Music Content Knowledge (5113) Praxis II Exam With
100% Correct Answers 2024.
Characteristics of Medieval Era
Dominated by vocal music. Sacred Music: Gregorian Chant and Masses. Secular
Music: for dance and entertainment (Troubadours/Trouvères)
Gregorian Chant
melodies that were free flowing with no distinct meter, melismatic, largely monophonic,
and sung by unaccompanied voice or choir
Organum
an early form of polyphony in which voices are sung in parallel motion
Masses
important religious ritual and featured non-imitative polyphony
Motet
polyphonic music that was both sacred and secular; major musical form of the Medieval
and Renaissance periods taht emerged from medieval organum and clausulae.
Secular Music (Troubadours and Trouvères)
drone accompaniment, regular meter, syncopations, polyphony, and harmony; by the
end of Medieval era became the driving force of musical development
Musical Importance of the Mass
one of the most important services of the Roman Catholic Church; driving force of
musical development in the Medieval and Renaissance eras. The liturgy of the Ordinary
was most often set to music. By the Renaissance era; polyphony was common, musical
notation had been refined, and complete masses were written by a single composer
(e.g. Machaut's Mess de Notre Dame). By the twentieth century the genre declined.
The Sections within the Ordinary of a Mass
Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei
Medieval Motet
featured a tenor line derived from plainchant with one or more upper voices in French or
Latin. The tenor vocal line usually had a short, repeated rhythmic pattern, while the
upper voices had contrasting, lively upper voices. The texts of the upper voices were
sometimes independent and in a different language from the tenor line
Renaissance Motet
Referred more to a genre of music than a certain form or structure; by 15th century the
motet was known as a polyphonic setting of any sacred Latin text, not restricted to the
liturgy. Composers of the Renaissance introduced imitation homophony, and four-part
harmony to the motet.
polyphony
texture of music in which all voices or parts hold similar musical prominence or interest,
several distinct melodic lines occurring at the same time; rhythm of each line moves
independently of each other
homophony
several voices or parts, but melodic interest is reduced to a single voice or part, all other
voices or parts support the main melody as an accompaniment and mover together in
rhythmic likeness; any form of melody and accompaniment texture
, monophony
centers on a single melodic line, does not have supplemental accompaniment parts; a
single line of melody embodies the entire work itself
e.g. plainchant
Characteristics of the Baroque Period
music stylistically ornate and heavily ornamented; during this period tonality was
established, counterpoint was invented, and the size, range, and complexity of
orchestrations were expanded; linear bass line; musical pieces with one affect/or
general sound idea
Characteristics of the Classical Period
prominence of homophony, featured a slower harmonic rhythm than the ornate Baroque
music that featured a linear bass line; emphasized a natural melody above textural
complexity, music had clear phrases and period structure; pieces now stylistically
contrasted within themselves, rather than having one general sound idea
Nationalism
the movement that was a facet of the Romantic era during the late 19th and early 20th
centuries in which music evoked national or regional character of a place; composers
used folk music in their compositions either as a direct quote or as a framework for the
composition of melodies and rhythms that resemble folk music of the area
Nationalistic Composers of Russia
Glinka, Borodin, Balakirev, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov
Nationalistic Composers of Czechoslovakia
Smetana, Dvorák, Janáček
Nationalistic Composers of Scandinavian Countries
Grieg, Sibelius
Nationalistic Composers of England
Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Holst
Nationalistic Composers of Spain
Albéniz, Granados, de Falla
Nationalistic Composers of Hungary
Bartók, Kodaly
Nationalistic Composers of the United States
Ives, Harris, Gershwin, Copeland
Program Music
music that represented non-musical images or ideas, flourished in the Romantic era
with program symphonies, symphonic poems, and character pieces with descriptive
titles
Examples of Program Music
Strauss' Don Quixote, Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre, Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique,
Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Absolute Music
instrumental music that existed apart from extra-musical references, able to move
audiences solely on the purity of the music itself.
Program Music vs. Absolute Music
Proponents of programmatic music argued that music alone could not express anything
and that music needed associations for audiences to fully grasp musical expression.
100% Correct Answers 2024.
Characteristics of Medieval Era
Dominated by vocal music. Sacred Music: Gregorian Chant and Masses. Secular
Music: for dance and entertainment (Troubadours/Trouvères)
Gregorian Chant
melodies that were free flowing with no distinct meter, melismatic, largely monophonic,
and sung by unaccompanied voice or choir
Organum
an early form of polyphony in which voices are sung in parallel motion
Masses
important religious ritual and featured non-imitative polyphony
Motet
polyphonic music that was both sacred and secular; major musical form of the Medieval
and Renaissance periods taht emerged from medieval organum and clausulae.
Secular Music (Troubadours and Trouvères)
drone accompaniment, regular meter, syncopations, polyphony, and harmony; by the
end of Medieval era became the driving force of musical development
Musical Importance of the Mass
one of the most important services of the Roman Catholic Church; driving force of
musical development in the Medieval and Renaissance eras. The liturgy of the Ordinary
was most often set to music. By the Renaissance era; polyphony was common, musical
notation had been refined, and complete masses were written by a single composer
(e.g. Machaut's Mess de Notre Dame). By the twentieth century the genre declined.
The Sections within the Ordinary of a Mass
Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei
Medieval Motet
featured a tenor line derived from plainchant with one or more upper voices in French or
Latin. The tenor vocal line usually had a short, repeated rhythmic pattern, while the
upper voices had contrasting, lively upper voices. The texts of the upper voices were
sometimes independent and in a different language from the tenor line
Renaissance Motet
Referred more to a genre of music than a certain form or structure; by 15th century the
motet was known as a polyphonic setting of any sacred Latin text, not restricted to the
liturgy. Composers of the Renaissance introduced imitation homophony, and four-part
harmony to the motet.
polyphony
texture of music in which all voices or parts hold similar musical prominence or interest,
several distinct melodic lines occurring at the same time; rhythm of each line moves
independently of each other
homophony
several voices or parts, but melodic interest is reduced to a single voice or part, all other
voices or parts support the main melody as an accompaniment and mover together in
rhythmic likeness; any form of melody and accompaniment texture
, monophony
centers on a single melodic line, does not have supplemental accompaniment parts; a
single line of melody embodies the entire work itself
e.g. plainchant
Characteristics of the Baroque Period
music stylistically ornate and heavily ornamented; during this period tonality was
established, counterpoint was invented, and the size, range, and complexity of
orchestrations were expanded; linear bass line; musical pieces with one affect/or
general sound idea
Characteristics of the Classical Period
prominence of homophony, featured a slower harmonic rhythm than the ornate Baroque
music that featured a linear bass line; emphasized a natural melody above textural
complexity, music had clear phrases and period structure; pieces now stylistically
contrasted within themselves, rather than having one general sound idea
Nationalism
the movement that was a facet of the Romantic era during the late 19th and early 20th
centuries in which music evoked national or regional character of a place; composers
used folk music in their compositions either as a direct quote or as a framework for the
composition of melodies and rhythms that resemble folk music of the area
Nationalistic Composers of Russia
Glinka, Borodin, Balakirev, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov
Nationalistic Composers of Czechoslovakia
Smetana, Dvorák, Janáček
Nationalistic Composers of Scandinavian Countries
Grieg, Sibelius
Nationalistic Composers of England
Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Holst
Nationalistic Composers of Spain
Albéniz, Granados, de Falla
Nationalistic Composers of Hungary
Bartók, Kodaly
Nationalistic Composers of the United States
Ives, Harris, Gershwin, Copeland
Program Music
music that represented non-musical images or ideas, flourished in the Romantic era
with program symphonies, symphonic poems, and character pieces with descriptive
titles
Examples of Program Music
Strauss' Don Quixote, Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre, Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique,
Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Absolute Music
instrumental music that existed apart from extra-musical references, able to move
audiences solely on the purity of the music itself.
Program Music vs. Absolute Music
Proponents of programmatic music argued that music alone could not express anything
and that music needed associations for audiences to fully grasp musical expression.
