Western Music

• Gregorian chant – consists of melody set to sacred Latin texts and sung without accompaniment. The chant is monophonic in texture. The melodies of Gregorian chant were meant to enhance specific parts of religious ser- vices.
• The Church Modes – consist of seven different tones and an eighth tone that duplicates the first an octave higher. The church modes were the basic scales of western music during the middle ages and Renaissance and were used in secular as well as sacred music.
• The Development of Polyphony: Organum – Medieval music that consists of Gregorian chant with one or more additional melodic lines. Between 900 and 1200 organum became truly polyphonic and the melody added to the chant became more independent.
• Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) – composer of “O Successores” (You successors) was one of the most creative and many-sided per- sonalities of the middle ages.
• Machaut, Guillaume de (c. 1300-1377) – French composer who wrote over 50 Masses and hundreds of motets. He also composed instrumental works such as dances and ballades.
• Golden age?

  Renaissance
• Motet – is a polyphonic choral work set to sacred Latin text other than the ordinary of the mass.
• Mass – is a polyphonic choral composition made up of five sections: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei.
• Secular Vocal Music: Madrigal – a piece for several solo voices set to a short poem, usually about love. A madrigal like a motet, combines ho mophonic and polyphonic textures.
• Secular Instrumental Music: Dance Forms – the development of in dependent instrumental music grew out of two sources: the use of instruments to double or replace parts of a vocal composition and the use of instruments for dance music.
• Josquin Desprez (1440-1521) – master of Renaissance music. Com- posed music for masses, motets and secular vocal pieces. “Ave Ma- ria…virgo serena” is the outstanding choral work.
• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) – devoted himself to Catholic Church music that includes 104 masses and some 450 other sacred works. “Pope Marcellus Mass” is the famous mass by Palestri- na written for a capella choir of six voice parts: soprano, alto, two
• Thomas Weelkes (1575-1623) – an organist and church composer.
• It is a period wherein it usually express one basic mood?

  Baroque Period
• Recitative – is a free form for solo voice with accompaniment in which the vocal melody approximates the natural rhythm and pitch inflection of the text.
• Aria – is a song for solo and accompaniment in which the vocal part is written in a fairly complex style, often with several notes to each sylla- ble of the text.
• Chorale – sung in unison or in four-part block chord style
• Opera – is a drama sung with instrumental accompaniment and pre- sented with appropriate scenery, costumes and staging.
• Cantata – is a composite vocal form in several movements for solo voice and instrumental accompaniment or for solo voices, chorus and instrumental accompaniment.
• Oratorio – is a composite vocal work for soloists, chorus and orchestra based on a sacred or secular text.
• Sectional Dance Form – dances written in rounded binary form.
• Orchestral Overture – an instrumental composition which serves as an introductory movement for an opera, oratorio or cantata or as the first movement of a composite instrumental piece.
• Fugue – is a composition based on polyphonic imitative treatment of a short theme known as the subject
• Sonata da chiesa (Italian: church sonata) – written for solo instru- ments
• Johanne Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) – German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity. Works: “Branderburg Concerto,” “Air on G-String,” “Toccata and Fugue in D minor,” “Organ Mass” and “The Magnificat.”
• Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) – one of the most important com- posers in early baroque era. Created the earliest operatic masterpiece “Orfeo”. The last opera by Monteverdi is “L’incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea).”
• Henry Purcell (1659-1695) – an English organist and Baroque com- poser of secular and sacred music. Works: “Dido and Aeneas,” “The Fairy Queen” (an adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream), “King Arthur”, and “Jubilate Deo”
• Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) – Italian composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist and known for composing instrumental concertos, especially for the violin, as well as sacred choral works and over 40 operas. Works: “The Four Seasons,” “Twelve sonatas for two violins and basso continuo (opus 1),” “La Stravaganza for twelve violin concertos.”
• George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) – a master of Italian opera, Eng- lish oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Works: “Messiah,” “Water Music,” “Music for the Royal Fireworks,” “For unto Us a Child Is Born.”
• What period put emphasis on beauty, elegance and balance, Homophonic Texture, Sonata form was the most important design?

  Classical Period
• Binary Form – form of movement with two principal themes or two distinct sections.
• Ternary Form – form of movement with three principal themes or three sections.
• Rondo Form – a typical pattern which letters representing thematic sections (ABACABA) there are five and seven part rondo forms.
• Variation Forms – One of a set of series of transformations of a theme by means of harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic changes and embellish- ments.
• Sonatina Form – in essence, a miniature version of sonata-allegro form, but with shorter themes, an abbreviated or occasionally omitted development section, and a generally lighter character.
• Sonata form - refers to the form of a single movement and consists of three main sections: the exposition, development, recapitulation
• exposition, where the themes are presented;

  development, where themes are treated in new ways; and the recapitulation, where the themes return.
• Concerto –an extended composition for a solo instrument and orches- tra, frequently in a sonata form.
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) – one of the most amazing child prodigies, prolific and influential composer in the history of clas- sical music. Works: “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,” “Don Giovanni,” “Sym- phony No.40 in g minor,” “The Marriage of Figaro.”
• Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827) – represents the highest level of musical genius. He opened new realms of musical expression and profoundly influenced composers throughout the 19th century. Works: “Symphony No. 5 in c minor,” “Piano Sonata in C minor Op.13,” “Moonlight Sonata.”