Midterm Exam (Study Guide)

Multiple Choice (Prep topics)

1. What is Baroque? - Baroque was originally a derogatory term meaning deformed
2. Prima Prattica vs. Seconda Prattica - In the Prima Prattica, the counterpoint rules set
forth by Zartusi were most important. In Seconda Prattica, these rules could be
broken in the interest of text expression.
3. Monteverdi (works and innovations) - Monteverdi wrote 3 major operas (LOrfeo most
famous) as well as 9 books of madrigals which broke the rules. Brought the
relationship of music and words to new heights.
4. What is Figured Bass? - When keyboard or lute player filled in (realized) the chords,
using notated numbers (figures) over the bassline to guide them when the chord
was not in root position.
5. Jacopo Peri (works and innovations) - Wrote LErudice along with Caccini, which was
the first opera. His was better suited to drama and set up what would become
recitative
6. What is Basso Ostinato? - Ground bass, a pattern in the bass that repeats while the
melody above it changes.
7. Rameau (works and innovations) - Wrote 4 tragedies en musique, other operas,
ballets and harpsichord pieces. Was most famous as a music theorist. Wrote the
Treatise on Harmony, which outlined the how harmony works and made thirds,
fifths, etc the basis of harmony
8. Giovanni Gabrieli (general info) - Leading musical mannerist, invented polychoral
motet, used recurring refrain (Baroque staple), specified instrumentation, mostly
homophonic
9. What is affetti? - Ornaments, according to Caccini
10. What is the Doctrine of Affections? - The dynamic movement linking the words in
music to the affections (emotions that were believed to be stable states of the
soul). Brought word painting of the Renaissance into complete usage.
11. Dido and Aeneas - An opera by Henry Purcell based on the Aeneid. Included arias,
overture, choruses and dances, recitative based on English text declamation.
One of the only English operas because not tradition kept going after Purcell.
12. Descending Tetrachord - Became associated with certain affections. Perfectly suited
to convey inescapable sorrow, used by Monteverdi.
13. Vivaldi (works) - Wrote about 500 concertos (including The Four Seasons), and
fulfilled 49 opera commissions.

14. Couperin (works) - Blending French and Italian tastes, wrote harpsichord ordres,
chamber music emulating Lully, who he admired, and 12 harpsichord concerts.
15. J.S. Bach (works and innovations) - Composed in all genres except opera. Wrote
Well-Tempered Clavier, Art of Fugue and others to experiment with all the keys,
about 200 church cantatas, 200 organ chorales. Now considered one of the
greatest composers of all time, but at the time was not recognized.

True or False (Prep topics)

1. J.S. Bach (life) - Bach lived in Leipzig for his last twenty-five years, where he faced
apathy. He was known as an organist and master of counterpoint. He remained
unknown in wider circles. He was a working musician who satisfied his superiors,
pleased his fellow citizens, and glorified God.
2. Vivaldi (works) - Wrote about 500 concertos (including The Four Seasons), and
fulfilled 49 opera commissions. Followed a three-movement plan, in a fast- slowfast structure. Expanded on Torelli pattern to create the Ritornello form.
3. What is Fugue? - Composition in imitative texture based on a single subject and
begins with successive statements of the subject in voices. Subjects lively w/
clearly defined melody, episodes and themes
4. Purcell (life and works) - Was born at beginning of restoration, spent early life in
Chapel Royale training in organ as well as composition. Wrote lots of anthems,
theatre music, and Dido and Aeneas, the only English opera of the time. Went
back to writing semioperas after that failed. Died young.
5. What are Masques? - An English aristocratic entertainment similar to French court
ballet
6. Lully (life and works) - Born in Italy, came to Paris at a young age, Member of King
Louis XIV's vingt-quatre violons du roy, became the virtual musical dictator of
France when his Acadmie Royale de Musique was granted a monopoly on sung
drama. He developed the Tragdie en musique, reconciling the demands of
drama, music and ballet. Libretti on mythological plots. Frequent long interludes
with dancing and choral singing, popular with French audiences.
7. What is Da Capo? - Aria form with 2 sections. Means from the head in Italian, created
an ABA form.

8. What is Sonata? - Baroque instrumental piece with contrasting sections or

movements, often with imitative counterpoint. Became chamber and church
sonatas, in either trio or solo form
9. Barbara Strozzi (life and works) - Achieved notoriety as a singer and composer
despite being a woman, sang her own music. Born in Venice and was adopted by
poet and librettist, sang young, supported by father, published 8 collections of
music. Over 100 madrigals, arias, cantatas, most cantatas of the time.
10. Jacopo Peri (works) - Wrote LErudice along with Caccini, which was the first
opera. His was better suited to drama and set up what would become
recitative
11. Venice and Naples as cultural centers - Venice and Naples were the center of where
opera created
12. Corelli (life and works) - Renowned violinist, teacher and composer. Italian, quickly
became leading composer. Teaching was the foundation of most 18 th cent
schools of violin playing. Published collections of trio sonatas, violin sonatas and
concerti grossi. Each mvt had distinct theme, exploited functional tonality.
13. What is Cantata? - Meant simply a piece that was sung, later developed into
piece for voice and continuo on an intimate poetic text, had several sections including
recitatives and arias.

14. Heinrich Schutz (life and works) - First major German composer, known for church
music and emotional depth in words. Persuaded to study w/ Gabrieli in Venice,
basically treated as a servant in Germany for music, wrote music for court
ceremonies, secular and sacred. Wrote first German opera, ballets and stage
works.
Listening (8 examples - 3 points each)
Midterm Listening Lab (Blackboard)
The Listening Lab features 12 musical examples from which 8 will be chosen for the
exam.
1. Monteverdi - Cruda Amarilli - Starts with words, madrigal
2. Monteverdi - Toccata from LOrfeo - Fanfare in brass and drums, then into fanfare-y
overture with harpsichord heavy.
3. Monteverdi - Lament of the Nymph from Book 8 - Call and response soprano and
guys chorus. Strings underneath.

4. Strozzi - Lagrime mie (cantata) - Harpsichord and soprano whose first words are
name of song. Wavery soprano.
5. Schtz - O Jesu, Nomen Dulce - Harpsichord with soprano who starts with words.
6. Scarlatti - Clori Vezzosa e Bella - Harpsichord and voice, does not start with words of
song, is very minor and has a cello accenting.
7. Lully - Overture from Armide - Harpsichord and strings, sounds sort of like southern
music.
8. Purcell - When I am Laid in Earth - Starts with cello intro then mezzo singing title.
9. Bach - Fugue in C minor (WTC Book 1)- Piano fugue, very recognizeable, up tempo
10.
Corelli - Trio sonata, Opus 3, No 2 - Two strings hold out long notes while one
string plays descending sequence.
11.
Vivaldi - Lestro armonico Concerto in A minor, Op. 3 (Allegro) - Full orchestra,
three hits, then running lines.
12.
Bach - Fugue No. 4 in C# Minor (WTC Book 1)- Piano, very slow low voiced.
Sounds very anti-melodic.

Monteverdi - Cruda Amarilli, Toccata from LOrfeo, Lament of the Nymph from Book 8,
Strossi - Lagrime mie (cantata); Schutz - O Jesu, Nomen Dulce; Scarlatti - Clori
Vezzosa e Bella; Lully - Overture from Armide; Purcell - When I am Laid Down in Earth;
Bach - Fugue in C minor, Fugue #4 in C# minor; Corelli - Trio sonata, Op. 3, No. 2;
Vivaldi - Lestro amonico Concerto in A minor, Op. 3

Essay (20 points)

Review, The Affections (Hanning, 168-169)

Chapter 9 - Book Notes

The Baroque Era
The word Baroque was originally a derogatory term (meaning deformed).
Twentieth-century music historians applied the term to music from ca. 1600 to ca. 1750.
The main shared ideal for the period was the belief that music's principal goal was to
move the affections.
Patronage
Noble and royal courts supported musical culture. The church had less of a role in
supporting music than it had previously. Public concerts were just beginning, but were
rare until the later 1700s.
Literature, the Arts, and Sciences.
Great writers and playwrights of the period: Milton, Cervantes, Molire
Great artists of the period: Rembrandt, Velzquez, Bernini (sculptor)
Great scientists and philosophers of the period: Descartes, Galileo, Kepler, Newton
Characteristics of Baroque Music
The two practices
In 1600 Giovanni Maria Artusi criticized the unconventional approach to counterpoint in
Monteverdi's works. Monteverdi responded by characterizing his style as the seconda
pratica.
The prima pratica was the counterpoint system set forth by Zarlino and defended by
Artusi.
In the seconda practica, Zarlino's rules could be broken in the interest of text
expression
Idiomatic writing

Composers adapted their writing to the medium, i.e. specific instrument, or vocal
solo singing.
Affections were states of the soul, such as rage, heroism, sorrow, or joy.
Composers were not trying to express their own emotions, but the range of human
emotions.
Rhythm
Meter and rhythm were tied to the affection the composer wished to evoke.
Some works were improvisatory, with flexible rhythms. Some works used regular
rhythms in strict meters. The two types were often paired to provide contrast.

Basso continuo
The combination of a firm bass and florid treble was the dominant texture.
The keyboard or lute player filled in (realized) the chords, using notated numbers
( figures) over the bassline to guide them when the chord was not in root position, called
a figured bass.
Fugal counterpoint continued, but with harmony as the guiding principle rather than
counterpoint (as in the prima pratica)
Harmony
At the beginning of the Baroque, chromaticism was used for expressive purposes.
By the end of the Baroque, chromaticism was used to help govern the harmony.
A system of majorminor tonality evolved in response to composers' use of a central
triad and a hierarchy of relationships among the other chords.
Chapter 9 - Lecture Notes
Mannerism - Late Renaissance, i.e. the transition between the two Last Supper
paintings
Giovani Gabrieli - Leading musical mannerist, invented polychoral motet, used
recurring refrain (Baroque staple), specified instrumentation, mostly homophonic
Chapter 10 - Book Notes

Opera in the Late Seventeenth Century

Venice
This city continued to be the main center for Italian opera.
Singers became the main attraction. Composers began to write arias to serve as
singers' vehicles.
The favorite aria form was strophic.
Venetian opera was exported.
Carlo Pallavicino and Agostino Steffani worked in Germany.
Typical features of the period are a motto beginning, in which the voice announces a
short subject that will be developed later in the aria, and a walking bass
accompaniment.
Naples
This city was home to the new style that would become predominant. Composers in
Naples were more concerned with musical elegance and less with the drama.

Alessandro Scarlatti (16601725) and the Naples style

Recitatives were short and expressed quick changes of feeling in two styles:
Recitativo semplice - more speechlike, conveying dialogue or monologue with only
basso continuo accompaniment.
Recitativo obbligato - emphasized tense moments in the drama and was accompanied
by the orchestra, which reinforced the emotions.
Recitativo arioso was a blend of recitative and aria.
The da capo aria was the favorite aria form. Da capo means "to the head," the words
at the close of the second section that tell the performers to repeat the first section.
Used for two contrasting, but related, sentiments
France
Although Italian operas were produced in France, French genres of staged music

evolved separately.
French national traditions - Ballet, Classical French tragedy
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Born in Italy, came to Paris at a young age, Member of King Louis XIV's vingt-quatre
violons du roy (the twenty-four member string orchestra of the king), became the virtual
musical dictator of France when his Acadmie Royale de Musique was granted a
monopoly on sung drama. He developed the
Tragdie en musique - reconciling the demands of drama, music and ballet. Libretti
on mythological plots by Jean-Philippe Quinault Frequent long interludes with
dancing and choral singing, popular with French audiences. Dances from the sung
dramas popular
Lully's adaptation of recitative in the French language
rcitatif simple, using shifting meter to declaim the dialogue, or rcitatif mesur,
which was more songlike, French ouverture, a two-part movement before ballets,
was established by Lully and used by other composers for the rest of the Baroque era.
The first section is homophonic, slow and majestic. The second section is faster, with
some fugal imitation but no less serious. Lully's followers used five-part string scoring,
augmented by a few woodwinds.
England
Masque was an aristocratic entertainment similar to French court ballet. Stage plays
without music were banned. Plays with music (semi-operas) continued to be popular
after the Restoration (1660).
Henry Purcell (16591695) held posts in London. Output includes sacred choral music,
instrumental music and incidental music for plays. Dido and Aeneas composed for a
girls' boarding school, libretto is an adaptation of Vergil's Aeneid. Four roles, three acts,
begins with a French overture in the style of Lully. Includes choruses and dances.
Recitatives are sensitive to English text declamation. Arias are on a ground bass.
After Purcell, no national tradition of opera developed.
Germany

Singspiel ("sing-play"), the German version of opera, used spoken dialogue instead of
recitative
Hamburg opera - The first public opera house outside Venice, most productions
translations or imitations of Italian operas
Reinhard Keiser wrote more than a hundred operas for Hamburg, incorporated both
Italian and German elements. Librettos were similar to those of Venetian opera. Slower
arias broad and expressive, but not like Italian bel canto.