Uoft Music 204

Lecture 1

Bach Werk-Verzeichnis (BWV)

• Catalogue number/Index to Bach’s works

Harpsichord        

• Stringed keyboard instrument

Partita

• Means variations or Greek style suite

Homophonic

• In Greek, it means “same-sounding”
• Melodies move in step with one another

Contrapuntal

• Describes counterpoint
• Combination of simultaneously sounding musical lines

Binary form

• A kind of structure where two sections of music are repeated one after the other
• AABB

Spinning out melody

Walking bass

• A type of bass line which moves continuously and with purposeful regularity, steadily
• With contrasting, usually longer note values to those in the upper parts

Sequence

• Repeat of music in a different pitch

Lecture 2

Allemande (duple metre)

• Continuous motion

Corrente (triple metre)

• Motion in running scales

Sarabande (triple metre)

• Stately, accent on the second beat

Minuets I and II (triple metre)

• Elegant

Gigue (duple metre, triple rhythms)

• Lively, imitative

Lecture 3

concerto

• interplay between a small group of solo and a large group ripieno, creating instrumental dialogue
• harpsichord player for the basso continuo

• FSF

• Ritornello: constantly returns, begins in tonic key, might modulate but eventually returns to home key
• Episodes: by solo instruments, contrasting material to ritornello
• solo concerto: full orchestra with a single soloist

concerto grosso

• full orchestra and small group of soloist

concertino

• the group of soloist in a concerto grosso, playing the solo section

ripieno

• the group of orchestral players in a concerto grosso, playing the tutti section

ritornello

• the returning/repeat section, played by tutti

episode

• sections that alternate with ritornello, played by soloists

fugue

• a contrapuntal composition
• after exposition of the subject, episodes (connective passages) keep spinning out
• often also contains a counter-subject
• multiple parts

fugal exposition

• the first voice that enters accompanied bringing in the principal theme, i.e. the subject, of the fugue, then joined by other voices

basso continuo

• the bass line of baroque music which contains figured bass
• upper melody is improvised from the figured basses

“il prete rosso”

• “the red haired priest”, refers to Antonio Vivaldi

Ospedale della Pietà

• A residential school for orphaned girls and young women in Venice, where Vivaldi was appointed director of music
• Combines basic education with religious training and placed a strong emphasis on music

French overture style (ouverture)

• Solemn introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio
• Orchestral music designed to precede a full-length dramatic work
• May or may not come to a full close before the drama begins

1) Slow and grand

2) Dotted rhythms ** important- comes out like a jagged pattern

3) Flourishes

Lecture 4

Chorale

• The congregational hymn of the German Protestant church service
• Both text and melody

Cantata

• A work for one or more voices with instrumental accompaniment
• Consists of succession of contrasting sections, i.e. arias and recitative

cantus firmus texture

• Pre-existing melody as the basis of new polyphonic composition

Imitation

• Repetition of melodic contour of one part by another, often at a different pitch

Recitative – secco (dry) or accompagnato (accompanied)

• Vocal music mimicking dramatic speech, free in rhythm (according to changing meanings of the text)
• A feature of cantatas
• Used to carry the plot forward
• Dry recitative/recitativo secco: only accompanied by bass line
• Accompanied recitative/recitativo accompagnato: accompanied by orchestra (basso continuo), declamatory (expressing feelings and opinions)

Aria

• Lyrical solo voice piece with or without instrumental accompaniment
• During aria, the movements of opera stop
• Time to explore the emotion created by the story
• Usually accompanied by full orchestra
• Ternary form

major mode

minor mode

Cantional style

• Collection of hymn or chorales

Bar form

• AAB form

Lecture 5

Modulation

• change of key

Obbligato

• music written out in full instead of improvised from figured bass

Cadenza

• passage near the end of a concerto movement or aria
• improvised or written out
• decorated cadence

tonic, dominant

motive (motif?)

• short musical idea, subdivision of a theme or phrase

Concerto: a musical composition for a solo instrument or solo instruments with an accompanying orchestra

Concerto Grosso: a composition that involves an orchestra that embodies the concept of contrasting musical bodies whereby the soloist(s) is/are highlighted and the orchestra is contextual. The soloists are one group (concertino) and the orchestra another (ripieno).