3 SECONDARY - GLOSSARY

Unit 1: Antiquity and Middle Ages

Ancient Greece: civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity.

Antiquity: historical period before the Middle Ages.

Epitaph: a phrase written in memory of a death person, especially as an inscription on a tombstone.

Gregorian chant: liturgical chant of the Roman Catholic Church.

Medieval: related to the Middle Ages.

Middle Ages: historial period that lasted from the 5th to the 15th century.

Monophony: a single melodic line.

Polyphony: two or more simultaneous lines of independent Melody.

Secular music: non-religious music.

Troubadour: poet-musician, generally of noble birth.

Unit 2: Renaissance

Ballet: artistic dance form performed using precise and highly formalized set steps and gestures.

Church: a particular Christian organization with its own clergy, buildings, and distinctive doctrines.

Contrapuntal: technique of setting, writing, or playing a melody or melodies in conjunction with another, according to fixed rules.

Galliard: lively dance in triple time for two people, including complicated turns and steps.

Homophony: characterized by the movement of accompanying parts in the same rhythm as the melody.

Humanism: belief that human needs and values are more important than religious beliefs.

Pavane: dance in slow duple time, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Reformation: 16th-century movement for the reform of abuses in the Roman Church ending in the establishment of the Reformed and Protestant Churches.

Renaissance: period of time which lasted from the 15th to the 16th centuries.

Upper class: social group that has the highest status in society.

Unit 3: Baroque

Baroque: artistic period that runs from the 17th century to the mid-18th century (from the first preserved opera in 1600 to the death of J. S. Bach in 1750).

Canon: contrapuntal compositional technique that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration.

Castrati: famous male singers generally from the poorer classes chosen for the beauty of their voices. They were castrated before puberty to preserve their child's voices.

Fugue: complex polyphonic form in one single movement, built on a subject or theme that is introduced at the beginning and imitated constantly.

Interlude: instrumental part of the opera that link the different sections together.

Luthier: person that builds and repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French.

Orchestra: large group of instrumentalists.

Overture: introduction to the opera.

Suite: instrumental form containing various dances that contrast in character, rhythm and tempo.

Virtuoso: musician with outstanding skills.

Unit 4: Classicism

Chamber music: form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments.

Choir: an organized group of singers, especially one that takes part in church services or performs in public.

Classicism: musical period which lasted approximately from 1730 until 1820.

Concerto: musical work for one or more soloists and orchestra with three contrasting movements.

Development: second part of the sonata form where the themes are changed in different ways.

Exposition: first part of the sonata form where the composer introduces themes for the first time.

Minuet: a slow, stately ballroom dance for two in triple time, popular especially in the 18th century.

Recapitulation: third part of the sonata form where the exposition is repeated with some changes.

Sonata form: musical structure consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of the 18th century.

Symphony: musical composition for full orchestra, typically in four movements, at least one of which is traditionally in sonata form.

Unit 5: Romanticism

Bel canto: a lyrical style of operatic singing using a full, rich, broad tone and smooth phrasing.

Género chico: spanish genre of scenic and lyrical art. It is a short-form zarzuela subgenre typically in one act.

Lied: German song, especially of the romantic period, typically for solo voice with piano accompaniment.

Musical nationalism: refers to the use of musical ideas or motifs that are identified with a specific country, region, or ethnicity, such as folk tunes and melodies, rhythms, and harmonies inspired by them.

Programme music: music that is intended to evoke images or convey the impression of events.

Romanticism: stylistic movement in Western classical music associated with the period spanning the 19th century

Verismo: school of composition that originated in Italian opera towards the end of the 19th century, drawing its themes from real life and emphasizing naturalistic elements. Its exponent was Puccini.

Zarzuela: spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance.