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UIL Music Mem 26-27
Vocab
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| A tempo | return to the original tempo. |
| Aida | an Arabic female name that means “visitor” or “returning.” |
| Allegretto | moderately fast. |
| Alto | low female singing voice, abbreviated “A.” |
| Animato | animated, with excitement and spirit. |
| Animato molto | very animated, with much excitement and spirit. |
| Antiphony | a performance style in which two or more groups of musicians perform alternately as separate groups and together. |
| Archaeologist | a person who studies human history by excavating sites and analyzing artifacts. |
| Franco Alfano (1875-1954) | Italian composer and pianist who completed Puccini’s opera Turandot, in 1926. |
| Aria (“air” in Italian) | an operatic song, for one voice, often sung with an orchestra. |
| Arirang (“Beautiful Love”) | the name of a genre of Korean folk songs as well as the name of a famous Korean folk song |
| Arpeggio | chord tones played in succession and not at the same time. |
| Art song | a song for one voice with piano accompaniment, sung in a recital by a trained singer. |
| Articulation | the way the notes are performed |
| Bagatelle | a short composition, typically for the piano, that is light and mellow. |
| Ballet | a story told through music and dancing, performed on a stage with costumes, sets, and lighting. |
| Band | a group of people who play instruments together. |
| Baritone | the most common male singing voice, lower than tenor and higher than bass. |
| Baroque | (1600-1750) musical period between the Renaissance and Classical music eras. The Baroque period ended the year that Bach died. |
| Bass | low male singing voice, abbreviated “B.” |
| Bass clef (F clef) | a sign on a staff that indicates F below middle C (line 4 on the staff). Notes below and including middle C are traditionally written on the bass clef staff. |
| Basso continuo | a type of Baroque accompaniment in which one or more instruments play the bass line and chords. |
| Bianzhong (pee-EHN-jung) | a set of ancient Chinese bells that dates back to 433 B.C. |
| Break strain | a short introduction to the third section of a march, which is called the Trio. |
| Bridge | a musical transition that connects two sections or themes. |
| Cadence | the chords at the end of a phrase that imply the completion of a musical thought. |
| Cadenza | a flashy, ornamental, virtuosic passage in a piece of music that sounds improvised. |
| Cantata | music for voices and instruments in several movements. |
| Chamber orchestra | a few musicians who play in a room (chamber) or small hall |
| Choir | a large group of singers associated with the church (sacred). |
| Chorale | a slow and stately hymn tune sung in church. Chorale melodies are simple, with mostly stepwise movement, a limited range, and simple rhythms. |
| Chorus | a large group of singers not associated with the church (secular). The voices of an adult chorus include soprano (S), alto (A), tenor (T), and bass (B). |
| Chromatic | related to the scale that contains all the white and black keys on the piano. |
| Coda (“tail” in Italian) | the ending of a piece of music. |
| Commando | a soldier of an elite light infantry or special operations force. |
| Compound meter | beats are divided into three parts (6/8, 9/8, 12/8). |
| Concert band | a group of 20-60 musicians who play instruments of the woodwind, brass, and percussion families (plus sometimes string bass, harp, and piano) indoors in a concert setting. |
| Concerto | a composition, usually in three parts or movements, for solo instrument(s) and orchestra. |
| Johann Cramer (1771-1856) | English pianist, composer, and music publisher who was probably responsible for adding the nickname “Jupiter” to Mozart’s Symphony No. 41. |
| Crescendo (cresc.) | gradually louder. |
| D.C. al Coda (“Da Capo al Coda”) (“from the beginning to the Coda” in Italian) | an instruction for the musician to repeat from the beginning (“Capo”) and then play the coda. |
| Decrescendo (decresc.) or diminuendo (dim.) | gradually softer. |
| Development | the second section of the sonata form, after the Exposition, in which the themes are explored and developed through several keys, with some new material added. |
| Dynamics | the volume (loudness or softness) of the sound. |
| Episodes | the sections between the main A sections of a rondo. Each episode is usually in a different key than that of the A section. |
| Erhu | a one-string traditional Chinese fiddle. |
| Nikolaus I, Prince Esterházy (1714-1790) | a Hungarian prince who was Haydn’s principal employer at Esterházy palace. Haydn dedicated his Symphony No. 88 to him. |
| Exposition | the first section of the sonata form, in which the themes are introduced. |
| Fermata | a mark over a note or rest that is to be lengthened by an unspecified amount of time. |
| Finale | the ending section of a piece of non-vocal classical music which has several movements. |
| Folk song | a song that is not written down, but is passed on orally from person to person. Usually, the composer of a folk song is unknown. |
| Forte | a dynamic marking, abbreviated “f” that indicates that the music is to be performed loudly. |
| Fortissimo | a dynamic marking, abbreviated “ff” that indicates that the music is to be performed very loudly. |
| Fortississimo (pronounced for-tees-EES-ee-mo) | a dynamic marking, abbreviated “fff” that indicates that the music is to be performed very, very loudly. |
| Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810-1876) | German poet who wrote the poem used by Liszt for “Liebestraum No. 3.” |
| Harpsichord | the main keyboard instrument in Renaissance and Baroque music (from about 1400 to 1750). The invention of the piano in the late 1700s caused the harpsichord’s popularity to decline. |
| E.T.A. Hoffman (Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann) (1776-1822) | German Romantic author of fantasy and gothic horror, as well as a jurist, composer, music critic, and artist. |
| Homophony | music with a melody accompanied by chords, with all the notes moving the same way. |
| Hong Kong | a special administrative territory in South China, the fourth-most densely-populated region of the world, and a major financial center and trade port. Hong Kong was a British colony from 1842 to 1997. |
| Idée fixe (ee-day fix) | a recurring theme that represents an idea, object, or character and unifies a musical work. |
| Interlude | a section of music inserted between the parts of a longer composition. |
| Introduction | the opening section of a march, which is usually played forte (loud), to grab the listener’s attention. |
| Legato | articulation term that indicates that notes are smooth and connected. Groups of legato notes are marked with a curved line above or below the note head. |
| Libretto (“book” in Italian) | contains all the words and stage directions for an opera. |
| Liebestraum | “dream of love” in German. |
| Lyrics | the words of a song. |
| Major or minor tonality | the key of a piece of music, determined by relationships between notes of the home scale. |
| March | a piece of music with a strong beat, written for marching to and often performed by a military band. The verb “march” means to move along steadily with a measured step and a regular measured stride |
| Marching band | a group of musicians who play similar instruments to those of a concert band (but no string bass, harp, or piano) outdoors in a parade or in field shows (half time show at a football game). |
| Melody | a line of single pitches that move up, down, or repeat (the tune of the music). |
| Meter | the way beats of music are grouped, usually in sets of two, three, or four beats. |
| Mezzo-forte | a dynamic marking, abbreviated “mf” that indicates that the music is to be performed medium loudly. |
| Mezzo-piano | a dynamic marking, abbreviated “mp” that indicates that the music is to be performed medium softly. |
| Military band | a full band rather than brass band. |
| Miniature | a short musical composition. |
| Minuet | a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time (3 beats per measure). The minuet was the most popular ballroom dance of Mozart’s time. |
| Mode | an alternative scale created by starting on a different scale tone of the traditional major scale. The Ionian mode is the same as the major scale. |
| Motif | a short succession of notes that produce a single impression. |
| Musical form | the overall structure of a piece of music. |
| Musical prodigy | a child (under age 12) who displays a talent in music on the same level as a skilled adult musician. |
| Nocturne | a dreamy, romantic, reflective piano piece inspired by the night. |
| Nutcracker | a tool to crack open hard nuts. Nutcrackers with levers were used in the 13th century. In the 1800s wooden soldier doll nutcrackers were created in Germany, where they were thought to bring good luck to their owners. |
| Opera | a story told completely through music. The characters sing with an orchestra and act out the story on a stage with costumes, scenery, props, and choreography. |
| Opera aria (“air” in Italian) | a song from an opera for one voice, often sung with an orchestra. |
| Opera chorus | a group of singers that sings the parts of the townspeople or other special groups of characters in an opera. The chorus is made up of sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses, and those parts are often divided. |
| Overture | an orchestral introduction to a longer work or a similar piece that can stand alone. An overture prepares the audience for the music to come. |
| Pentatonic scale | a musical scale with five notes per octave (do re mi sol la). The intervals of the pentatonic scale correspond to the notes of the black keys on a piano. |
| Phrase | a musical thought found in a melody. Phrases combine to form larger sections. |
| Pianissimo | a dynamic marking, abbreviated “pp” that indicates that the music is to be performed very softly. |
| Piano | a dynamic marking, abbreviated “p” that indicates that the music is to be performed softly. |
| Pietà | an orphanage for girls in Venice where Vivaldi taught. |
| Polyphony | music that has two or more independent melodies woven together. |
| Program music | music written to portray events, activities, or moods. |
| Program symphony | a symphony with a story behind it, where the music portrays events or moods. |
| Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) | great Russian Romantic poet, playwright, and novelist. His 1820 fairy tale poem is the basis of Glinka’s opera, Ruslan and Lyudmila. |
| Recapitulation | the third section of the sonata form, after the Exposition and Development, in which the themes of the Exposition are restated. |
| Ricercar (“to try” or “seek out” in Italian) | a composition for instruments in which one or more themes are developed through melodic imitation. A ricercar explores a theme or mode. |
| Ritardando | a gradual slowing down, abbreviated ritard. or rit. |
| Ritornello (“return” in Italian) | a recurring section of music, usually played by the chamber orchestra, that alternates with different contrasting sections. |
| Rondo | a musical form in which the main theme alternates with contrasting themes or sections A B A C A. |
| Rubato (“robbed” in Italian) | temporary disregard of strict tempo; instead, becoming slightly faster or slower for expressive purposes. |
| Scaffold | a platform where criminals are hanged or beheaded. |
| Serenade | originally an evening love song sung under a lady’s window. In Mozart’s time it was a light instrumental composition with several movements. Serenades were also called “Nachtmusik.” |
| Simple meter | beats are divided into two equal parts (2/4, 3/4, 4/4). |
| Harriet Smithson (1800-1854) | Irish Shakespearean actress who was the first wife and muse of Berlioz. |
| Solo | music for one performer. |
| Sonata form | a musical form established by Haydn and Mozart. Also called “sonata-allegro form” because the tempo is frequently fast, and “first movement form” because it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces. |
| the final movement. Its sections include | exposition, development, recapitulation, and coda. |
| Song cycle | a group of songs with a common theme or that tell a story, designed to be performed in sequence without a break. |
| Soprano | high female singing voice, abbreviated “S.” |
| Staccato | articulation term that indicates that notes are detached, separated. Staccato notes are marked with a dot above or below the note head. |
| Robert Lousis Stevenson (1850-1894) | a Scottish novelist and poet. His most famous works are Treasure Island, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and A Child’s Garden of Verse. |
| Stinger | a loud punctuated chord at the end of a march. |
| Strain | a section of a march. The First Strain is the first dominant melody. The Second Strain is usually performed piano (soft) the first time and forte (loud) on the repeat. |
| Suite | a musical form made up of a collection of short pieces. |
| Symphony | a musical composition with three or more movements for orchestra. |
| Tempo (“time” in Italian) | the speed of the beat. |
| Tenor | high male singing voice, abbreviated “T.” |
| Terraced dynamics | an expressive musical style in which the volume shifts abruptly from soft to loud and back again. |
| Texture | the way the sounds are combined, or the way layers of sound interact in a musical composition. |
| Theme | the main melody of a section or composition. |
| Theme and Variations | a musical form in which the theme, or main melody, is stated and then repeated with alterations to the melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, tempo, and/or texture. |
| The “Three B’s” | the group of German composers (Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig Van Beethoven, and Johannes Brahms). |
| Transcription | rewriting a piece of music for a different instrument. |
| Treble clef (G clef) | a sign on a staff that indicates G above middle C (line 2 on the staff). Notes above middle C are traditionally written on the treble clef staff. |
| Trio (Mozart 41) | the middle contrasting section of a three-part movement, named “trio” because it was originally written for three instruments. Trio sections usually have a light, simple texture. |
| Trio (Sousa) | the third section of a march. The Trio is more lyrical (song-like), and is usually the main melody of the march. |
| Turandot | “daughter of Turan” in Persian. Turan is a region in Central Asia. |
| Tutti (“all” in Italian) | music for the whole orchestra. |
| Ludwig Uhland (1787-1862) | German poet who wrote the poems used by Liszt for “Liebestraum No. 1” and “Liebestraum No. 2.” |
| Vagabond | a person who wanders from place to place without a home or job. |
| Variation | a technique where music is repeated with alterations to the melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, tempo, and/or texture. |
| Virtuoso | a person who exhibits the highest level of mastery, technical ability, and artistry in music. |
| Virtuoso pianist | a piano player who possesses a dazzling, flawless command of the piano and pushes it and the performer to their limits. |
| Whole-tone scale | a musical scale in which each of the notes are separated by a whole step. |
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