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Musical
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Music
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Always
Mass
A religious piece for a choir
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Baroque
Concerto Grosso
Music from the Baroque period, played by an orchestra and a group
of soloists. Often includes a harpsichord. NOT the same as a concerto
Trio Sonata
Music written for, and played by, four instruments: 1 harpsichord,
2 violins, 1 cello.
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Baroque Onwards
Air and Variation
An air is a tune or melody, and a variation is where the tune or
melody is adapted to sound different, but keeping the theme of the
previous parts of the melody.
A Toccata
A musical composition for an instrument with a keyboard,
usually a harpsichord or the organ. The Toccata has been around
from the early 16th Century, and is designed to help the musician
show off their skills. The Toccata is a very fast piece of music,
and in it’s earlier days the toccata had space for plenty of improvisation
whilst the piece would normally start with full chords.
Chorale
A metrical hymn tune with simple devotional words, first introduced
in the 16th century. The first chorales did not have the regular
rhythms that they later took on, they had a mix of duple and triple
time. Later on the chorale started to have 4 parts.
Chorale Prelude
A prelude or interval based upon the treatment of the chorale melody
often taken line by line and surrounded by other melodic parts woven
together in an elaborate style. The first notes of theme of the
chorale might be taken to start off the prelude or interlude.
Oratorio
Similar to an opera but with a sacred text, so
tells a religious story
Opera
A musical drama, completely sung throughout, to tell a story. Including:
Aria
A piece for a solo voice and an orchestra
Chorus
A piece for the main chorus, or choir, with an orchestral accompaniment
Ensemble
A piece for a group of soloists and the orchestra
Recitative
A sung solo punctuated by chords
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Classical Onwards
Concerto
Concertos are composed for an orchestra with one solo instrument.
They usually have 4 movements. Developed from the concerto
grosso, concertos were first used in the classical
period. Famous composers of concertos include:
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Classical
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Romantic
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Piano Trio
A group made up of a piano, a violin and a cello
Sonata
A piece written for a solo instrument with a piano accompaniment eg.
A violin sonata is played by a violin and a piano
String Quartet
A group of 2 violins, 1 viola and 1 cello. Also a piece of music written
for that group
Symphony
Symphonies are usually formed using four movements. The movements
are usually ordered fast-slow-minuet&trio-fast.
It usually encompasses the whole orchestra, without solo instruments.
Famous composers of symphonies include: |
- Mozart
- Beethoven
- Haydn
- Schubert
- Dvorak
- Bruvkner
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- Mahler
- Mendelssohn
- Brahms
- Shostakovich
- Berlioz
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Renaissance
Madrigal
A secular piece (not sacred or religious) for a choir. Usually has
"fa la la"s in it.
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Modern
Aleatory
This involves a degree of chance in that the pitch or rhythm
may be left undecided, improvisation may be involved, or no music
notation may be included in the "score."
Electronic
Made up of electronically generated sounds, live or on tape, sometimes
including "natural" instruments.
Expressionism
Composers poured the most intense expression into their music.
Often atonal.
Impressionism
Descriptive music, colouring chords, blurred harmony, vague, unusual
scales, unusual timbres, rhythms and textures.
Jazz
Players improvised on a chosen melody, using syncopation, a "blues"
style and a steady 4/4 beat, over a set pattern of chords.
Neo-classical
A modern composer uses the melodies and rhythms of an older piece
and turns it into the present style.
Serialism
Notes from a chromatic scale are arranged in any order and a piece
is composed around them.
Other genres from this period include rock, calypso,
reggae and blues.
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