Unit 5 (Modern Era)

Question 1

symphony

Answer 1

• a multi-movement orchestral work, typically in 4 movements

- developed in the 18th-century especially by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven

Question 2

cyclical structure

Answer 2

• a material heard in one movement recurs in later movements

- creates structural unity in a multi-movement work

Question 3

glissando

Answer 3

• on the harp, a quick strumming of all the strings with a broad sweeping hand movement
• on the piano, a rapid ascending or descending “strumming” of the keys

Question 4

whole tone scale

Answer 4

• a non-traditional scale that consists of 6 different pitches, all spaced a whole tone apart

Question 5

pentatonic scale

Answer 5

• a scale consisting of 5 different pitches

- common to the folk music of many European and Asian cultures

Question 6

changing meter

Answer 6

• a common trait in 20th-century music
• the time signature changes frequently and unpredictably
• a rejection of standard metrical patterns in favour of non-symmetrical groupings

Question 7

ostinato

Answer 7

• a short rhythmic or melodic pattern repeated throughout a section or a work

Question 8

polytonality

Answer 8

• the simultaneous use of 2 or more keys

Question 9

quotation in music

Answer 9

• music that parodies another composition or style

- draws a melody from a pre-existing work and presents it in a new guise

Question 10

ballet

Answer 10

• a highly stylized type of dance that often interprets a story
• first developed in the 17th-century; 19th-century ballet reached its zenith at the Russian court
• Russian dancers dominated the ballet scene

Question 11

choreography

Answer 11

• the art of designing the dance steps and movements in a ballet (or musical)

Question 12

en pointe

Answer 12

• French for “on point”
• a challenging dance technique practiced by ballerinas and used in traditional requires the dancer to dance and balance on their toes with the help and specially constructed dance slippers

Question 13

twelve-tone music

Answer 13

• a method of composition developed by Schoenberg
• an approach used to organize atonal music
• based on a fixed order of the 12 chromatic pitches forming a tone row

Question 14

tone row

Answer 14

• fixed order of the 12 chromatic pitches
• basis of a 12-tone composition
• undergoes manipulation: transposition, inversion, retrograde, retrograde-inversion

Question 15

canon

Answer 15

• a strict imitation of a musical line at a fixed interval throughout
• can be a complete polyphonic composition or a technique used within a work

Question 16

Klangfarbemelodie

Answer 16

• German for “tone-colour melody”
• a concept developed by Schoenberg
• individual notes of a melody are distributed among several instruments
• creates angular melody and sparse sound

Question 17

Sprechstimme

Answer 17

• German for “speech-voice”
• a vocal technique developed by Schoenberg and used for the first time in his song cycle Pierrot lunar
• sounds like “pitched-speaking”

Question 18

rondeau

Answer 18

• poetic form developed in the 14th-century

- the musical rondeau often took its shape from the poem’s structure

Question 19

celesta

Answer 19

• a percussion instrument resembling a small upright piano
• metal bars struck by hammers that have been activated by a keyboard
• produces delicate, silvery sound

Question 20

cluster chord

Answer 20

• a dissonant chord consisting of major and minor seconds

- often employed in atonal music

Question 21

mode of limited transposition

Answer 21

• a scale that is limited to fewer than the usual 12 transpositions; some can only be transposed once
• first mode limited transposition: whole tone scale
• second mode: octatonic scale

Question 22

sourdine

Answer 22

• French for “mute”
• an instruction given to string and brass instruments to use their mutes
• creates softer dynamics, subdued instrumental effects

Question 23

micropolyphony

Answer 23

• developed by Ligeti

- the weaving of many separate melodic strands into a complex polyphonic fabric

Question 24

tintinnabulation

Answer 24

• from Latin word for “bell”
• a minimalist compositional style developed by the Estonian composer Arvo Part
• music generally characterized by 2 voices: 1 voice arpeggiates tonic triad, other voice moves diatonically

Question 25

minimalism

Answer 25

• musical style developed in 1960s
• repetition of melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic patterns with little variation
• generally tonal, often trance-like