Glossary of Musical Terms

Terms

One of life’s joys is listening to music. To appreciate music it’s helpful to know some musical terms. I’ve found that being aware of these terms help me notice and appreciate the music I listen to.

A melody is conjunct if it tends to progress along adjacent notes in the scale. I.e., there are only small, smooth jumps. A melody is disjunct if it tends to progress with big jumps. The terms are usually relative.

Plainchant, often referred to as Gregorian chant, is unadorned and monophonic chanting.

Soprano-Alto-Tenor-Bass (SATB) are the four voices used in choral works.

Organum was the earliest composed and notated polyphony. Organum presents a plainchant in one voice, while another voice decorates and embellishes the plainchant.

Melisma is a group of notes sung to one syllable of text.

A madrigal is a part-song for several voices, especially one of the Renaissance period, typically arranged in elaborate counterpoint and without instrumental accompaniment.

A note is a notated pitch with duration.

A melody is a succession of notes.

A motif is a brief succession of notes that is sequenced, repeated, and transformed to produce a melody.

A tune is a generally singable melody with a clear sense of beginning, middle, and end.

The theme is the principle “musical idea” in a given section of music.

A motifs is not the same as a melody or a theme; they are smaller, a few notes.

Texture refers to the number of melodies present and the relationship between or among those melodies in a given section of music.

Monophony consists of a single unaccompanied melody line.

Polyphony, or counterpoint, consists of two or more simultaneous melody lines of equal importance. Imitative polyphony is characterized by overlapping more or less the same melody line in multiple parts. The imitation can be strict (e.g., a canon or round) or, as is mostly the case, non-strict. Non-imitative polyphony is characterized by two or more different melodies of equal importance heard simultaneously.

Homophony texture has one predominant melody line, and all other melodic material is heard as secondary or accompaniment to the main melody.

A fugue is a non-imitative polyphonic composition in which a short melody or phrase (the subject) is introduced by one part and successively taken up by others and developed by interweaving of parts. From Latin fuga ‘flight’.

An oratorio is a large-scale musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists that tells a narrative through music without the theatrical scenery, costumes, or acting of an opera.

Aria is a style of singing in which words are stretched out a lot and extra syllables are inserted.

Recitative is a style of singing that mimics the natural rhythms, inflections, and pacing of ordinary speech.

Arioso is between an aria and recitative; it generally does not repeat (unlike an Aria).

A string quartet is a piece for two violins, a viola, and a cello. The standard form has four movements:

1. An allegro in sonata form in the tonic key.
2. A slow movement in a related key.
3. A minuet and trio.
4. A rondo (or sonata rondo) in the tonic key.

Sonata form (also called sonata allegro form) has an initial theme (A) in the tonic and a second theme (B) in a separate key. Typically both are repeated in an exposition. Then the composer plays with the relationship, or harmonies, between the two themes. Finally, the themes are played again in the tonic key. This is a simplification; sometimes there is a slower introduction at the start, a codetta to end the exposition, and often a coda at the end.

A minuet is a slower dance form of french origin, usually in 3/4 time. A trio is also a 3/4 time dance, so minuet and trio form is an ABA form where the “B” is the trio section. Often the minuet and trio contrast.

A rondo is a musical form where a primary theme or refrain (A) keeps returning, separated by contrasting sections called episodes (B, C, etc.).

Composers

Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643)

• Italian
• Wrote his first book of Madrigals before he turned twenty; ended up writing nine total. His eighth, and last published, Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi, includes complex instrumentation and operatic pieces
• Helped define opera by interspersing recitative with arias
• His L’Orfeo is the oldest operas routinely performed
• Directed music at the Basilica of St Mark in Venice

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)

• German and devout lutheran
• Came from a musical family
• Was also a great organist
• Career was defined by four different jobs
  • Church job 1
  • One was for a prince?
    • Composer Goldberg variations
  • Church job 2
  • Church job 3?
• Has 22 kids

George Frederic Handel (1685–1759)

• German, but moved to London and became an “English Composer”
• Cosmopolitan; you can visit the house he lived (but never married) in.
• Ran multiple opera companies; when styles shifted away from Italian opera, he reinvented himself with his english Oratorios.
• His operas were not performed for many years, but have seen a resurgence.
• Messiah is the oldest piece that’s been continuously performed
• Pieces
  • Messiah

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809)

• Brought into Vienna from a village as a choirboy.
• Put out on the streets when his voice broke, he resourcefully supported himself giving lessons, accompanying students, and networking.
• Eventually appointed music director for the Hungarian Esterházy court, where he had great freedom among routine duties. Prince Nicholas was an amateur player of an obscure instrument. Haydn would play viola in a trio with his prince, and ultimately composed 200 pieces for this obscure instrument.
• Father of the String Quartet (wrote ~70)
• Also really popularized the symphony form (wrote 104)
• When prince Nicholas died, his frugal and less cultured son phased out the musical and theatrical establishment at the court, and gave Haydn a salary with no responsibilities. Haydn, then 59, moved to Vienna.
• Pieces
  • “Die Shöpfung”