MUSIC 120 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Monophony, Ritornello, Brandenburg Concertos
MUSIC 120 MIDTERM REVIEW
MEDIEVAL ERA
Pope Gregory the Great: standardized & codified Latin/Gregorian chant
Hildegard von Bingen: medieval abbess – and a polymath: dramatist, composer, essayist,
mystic, poet & author on health & science: First major composer for whom we have biographical
info.
Notre Dame Polyphony & Perotin: Best 13th-century composer of three- and four-part organum
(including “Gaudi Maria virgo”]
RENAISSANCE ERA
Guillaume de Machaut: b. 1300, his Missa Notre Dame establishes the “mass” as the ultimate
musical genre for Renaissance-era composition. Leading figure of Ars Nova innovations in
notation, etc.
Josquin de Prez: Renaissance master: motet, “Ave Maria . . .”; critical feature is a contrapuntal
technique: points of imitation. “Ave Maria . . .” also presents shifts in texture, from polyphonic
to homophonic.
BAROQUE ERA
Claudio Monteverdi: Early Baroque composer who wrote the music for the first operatic
masterpiece, L’ Orfeo. Monteverdi’s opera was informed by his madrigal composition AND by
Camerata theories. Monteverdi worked for Count Gonzaga at his Mantua court.
Orfeo: world’s greatest musician; see “Tu se morta,” an expressive recitative, rich in word
painting.
Henry Purcell: English, masque/opera “Dido & Aeneas”; “Dido’s Lament” aria for singer and
string orchestra. Basic musical structure and form is based on a descending ground/ostinato
lament bass. Performed at girl’s school in Chelsea.
Dido: queen of Carthage sings a paired recitative & “lament” aria: basso ostinato despair & fated
death.
Antonio Vivaldi: “the red priest” wrote over 500 concerti (solo & grosso). His “laboratory” for
composition was at a girl’s school in Vienna; the Pieta orchestra. The Four Seasons, four
concertos for solo violin and strings; La Primavera, Baroque programmatic work; each
movement prefaced by sonnet.
Johann Sebastian Bach: J.S. Bach represents the culmination of Baroque style; synthesizer of
international styles – Italian, French (suites), and German Lutheran tradition. Composer of
Chorale Cantata No. 140 (“Wachet Auf . . .” ), fugues, and concerti, and of all major Baroque
forms, except Italian opera. “Sleepers Awake”: a tenor “aria” based on chorale melody and text.
George Handel: German-born English composer: master of Italian opera & originator of
English Oratorio. [Oratorio: originated in Rome; sacred text and subjects; has plots & characters
but no costumes or scenery, as per opera; does have aria, recitative, ensemble, orchestra,
continuo – all operatic musical forms. A critical feature is a narrator, called a historicus.
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CLASSICAL (aka, “Galant”) ERA & STYLE
Joseph Haydn: One of the Viennese Classical School, Haydn established the string quartet and
symphony as principal Classical-era instrumental genres. Haydn was composer of over 100
symphonies. Working at Esterhaza Palace for Nicholas “the Magnificent,” Haydn’s was “forced
to become original.”
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: wunderkind wonder performer; master of all “Classical” genres,
including both Italian & German operatic forms, string quartet, symphony, and concerto.
Don Giovanni: anti-hero of Mozart’s opera of the same name; murderous Spanish nobleman
who seduces women.
Ludwig van Beethoven: the first free-lance composer, Beethoven comes on the cusp of the
Classical and Romantic eras. Beethoven influenced all of Romantic period and beyond. Nine
symphonies (cf. Haydn’s over a hundred symphonies).
Napoleon Bonaparte: French Revolutionary war hero, general, and later First Consul (dictator);
the original dedicatee of Beethoven’s Eroica (“Heroic’)
Symphony No. 3.
Friedrich Schiller: Beethoven’s favorite poet and author of “Ode to Joy,” whose text was set to
music in the finale of Beethoven’s last symphony, Symphony No. 9 , “The Choral”
VOCABULARY
Gregorian Chant: monophonic sacred hymns.
Notre Dame Polyphony: (see notes on Perotin)
Renaissance madrigal: see Arcadelt
Renaissance motet: see Josquin, “Ave Maria . .”
SATB: high to low arrangement of singing voices (soprano, alto, tenor, bass): see Josquin: same
terminology applies to the instrumental “voices” in Bach fugues.
melodic contour (see “Tu se morta”)
chord (three or more notes sounded together)
a cappella (voices only – no instruments)
monody (17th-century Italian vocal idioms for one vocalist with accompaniment: see aria &
recitative)
The Camerata (intellectual society who first imagined the forms of monody)
strophic form: wherein musical passages recycle throughout a vocal piece; lyrical content can
change)
stanza/strophe (see above)
timbre (tone color)
harmony (chords)
tempo (rate or speed of music)
texture(s)
monophony (one melodic part)
polyphony (two or more melodic parts sounding simultaneously)
homophony (chords and ONE prominent melody
word/text painting (see “Tu se morta,” “Dido’s Lament”)
melismatic/melisma (many notes sung per one syllable)
syllabic style singing (one note per syllable, as per MOST recitative)
recitative (vocal style that imitates speech patterns – like heightened speech.)
aria: Solo voice with orchestral support; emotional and tuneful.
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Document Summary
Pope gregory the great: standardized & codified latin/gregorian chant. Hildegard von bingen: medieval abbess and a polymath: dramatist, composer, essayist, mystic, poet & author on health & science: first major composer for whom we have biographical info. Notre dame polyphony & perotin: best 13th-century composer of three- and four-part organum (including gaudi maria virgo ] 1300, his missa notre dame establishes the mass as the ultimate musical genre for renaissance-era composition. Leading figure of ars nova innovations in notation, etc. Josquin de prez: renaissance master: motet, ave maria . ; critical feature is a contrapuntal technique: points of imitation. also presents shifts in texture, from polyphonic to homophonic. Claudio monteverdi: early baroque composer who wrote the music for the first operatic masterpiece, l" orfeo. Monteverdi"s opera was informed by his madrigal composition and by. Monteverdi worked for count gonzaga at his mantua court. Orfeo: world"s greatest musician; see tu se morta, an expressive recitative, rich in word painting.
