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RCM History 10 > Composers > Flashcards

Composers Flashcards

1
Q

What is required?

A
  • musical style
  • contributions/musical influences
  • significant events
  • significant publications
  • stages or style periods (if applicable)
  • innovations
  • representative works
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2
Q

Pope Gregory the Great

A
  • revitalized the churches missionary work
  • organized and codified the chants that had accumulated
  • The Gregorian chant was named in honor of Pope Gregory the Great
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3
Q

Leonin

A
  • produced two part organum, employing discant and organal style
  • wrote the Magnus Liber Organi (Great Book of Organum)
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4
Q

Perotin

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  • Expanded polyphonic technique by composing three- and four part polyphony
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5
Q

Moniot d’Arras

A
  • a monk who lived in France
  • among the last composers in the trouvere tradition
  • Wrote both secular and sacred music
  • his monophonic secular songs used modal melodies and would likely have been performed with an improvised accompaniments
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6
Q

Philipe de Vitry

A
  • a french composer, poet, and bishop
  • author of the treatise of Ars Nova
  • innovator in the notation of rhythm
  • broke free from older patterns and rhythmic modes and used isorhythm
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7
Q

Guillaume de Machaut

A
  • a poet and musician of the French ars nova
  • adopted both sacred and secular roles
  • wrote both monophonic and polyphonic chansons ; monophonic chansons represent continuation of the trouvere tradition
  • completed the first complete polyphonic setting of Mass Ordinary (Mess de Nostre Dame)
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8
Q

Josquin des Prez

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  • One of the most successful and renowned composer of the Franco-Flemish School
  • great master of contrapuntal techniques including imitative counterpoint
  • his music is rich in emotional expression, embodying humanism
  • focused on linking words with the music, employing vivid word painting
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9
Q

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

A

A deeply religious man and also the most important Catholic composer of the 16th century
- associated with the Counter-Reformation
- His music exhibits vocal polyphony in a cappella style
- Most known for his sacred vocal works and innovations in polyphony
- Palestrina Style (The style of counterpoint during the Renaissance)

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10
Q

Carlo Gesualdo

A

An aristocratic Italian composer and lutenist who killed his own wife
- intensely emotional, highly mannered experimental style
- extravagant word painting, abrupt harmonic shifts, and exaggerated chromaticism
- wrote his own texts, often reflecting guilt and remorse
- virtuosic style requires skilled performers

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11
Q

Thomas Morley

A

English Composer, organist, theorist and music publisher
- best known for his English madrigals, balletts, and canzonets demonstrating both homorhythmic and contrapuntal textures, use of nonsense syllables, easily singable melodic lines
- keyboard virtuosity is demonstrating works such as “Goe from my window” from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book
- Influenced by the style of William Byrd

Secular vocal: Madrigals, canzonets, and balletts
Sacred vocal: Burial service and latin motets
Instrumental: keyboard works contained in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book

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12
Q

William Byrd

A

English Renaissance composer and singer in the Chapel Royal
- best known for his keyboard, instrumental ensemble, and sacred vocal works
- composed sacred works in both English and Latin
- composed songs for solo voice accompanied by consort of string ensemble, a distinctly English genre

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13
Q

Claudio Monteverdi

A

The most important composer of early Italian opera
- embraced elements of Baroque style such as figured bass, major-minor tonality monody, and doctrine of the affections
- used chromaticism as an expressive device
- used word painting in madrigals and operas, and increased emotional intensity through the use of stile concitato

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14
Q

Henry Purcell

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Organist, singer, and prolific composer, despite his short life and also the most significant composer of early English opera.

  • incorporated many elements of Baroque style, including major-minor tonality, figured bass, ground bass, sequential repetition, ornamentation
  • Combined the elemtns of national styles by embracing the influence of: lyric arias (Italian style)
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15
Q

Johann Sebastian Bach

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J. S. Bach stands as a towering giant, both for his sheer output and for his contrapuntal genius. Although he is best known as an organist during his lifetime, his music represents the ultimate in Baroque craftsmanship and the culmination of hundreds of years of polyphonic writing.

  • Didn’t invent new forms but perfected existing forms of his day including fugues, concertos, and cantatas
  • great master of contrapuntal art, demonstrating ultimate control of polyphonic textures
  • composed many sacred works for the Lutheran Church
  • Italian Influences: Lyricism of operatic arias, dynamic instrumental style
  • French Influences: Dance rhythms, French overtures, ornamentation
  • English influences: Choral style, English style

Genres and Titles:
Sacred and Secular Cantatas:
Coffee Cantata and Peasant Cantata
Oratorios:
Christmas Oratorio, St. Matthew Passion
Orchestral:
Brandenburg Concertos
Chamber: Sonatas and partitas for violin and cello suites
Musical Offering
Keyboard: Preludes and fugues suites, partitas, variations
Goldberg Variations
Organ:Chorale Preludes, fantasias, preludes, fugues

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16
Q

Jean- Philippe Rameau

A

Rameau is one of the most admired French composer of the late Baroque, being a brilliant organist and harpsichordist. Also one of the great music theorists of all time.

  • developed the French keyboard suite initially along traditional lines, then later by incorporating imaginative character pieces inspired by the suites of Francois Couperin
  • keyboard texture features strong harmonic direction, frequent use of seventh chords, clear modulation schemes, precisely notated embellishments (agrements) and occasional use of counterpoint
  • binary and rondeau forms employed.

Genres and Titles:
Keyboard: 3 published collections of harpsichord music
Operas: Tragedies lyriques and opera-ballets
Theoretical works: Treatise on Harmony

17
Q

George Frideric Handel

A

A German-born English composer of the late Baroque era
- particularly known for his operas, oratorios, and instrumental compositions
- Handel also incorporated aspects of French , German, and English style into his dramatic works
-His most famous work, the oratorio Messiah with its “Hallelujah” chorus, is among the most popular works in choral music

A German-born English composer of the late Baroque era.

  • a cosmopolitan figure he absorbed the international styles of his time: German, French, and Italian
  • use of very basic musical elements (Chordal passages, scale figures) make his style accessible and appealing
  • frequent alteration of homorhyhtmic passages (homophonic) with contrapuntal textures (polyphonic)
  • conveys a sense of pageantry and dramatic theatrical style through grandiose gestures such as full SATB choral sound, bold contrasts of dynamics
18
Q

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach

A

A brilliant organist, renowned for his improvisational skills

  • Composed numerous solo keyboard works, concertos, organ fugues, chamber music, symphonies and sacred cantatas
  • held distinguished posts in Dresden and Halle
19
Q

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

A

Outstanding keyboard player and prolific composer

  • Composed keyboard sonatas, concertos, symphonies, cantatas, and oratorios, including the important treatise Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments
  • worked in Potsdam
20
Q

Johann Christoph Bach

A
  • Composed a solo keyboard music, keyboard concertos, symphonies, cantatas, oratorios, and operas
  • lifelong post at the court of Buckeburg
21
Q

Johann Christian Bach

A
  • Referred to as “The London Bach” or “the English Bach”
  • composed a large body of music, including keyboard works, chamber music, symphonies and operas
  • shaped the Classical Concerto
  • Befriended the young Mozart and exerted a strong musical influence over him
22
Q

Franz Joseph Haydn

A

Referred to as the “father of the Classical symphony” due to his significant contributions to the early development of the genre. Also refereed to as the “father of the string quartet”; he developed this new chamber music genre.

  • fond of experimentation, particularly concerning formal structure
  • embraced the grace and elegance of pre-Classical style but also the dramatic contrasts of Sturm und Drang
  • contributed to the development of sonata form; often included dramatic slow introductions

Genres and Titles:
Symphonies: Over 100
Concertos: for piano, violin, cello, horn, and trumpet
Chamber: 68 string quartets, including “Quinten” and “Emperor”
Oratorios: “The Creation”, “The Seasons”, “The Seven Last Words of Christ”

23
Q

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

A

Mozart was a prolific composer writing over 800 works of every genre of his time

  • exemplified Viennese Classical ideals: elegance, poise, refinement, and sophistication
  • skillful use of counterpoint within homophonic texture
  • contributed to the development of sonata form
  • used double-exposition sonata form in the first movement of a concerto
  • made contributions to opera seria (Serious Italian opera), opera buffa (Italian comic opera), and Singspiel (Opera buffa with spoken with dialogue)
24
Q

Ludwig van Beethoven

A

One of the most widely recognized and admired composers of all time, Beethoven was a bold innovator; a highly original and influential figure.

  • music demonstrates traits associated with both Classical and Romantic style
  • Examples: Replacing the menuet and trio with the scherzo and trio
  • use of cyclical structure
  • programmatic elements
  • inclusion of a chorus in a symphony
  • employed explosive accents, extreme dynamic contrasts
  • incorporated new orchestral instruments: piccolo, trombone, and contrabassoon
25
Q

Stages of Beethoven’s life

A

Early Period “Imitation”:
- absorbed the Classical style traits exhibited by Haydn and Mozart
- Sturm und Drang influence is evident, using tremolo and abrupt contrasts
Middle Period “Externalization”:
- more Romantic elements
- increased use of chromatic harmony and abrupt modulations
- expanded the development and coda sections in sonata-form movements
- replaced the menuet and trio with the scherzo and trio
- experimented with cyclical form
Late Period (deaf) “Reflection”:
- style became more abstract and meditative
- employed counterpoint more frequently including fugal writing
- frequent use of variation technique

26
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RCM History 10 (5 decks)

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