Vocal Music Glossary

Question 1

Trio sonata

Answer 1

A piece for Baroque ensemble comprising two violins, cello and hsrpsichord (or organ).

Question 2

Dance suite

Answer 2

In Baroque music the suite comprised a series of dance movements. By the time of Purcell, suites were compised of four main movements called the allemande, courante,sarabande and gigue. These movements are based on dance forms from different ciuntries. Optional extra movements include the air, bourree, gavotte, minuet and prelude.

Question 3

Stile italiano

Answer 3

Purcell was influenced by the Italian style, which was characterised by the concertato style (as seen in the Brandenburg Concerto set work), the trio sonata, double-dotted notes, dramatic recitatives and da capo arias.

Question 4

Basso continuo

Answer 4

Continuous bass parts are provided for harpsichord and stringed instruments such as bass viol and lute. The players add chords and melody

Question 5

Syllabic word-setting

Answer 5

One note per syllable of a word

Question 6

Word-painting

Answer 6

Depicting a word in music to imitate its meaning.

Question 7

Dissonant intervals

Answer 7

The intervals that are dissonant(clashing) are the minor and major second, the minor amd major seventh and the triton(augmented fourth or diminished fifth)

Question 8

Suspension

Answer 8

Prolonging a note to create a dissonance with the next chord.

Question 9

Tierce de Picardie

Answer 9

Refers to a sharpened third in the tonic chord in a minor key.

Question 10

Onomatopoeic

Answer 10

The music setting sounds like the word, for example, drop.

Question 11

Da capo aria

Answer 11

ABA or ternary form. Often the repeated A section would be ornamented by the singer. Da capo means ‘again from the beginning’.

Question 12

Arpeggiated

Answer 12

The chord is spread, normally from the bottom note to the top.

Question 13

Obbligato

Answer 13

An essential melody part that must be played.

Question 14

Binary form

Answer 14

A structure of two sections, A and B. Each section is repeated. In the A section the music modulates from the tonic to dominant key. In section B, the music starts in the dominant and explores other keys before returning to the tonic at the end of the section.

Question 15

Cantata

Answer 15

The word derives from the Italian “cantare” and means “sung”. A cantata is an extended piece in several movements, comprising chorus, recitative,chorale and aria with an orchestral accompaniment.

Question 16

Gavotte

Answer 16

A medium -paced French dance in 4/4 time beginning on the third beat of the bar. It was popular in the 18th centary.

Question 17

Figured bass

Answer 17

A type of musical shorthand for the keyboard player used in the Baroque era. The figures indicate the chord to be played above the bass note and whether this is in root position, first or second inversion.

Question 18

Ornament

Answer 18

Notes that decorate a melody. They are shown by small notes (grace notes) immediately before the main note or symbols above it. Examples include the mordent, trill, turn.

Question 19

Mordent

Answer 19

There are two types of mordent.”upper” and “lower. The upper mordent is made up of the main note, the note above the note and the main note again, all played as quickly as possible. The lower mordent again goes from the main note to the note below and back to the main note again.

Question 20

Appoggiatura

Answer 20

An ornament is often referred to as a “leaning in” note. The appoggiatura leans on the main note, commonly taking half its value and starting a semitone or tone higher. For example, if the main note is a crotchet and the smaller grace note a quaver, then the player plays two equal quavers.