gives cues and reminds singers of their words or pitches during an opera performance | 26 | |
| 1804588877 | overture | short musical composition, purely orchestral, which opens an opera and sets the overall dramatic mood | 27 | |
| 1804588878 | camerata | in Italian, fellowship or society; a group of nobles, poets, and composers who began to meet regularly in Florence around 1575 and whose musical discussions prepared the way for the beginning of opera | 28 | |
| 1804588879 | castrato | male singer castrated before puberty to retain a high voice range; the most important category of vocal soloists in opera during the baroque period | 29 | |
| 1804588880 | countertenor | male who sings in a female pitch range using a special kind of voice production | 30 | |
| 1804588881 | secco recitative | speech-like melody that is sung by a solo voice accompanied only by a basso continuo | 31 | |
| 1804588882 | accompanied recitative | speech-like melody that is sung by a solo voice accompanied by the orchestra | 32 | |
| 1804588883 | da capo aria | aria in A B A form; after the B section, the term da capo is written; this means from the beginning and indicates a repetition of the opening A section | 33 | |
| 1804588884 | da capo | from the beginning; an indication usually meaning that the opening section of a piece is to be repeated after the middle section | 34 | |
| 1804588885 | ground bass | variation form in which a musical idea in the bass is repeated over and over while the melodies above it continually change (basso obstinato) | 35 | |
| 1804588886 | trill | musical ornament consisting of the rapid alternation of two tones that are a whole or half step apart | 36 | |
| 1804588887 | suite | a set of dance-inspired movements all written in the same key but differing in tempo, meter, and character | 37 | |
| 1804588888 | french overture | common opening piece in baroque suites, oratories, and operas; usually in two parts: the first slow, with characteristic dotted rhythms, full of dignity and grandeur; the second quick and lighter in mood, often starting like a fugue | 38 | |
| 1804588889 | chorale | hymn tune sung to a German religious text | 39 | |
| 1804588890 | chorale prelude | short composition for organ, based on a hymn tune and often used to remind the congregation of the melody before the hymn is sung | 40 | |
| 1804588891 | arioso | vocal solo more lyrical than a recitative and less elaborate than an aria | 41 |
