Music & Art Vocabulary
Aesthetics (general) – https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aesthetic
Aesthetics (the arts) - https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-aesthetics-250524
Absolute Music – Music that has no extramusical (visual) implications - term used for music dependent on its structure alone for comprehension. It is the antithesis of program music . It is not associated with extramusical ideas or with a pictorial or narrative scheme of emotions, nor does it attempt to reproduce sounds in nature. Hence it is always instrumental, although not all instrumental music is absolute. Bach's Art of Fugue is an example of absolute music.
Acropolis – A hill town or fortified hill, usually associated with Greek temples
Aria – An extended vocal solo, usually with instrumental accompaniment, as in operas, oratorios, and cantatas
Aerial Perspective – a method of representing the effects of atmospheric conditions on the color and detail of distant objects.
Baroque – 1600-1750 – The style period characterized by a vigorous spirit of ornamentation, action, and elaborate design. A word meaning an irregularly shaped pearl, of great value.
Basilica – A rectangular hall flanked by aisles
Cantata – Literally “sung,” but more often refers to a multi-movement composition for one or more voices with some instrumental accompaniment. They are often sacred, although numerous secular cantatas exist. Two common types are solo cantatas and choral cantatas. These works, of greatly varying length, may include recitatives, arias, and ensembles of varying sizes.
Capital – The top part of a column, wider than the upright section and usually decorated
Chanson (shan-san – a as in awe, barely touch the n’s) – French word for song. Also, a 16th C French vocal form similar to the madrigal - p. 161
Chant (Plainchant) – Early monophonic music in free rhythm associated with the Christian church (Gregorian Chant) - the true basic ancestor of western tonal music. In a process that lasted several centuries, the Roman Church absorbed and compiled liturgical melodies from diverse European regions. Those different dialects -styles - included, among others, Gallican, Beneventan, Visigothic or Mozarabic, and Ambrosian Chant. The whole repertory was reorganized by Pope Gregory II (A.D. 715-31), after whom the expression "Gregorian Chant" was coined.
Chiaroscuro – meaning bright and obscure; the contrast between light and dark (shade). (Rembrandt and Caravaggio
Chorale – Traditionally, a hymn tune of the German Protestant church. A chorale is a hymn of the Lutheran church sung by the entire congregation. Chorales tend to have quite simple and easy to sing tunes.
Column – An upright support, usually cylindrical, associated with Greek architecture bear the names Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian
Cinquecento – ‘four hundreds’, the most famous period of Italian art during the Renaissance.
Concerto – An orchestral genre practiced since the Baroque period that employs unequal sound sources. The solo concerto reached its greatest development in the Classic and Romantic periods.
Concerto Grosso – An ensemble composition written for two groups of unequal size; most widely written during the Baroque periods. Concerto grosso is a type of music from baroque era. It is played by an orchestra and contains several movements. Like other baroque music, the sound of harpsichord can still be heard. At some point during the music, a number of soloist play difficult melody line, clearly showing the technical skill of the soloist. The movements contrast in tempo and character. The three movements are usually in this order, fast, slow, fast.
Consonance – Traditionally, a combination of tones that are pleasing or restful in contrast to dissonance. - a combination of sounds that is "stable". This impression depends largely on context, meaning therefore different actual mixtures of sounds for each musical style. In the common-practice era, perfect unisons, fifths and octaves were considered perfect consonances, whereas thirds and sixths -either major or minor- were considered imperfect consonances. The remaining intervals -fourths, seconds and sevenths, plus all augmented and diminished- were considered dissonant.
Counterpoint – The setting of one melodic line against one or more other lines. In addition to such examples, Leonin's Magnus Liber contains another type of counterpoint known as organum duplum (above). The Gregorian cantus firmus is found in the lower voice, but the individual tones are stretched out to extraordinary lengths. The descanting, or duplum voice, moves now in free counterpoint consisting of florid melismas over what has in effect become a relatively fixed base.
The next most significant development was the addition of a third part above the other two, which was known as the triplum, and from which the term "treble" is derived. This step is associated with the name of the first practicing musician in history to have the attribution of greatness attached to his name. He was Magister Perotinus Magnus, or Perotin the Great, active in Paris in the late 12th and probably in the early 13th century. In his revision of the work of his predecessor Leonin, Perotin moved away from polyphonic improvisational practices toward an art based on stricter melodic control and clearer rhythmic articulation. By thus achieving a surer command of his materials, and evolving a logical technique for manipulating them, he was able to add a third voice to the original two (see above), and in two known instances even a fourth. The three-part motet, like it predecessors, still had its cantus firmus in the tenor, which was the lowest part and held the mot, or "word," from which the term motet is probably derived. Over it the contrapuntal voices wove a web of two different strands, singing their independent melodic line! ; 5. In the hands of Perotin the three-part motet became the most favored and characteristic practice of 13th-century Gothic music.
Design – The structure or organization of the various components of a work of art
Dissonance – A combination of tones that because of their tension, seeks resolution to a restful consonance - a combination of sounds that is "unstable".
Dynamics – The gradations of sound volume in a composition
Ethos – Those characteristics that define a culture
Flying Buttress – A half arch used to counteract the outward thrust of the vault, and to transfer the thrust to piers outside the walls
Foreshortening – The application of linear perspective to human and other forms to help achieve a dramatic illusion of 3-D space
Form – The arrangement of materials and elements into a recognizable object
Fresco – The technique of painting on wet plaster. The School of Athens is a fresco as is The Last Supper
Fugue - The word fugue means to flee. When applied to music, it describes a contrapuntal convention used by many composers in which the voices or parts in the arrangement successively play the same theme or subject in imitation of each other at different pitches. The 18th century composer Johann Sebastian Bach is generally regarded as the greatest composer of fugues.
Gothic - pertaining to European art and architecture, between the 12th-15th Centuries. The building style emphasizes pointed arches, cross-ribbed vaults, and flying buttresses. The scope was monumental in scale, with much ornamentation. Gothic painting emphasizes human qualities striving for classical ideals.
Harmony – The simultaneous sounding of tones, as in chords
Homophony – Music in which a dominant melodic line is supported by chordal accompaniment - a musical texture in which there is only one principal idea, carried out by the main voice. This primary line is surrounded by elaborated decorative elements in secondary voices.
Humanism – A word with varied meanings. In this book it describes the broadest study of the intellectual and artistic efforts of humankind. the spirit of learning that developed at the end of the middle ages with the revival of classical letters and a renewed confidence in the ability of human beings to determine for themselves truth and falsehood.
Imitation – A device of polyphonic texture in which one voice restates the melody of another voice. The imitation can be strict (exact) or free (similar)
Key – The tonal center of a composition. The key note is the first note of the scale on which the composition is based. The term key is also used for the levers or elements that are manipulated by the fingers of an instrumentalist, such as the keys of the flute or the black and white keys of the piano
Linear perspective – a method of representing the size of objects as they recede into space by the use of lines that imply a vanishing point.
Mannerism – A transition between movements; refers to any artistic style that relies on formulas and expressive distortions of established norms. In the Late Renaissance, it refers to certain tendencies to look at nature and natural appearance, almost exclusively an art of the human figure, its commonest expression is in paintings of numerous figures performing what appears to be a complicated dance and pantomime, in which the compositions, as well as the fanciful gestures and attitudes, are deliberately intricate. It is characterized by a complex composition, with muscular and elongated figures in complex poses. Symmetry disappears in favor of diagonal compositions; balance and measure give room to movement and expression. (Hans Holbein and El Greco).
Mass – The central liturgical service of the Catholic church, parts of which are often set to music
Melisma – In music with text, the assignment of many notes to one syllable, as found in plainchant
Melody – A series of pitches that conveys a sense of beginning and ending
Monochromatic – a color arrangement that uses only one hue with varying degrees of saturation and value
Monophony - The most basic music is a single melodic line sung by all perfomers in unison. This music is referred to as monophonic music and contains no harmony. Because of its simplicity monophonic music forms the bulk of early music, however, it has been suggested that some early music was written not in true monophonic form but instead with the parts in octaves and so still avoiding harmony.
Mosaic – A design composed of small units of stone, glass, or porcelain set in mortar
Motet – A polyphonic vocal composition with sacred text that emerged in the Middle Ages and was especially popular in the Renaissance. By the 13th century in France a new form of music was appearing, the motet. In motet form a passage of a Gregorian chant was arranged so that the notes were based on a rhythmic mode with the melody proceeding in a series of repeated short, rhythmically identical motives.
Mural – A painting on a wall. Murals may be painted with any kind of paint or technique and are usually very large
Nave – The central portion or aisle of a church
Neumes – An early system of medieval notational symbols that indicates musical pitches
Opera – A staged dramatic musical production performed by singers and instrumentalists with support from lighting, scenery, costumes and often, dance. Its origins were rooted in Florentine Italy in the early 17th C
Oratorio - An oratorio is a composition for orchestra, soloists and choir. It differs from an opera in that it doesn't have decor, costumes or acting. Oratorios have a biblical theme. Oratorios (like operas) can contain several elements:
· Overture
· Aria (solo)
· Recitative
· Chorus
· Ensemble singing
Probably the best known oratorio is the Messiah by Händel. It contains the well known halelujah-chorus. Others well known oratorios include Christmas Oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach and Mendelsohn's Elijah oratorio.
Organum (parallel): an early form of counterpoint - the earliest kind of counterpoint (IX through XI C). Secondary voices were added in parallel motion at fixed intervals (perfect fourths, fifths, and octaves) to the one singing the chant. started out in the 9th century as an addition to the unadorned (plane) unison line of Gregorian chant. Monks started to sing in parallel intervals, a process that eventually led to harmony and counterpoint. Harmony and counterpoint eventually led to the desire to go beyond.
Overture - Overture (French ouverture, meaning opening), in music, the instrumental introduction to a dramatic, choral, or, occasionally, instrumental composition. The notion of an overture has no existence until the 17th century.
Polyphnony – A texture in which two or more melodic lines are interwoven - a musical texture in which the main idea is uniformly distributed among all the intervening voices. None of the voices is secondary.
Primary Colors – The hues that can be mixed to produce all other hues. The primary colors are: red, yellow, and blue
Portraits - A work of art that represents a specific person, a group of people, or an animal. Portraits usually show what a person looks like as well as revealing something about the subject's personality. Portraits can be made of any sculptural material or in any two-dimensional medium. Portraiture is the field of portrait making and portraits in general.
Post and Lintel – A system of construction in which vertical supports carry horizontal beams
Rhythm – The temporal element in music; that which moves the music through time
Program Music - Instrumental music of the 19th and 20th cent. that endeavors to arouse mental pictures or ideas in the thoughts of the listener—to tell a story, depict a scene, or impel a mood. Moussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, intended by the composer as program music, might be contrasted with a symphony of Brahms, which is considered as absolute music. It is so called because it relies on a “program” (an expanatory text or narrative) to explain its extra-musical associations. Examples are the symphonic poems of Liszt , and Sorceror's Apprentice by Dukas
Recitative – A type of solo vocal performance in which words are sung with a minimum of melodic interest and usually based on speech rhythms, inflections, and syntax. That which is accompanied by the orchestra is called recitativo accompagnato. That which is accompanied by the basso continuo only is called recitativo secco.
Recitative, a form of composition often used in operas, oratorios, cantatas and similar works, is best described as melodic speech set to music.
Renaissance – 1400-1600 - age of new birth. The Renaissance was a cultural movement and time period in the History of Europe, considered marking the end of the Middle Ages. The Renaissance is usually considered to have begun in the 14th century in Italy and the 16th century in northern Europe.
Romanesque - meaning "in the Roman manner;" medieval European style of architecture, consisting of solid masonry walls, rounded arches, and masonry vaults, characteristic of Roman Imperial buildings.
Tempera – A technique of painting using pigment mixed with egg yolk, glue or casein; also the medium itself
Vault – A method of covering an area with a roof or ceiling, based on the principal of the arch
**Kleiner, F; Marmiya, C. Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: A concise History. Thomson Wadsworth. 2006
Aesthetics (the arts) - https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-aesthetics-250524
Absolute Music – Music that has no extramusical (visual) implications - term used for music dependent on its structure alone for comprehension. It is the antithesis of program music . It is not associated with extramusical ideas or with a pictorial or narrative scheme of emotions, nor does it attempt to reproduce sounds in nature. Hence it is always instrumental, although not all instrumental music is absolute. Bach's Art of Fugue is an example of absolute music.
Acropolis – A hill town or fortified hill, usually associated with Greek temples
Aria – An extended vocal solo, usually with instrumental accompaniment, as in operas, oratorios, and cantatas
Aerial Perspective – a method of representing the effects of atmospheric conditions on the color and detail of distant objects.
Baroque – 1600-1750 – The style period characterized by a vigorous spirit of ornamentation, action, and elaborate design. A word meaning an irregularly shaped pearl, of great value.
Basilica – A rectangular hall flanked by aisles
Cantata – Literally “sung,” but more often refers to a multi-movement composition for one or more voices with some instrumental accompaniment. They are often sacred, although numerous secular cantatas exist. Two common types are solo cantatas and choral cantatas. These works, of greatly varying length, may include recitatives, arias, and ensembles of varying sizes.
Capital – The top part of a column, wider than the upright section and usually decorated
Chanson (shan-san – a as in awe, barely touch the n’s) – French word for song. Also, a 16th C French vocal form similar to the madrigal - p. 161
Chant (Plainchant) – Early monophonic music in free rhythm associated with the Christian church (Gregorian Chant) - the true basic ancestor of western tonal music. In a process that lasted several centuries, the Roman Church absorbed and compiled liturgical melodies from diverse European regions. Those different dialects -styles - included, among others, Gallican, Beneventan, Visigothic or Mozarabic, and Ambrosian Chant. The whole repertory was reorganized by Pope Gregory II (A.D. 715-31), after whom the expression "Gregorian Chant" was coined.
Chiaroscuro – meaning bright and obscure; the contrast between light and dark (shade). (Rembrandt and Caravaggio
Chorale – Traditionally, a hymn tune of the German Protestant church. A chorale is a hymn of the Lutheran church sung by the entire congregation. Chorales tend to have quite simple and easy to sing tunes.
Column – An upright support, usually cylindrical, associated with Greek architecture bear the names Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian
Cinquecento – ‘four hundreds’, the most famous period of Italian art during the Renaissance.
Concerto – An orchestral genre practiced since the Baroque period that employs unequal sound sources. The solo concerto reached its greatest development in the Classic and Romantic periods.
Concerto Grosso – An ensemble composition written for two groups of unequal size; most widely written during the Baroque periods. Concerto grosso is a type of music from baroque era. It is played by an orchestra and contains several movements. Like other baroque music, the sound of harpsichord can still be heard. At some point during the music, a number of soloist play difficult melody line, clearly showing the technical skill of the soloist. The movements contrast in tempo and character. The three movements are usually in this order, fast, slow, fast.
Consonance – Traditionally, a combination of tones that are pleasing or restful in contrast to dissonance. - a combination of sounds that is "stable". This impression depends largely on context, meaning therefore different actual mixtures of sounds for each musical style. In the common-practice era, perfect unisons, fifths and octaves were considered perfect consonances, whereas thirds and sixths -either major or minor- were considered imperfect consonances. The remaining intervals -fourths, seconds and sevenths, plus all augmented and diminished- were considered dissonant.
Counterpoint – The setting of one melodic line against one or more other lines. In addition to such examples, Leonin's Magnus Liber contains another type of counterpoint known as organum duplum (above). The Gregorian cantus firmus is found in the lower voice, but the individual tones are stretched out to extraordinary lengths. The descanting, or duplum voice, moves now in free counterpoint consisting of florid melismas over what has in effect become a relatively fixed base.
The next most significant development was the addition of a third part above the other two, which was known as the triplum, and from which the term "treble" is derived. This step is associated with the name of the first practicing musician in history to have the attribution of greatness attached to his name. He was Magister Perotinus Magnus, or Perotin the Great, active in Paris in the late 12th and probably in the early 13th century. In his revision of the work of his predecessor Leonin, Perotin moved away from polyphonic improvisational practices toward an art based on stricter melodic control and clearer rhythmic articulation. By thus achieving a surer command of his materials, and evolving a logical technique for manipulating them, he was able to add a third voice to the original two (see above), and in two known instances even a fourth. The three-part motet, like it predecessors, still had its cantus firmus in the tenor, which was the lowest part and held the mot, or "word," from which the term motet is probably derived. Over it the contrapuntal voices wove a web of two different strands, singing their independent melodic line! ; 5. In the hands of Perotin the three-part motet became the most favored and characteristic practice of 13th-century Gothic music.
Design – The structure or organization of the various components of a work of art
Dissonance – A combination of tones that because of their tension, seeks resolution to a restful consonance - a combination of sounds that is "unstable".
Dynamics – The gradations of sound volume in a composition
Ethos – Those characteristics that define a culture
Flying Buttress – A half arch used to counteract the outward thrust of the vault, and to transfer the thrust to piers outside the walls
Foreshortening – The application of linear perspective to human and other forms to help achieve a dramatic illusion of 3-D space
Form – The arrangement of materials and elements into a recognizable object
Fresco – The technique of painting on wet plaster. The School of Athens is a fresco as is The Last Supper
Fugue - The word fugue means to flee. When applied to music, it describes a contrapuntal convention used by many composers in which the voices or parts in the arrangement successively play the same theme or subject in imitation of each other at different pitches. The 18th century composer Johann Sebastian Bach is generally regarded as the greatest composer of fugues.
Gothic - pertaining to European art and architecture, between the 12th-15th Centuries. The building style emphasizes pointed arches, cross-ribbed vaults, and flying buttresses. The scope was monumental in scale, with much ornamentation. Gothic painting emphasizes human qualities striving for classical ideals.
Harmony – The simultaneous sounding of tones, as in chords
Homophony – Music in which a dominant melodic line is supported by chordal accompaniment - a musical texture in which there is only one principal idea, carried out by the main voice. This primary line is surrounded by elaborated decorative elements in secondary voices.
Humanism – A word with varied meanings. In this book it describes the broadest study of the intellectual and artistic efforts of humankind. the spirit of learning that developed at the end of the middle ages with the revival of classical letters and a renewed confidence in the ability of human beings to determine for themselves truth and falsehood.
Imitation – A device of polyphonic texture in which one voice restates the melody of another voice. The imitation can be strict (exact) or free (similar)
Key – The tonal center of a composition. The key note is the first note of the scale on which the composition is based. The term key is also used for the levers or elements that are manipulated by the fingers of an instrumentalist, such as the keys of the flute or the black and white keys of the piano
Linear perspective – a method of representing the size of objects as they recede into space by the use of lines that imply a vanishing point.
Mannerism – A transition between movements; refers to any artistic style that relies on formulas and expressive distortions of established norms. In the Late Renaissance, it refers to certain tendencies to look at nature and natural appearance, almost exclusively an art of the human figure, its commonest expression is in paintings of numerous figures performing what appears to be a complicated dance and pantomime, in which the compositions, as well as the fanciful gestures and attitudes, are deliberately intricate. It is characterized by a complex composition, with muscular and elongated figures in complex poses. Symmetry disappears in favor of diagonal compositions; balance and measure give room to movement and expression. (Hans Holbein and El Greco).
Mass – The central liturgical service of the Catholic church, parts of which are often set to music
Melisma – In music with text, the assignment of many notes to one syllable, as found in plainchant
Melody – A series of pitches that conveys a sense of beginning and ending
Monochromatic – a color arrangement that uses only one hue with varying degrees of saturation and value
Monophony - The most basic music is a single melodic line sung by all perfomers in unison. This music is referred to as monophonic music and contains no harmony. Because of its simplicity monophonic music forms the bulk of early music, however, it has been suggested that some early music was written not in true monophonic form but instead with the parts in octaves and so still avoiding harmony.
Mosaic – A design composed of small units of stone, glass, or porcelain set in mortar
Motet – A polyphonic vocal composition with sacred text that emerged in the Middle Ages and was especially popular in the Renaissance. By the 13th century in France a new form of music was appearing, the motet. In motet form a passage of a Gregorian chant was arranged so that the notes were based on a rhythmic mode with the melody proceeding in a series of repeated short, rhythmically identical motives.
Mural – A painting on a wall. Murals may be painted with any kind of paint or technique and are usually very large
Nave – The central portion or aisle of a church
Neumes – An early system of medieval notational symbols that indicates musical pitches
Opera – A staged dramatic musical production performed by singers and instrumentalists with support from lighting, scenery, costumes and often, dance. Its origins were rooted in Florentine Italy in the early 17th C
Oratorio - An oratorio is a composition for orchestra, soloists and choir. It differs from an opera in that it doesn't have decor, costumes or acting. Oratorios have a biblical theme. Oratorios (like operas) can contain several elements:
· Overture
· Aria (solo)
· Recitative
· Chorus
· Ensemble singing
Probably the best known oratorio is the Messiah by Händel. It contains the well known halelujah-chorus. Others well known oratorios include Christmas Oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach and Mendelsohn's Elijah oratorio.
Organum (parallel): an early form of counterpoint - the earliest kind of counterpoint (IX through XI C). Secondary voices were added in parallel motion at fixed intervals (perfect fourths, fifths, and octaves) to the one singing the chant. started out in the 9th century as an addition to the unadorned (plane) unison line of Gregorian chant. Monks started to sing in parallel intervals, a process that eventually led to harmony and counterpoint. Harmony and counterpoint eventually led to the desire to go beyond.
Overture - Overture (French ouverture, meaning opening), in music, the instrumental introduction to a dramatic, choral, or, occasionally, instrumental composition. The notion of an overture has no existence until the 17th century.
Polyphnony – A texture in which two or more melodic lines are interwoven - a musical texture in which the main idea is uniformly distributed among all the intervening voices. None of the voices is secondary.
Primary Colors – The hues that can be mixed to produce all other hues. The primary colors are: red, yellow, and blue
Portraits - A work of art that represents a specific person, a group of people, or an animal. Portraits usually show what a person looks like as well as revealing something about the subject's personality. Portraits can be made of any sculptural material or in any two-dimensional medium. Portraiture is the field of portrait making and portraits in general.
Post and Lintel – A system of construction in which vertical supports carry horizontal beams
Rhythm – The temporal element in music; that which moves the music through time
Program Music - Instrumental music of the 19th and 20th cent. that endeavors to arouse mental pictures or ideas in the thoughts of the listener—to tell a story, depict a scene, or impel a mood. Moussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, intended by the composer as program music, might be contrasted with a symphony of Brahms, which is considered as absolute music. It is so called because it relies on a “program” (an expanatory text or narrative) to explain its extra-musical associations. Examples are the symphonic poems of Liszt , and Sorceror's Apprentice by Dukas
Recitative – A type of solo vocal performance in which words are sung with a minimum of melodic interest and usually based on speech rhythms, inflections, and syntax. That which is accompanied by the orchestra is called recitativo accompagnato. That which is accompanied by the basso continuo only is called recitativo secco.
Recitative, a form of composition often used in operas, oratorios, cantatas and similar works, is best described as melodic speech set to music.
Renaissance – 1400-1600 - age of new birth. The Renaissance was a cultural movement and time period in the History of Europe, considered marking the end of the Middle Ages. The Renaissance is usually considered to have begun in the 14th century in Italy and the 16th century in northern Europe.
Romanesque - meaning "in the Roman manner;" medieval European style of architecture, consisting of solid masonry walls, rounded arches, and masonry vaults, characteristic of Roman Imperial buildings.
Tempera – A technique of painting using pigment mixed with egg yolk, glue or casein; also the medium itself
Vault – A method of covering an area with a roof or ceiling, based on the principal of the arch
**Kleiner, F; Marmiya, C. Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: A concise History. Thomson Wadsworth. 2006
