Glossary G-O

galant: a style of music immediately following the Baroque period; found mostly in works from 1740-1770; the style is marked by an overall light, elegant character; short, miniature pieces; clear phrasing; simple harmonies; and an overall homophonic style. The galant style was intended to be simpler, less complex, less emotional than the Baroque which preceded it.

gavotte: a French dance of the 17th and 18th centuries.  Gavottes are always in duple meter, and are easily recognized by the phrasing:  all phrases begin and end in the middle of a measure.  The tempo is variable, though normally in the moderate range.

genre [ZHAWN-rah]: a type of piece

gigue: a lively French dance, often found at the end of Baroque suites.  Bach often uses the term "gigue" without distinguishing between the French "gigue" and Italian "giga."  Both a lively dances normally in triple meter.  The French type is often marked by dotted rhythms, whereas the Italian type relies more on triplet groupings.

ground bass: a work based on a repeating bass line, usually 8 measures in length. The bass line repeats without change. The ground bass also refers to the bass line itself. Synonyms: chaconne, passacaglia.

half cadence: a cadence which concludes on the dominant (V) chord of a key. Occasionally, vii chord substitutes for the V chord at the cadence, as happens near the end of the "Est ist der alte Bund" section of Cantata BWV 106. Although the cadence indicates a stopping point, the ending on the dominant (or vii) leaves the phrase or section feeling unresolved.

harmonic rhythm: the speed at which the chords change. In the Baroque era, the harmonic rhythm was generally slow, with one or two chords per measure.

harmonization: adding chords to a melody. The chords could be played by single instrument (such as the harpsichord or organ), by a group of instruments (as in an orchestra), or sung by a choir (where the melody would normally be in the soprano).

harpsichord: the predecessor of the piano. A keyboard instrument whose strings are plucked, rather than struck, in order to produce the sound. Capable of very limited changes in dynamics, and possessing very little sustaining power.

hemiola:  phrasing which makes the music feel as though it has changed meters; most often, the meter will appear to have changed from ¾ to 3/2.  A famous and prominent example occurs at the very start of Schumann’s Rhenish Symphony (Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major), which appears for the first six measures to be in 3/2, but is actually written in ¾.  Another famous example occurs in the middle movement of Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor.  Brahms’s music is also ripe with examples of hemiola.

homophonic: a texture best described as melody with accompaniment, as in a hymn. The accompaniment might be instrumental or vocal, but there is one clear melody, usually in the soprano.

idiomatic: well suited for a particular voice or instrument. Much music written in the early Baroque period or earlier than that was written for any treble instrument, or any bass instrument. Beginning in the Baroque, composers wrote for a specifically-named instrument. Violin parts, therefore, are written differently than flute parts, even though both are treble instruments.

imitation: when parts echo each other, usually with overlapping statements. The echoes could be exactly the same, or just similar.

interval: the distance between two pitches

librettist: the person who writes the libretto (the text) for an opera, oratorio, or cantata.

libretto: literally, it means "little book." The entire text for an opera, oratorio, or cantata.

Liturgy: a formal service, or formal portion of a service, of a rite of the Christian church. Most often refers to a formal arrangement of a portion of a service or Mass. In the Catholic Church, which has the oldest and most formalized service (the Mass) and liturgies (formal portions of the Mass) in the Christian tradition, the Mass is divided into two main liturgies: the Liturgy of the Word (in which the Word of God is revealed through the readings and sermon or homily) and the Liturgy of the Eucharist (see below).

Liturgy of the Eucharist: The second portion of the Catholic Mass, which includes the Eucharistic prayer, Sanctus (“Holy, Holy, Holy”), consecration (during which Catholics believe the sacramental bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ), Lord’s Prayer (“Our Father”), Kiss of Peace, Agnus Dei (“Lamb of God”), and Communion.

loure: a French court dance appearing most commonly in theatrical works (including operas and ballets) of the late Baroque and galant eras.  The character is dignified, sometimes majestic.  They are normally slow in tempo, and often use inverse dotted rhythms (that is, where the long note comes second).  Bach wrote only 3 loures in all of his music.

major: uses pitches from a scale in which the third note is higher than minor, producing a brighter sound. The interval between pitches, from bottom to top, in a major scale is as follows: whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step.

Mass: the most important liturgy in the Roman Catholic church; celebrated every day, and sometimes more than once a day, it commemorates the Last Supper (Jesus Christ's last meal with his disciples before his crucifixion). The Mass is composed of numerous prayers, musical items, responses, Biblical readings, and other texts. See also Ordinary and Proper.

melisma: more than one note on a syllable. A good example of this occurs in the "pleni sunt coeli" section of the Sanctus in Bach's B Minor Mass.

melody: the main theme in a piece of music

meter: a pattern of fixed beats (subdivisions of musical time) for an entire piece of music or section of music. Meter is indicated by a time signature, which resembles a fraction. Meter usually groups beats in twos, threes, or fours. Individual beats can be subdivided in twos (called "simple meter") or threes ("called compound meter).

minor: uses pitches from a scale in which the third note is lowered, compared to major. Sometimes the sixth and seventh notes are lowered as well, though they often are not. Pieces written in minor are often more somber or sad in mood

Missa brevis: literally, short Mass. Could indicate either a Mass in which some traditional Ordinaries are not set to music; or a Mass in which all Ordinaries are set, but to shorter music. Normally the latter occurs by eliminating long orchestral introductions and transitions and multiple repetitions of text.

modal mixture: a combination of major and minor in a passage which is otherwise clearly in a major key or clearly in a minor key; the effect is to obscure the key or mode temporarily.

Modulation:  A change of key.

monophonic: a texture in which all parts and/or instruments do exactly the same thing simultaneously; that is, there is only one melody without any kind of accompaniment.

mordent: an ornament common in the Baroque era, especially in keyboard music. It appears in written form like so:

To perform this, insert descending neighboring tones where the squiggles appear. Mordents without the vertical line should be performed with an ascending neighboring tone.

motet: a polyphonic vocal composition, usually written in Latin, unaccompanied, and using a sacred text. A popular genre of the Renaissance. Bach wrote 6 motets, some of which have optional instrumental accompaniment. Bach's motets are written in German, the vernacular.

Motet Passion: a particular genre of musical Passions, in which the entire text is sung by an a cappella chorus. Essentially, a series of motets. Because there are no soloists, the individual characters of the story cannot be developed or distinguished through the music.

motive: The smallest recognizable element of a melody. Motives can be melodic -- where we recognize the direction of the pitches -- or rhythmic. The most famous example of a rhythmic motive is eighth-eighth-eighth-quarter (the opening of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony).

movement: any complete and independent division of a larger work. Individual movements are separated by a brief pause before and after. Usually, the audience should not applaud during these breaks between movements. A succession of movements comprises a larger work, such as a concerto, a symphony, a cantata, or an oratorio.

neighboring tone: a type of non-chord tone, placed between two identical chord tones, moving in both directions by step as follows:

Here, in a D major chord, the C-sharp is a non-chord tone. It is placed between two Ds, which do fit the chord; the C-sharp is approached and left by step. Neighboring tones may be ascending or descending (as in the example above).

Non-chord tones:  This is a generic term encompassing several categories of special tones; in each case, the tone (pitch) in question does not “fit” the prevailing harmony—that is, it is not one of the pitches of the chord.  The types of non-chord tones are passing tone, neighboring tone, appoggiatura, suspension, retardation, escape tone, anticipation, cambiata, and pedal tone.

obbligato: obligatory; that is, you must play this part. Often misunderstood by students to mean "optional."

oboe: the highest-sounding member of the double reed family of woodwinds. It usually plays in the soprano register. An oboe is generally made out of wood, or sometimes plastic. The performer blows into a double reed, which is two very thin, slightly-curved pieces of wood. If you stare straight down the top of the double reed, the shape will resemble a very thin football. The sound of an oboe is a bit thin, and reedy.

Oboe d'amore: this is an older version of the modern oboe. It has a slightly lower range than the modern oboe, and also a slightly sweeter sound.

Oboe da caccia: this is also a type of oboe. It was curved in the shape of a hunting horn, which it why it is called "da caccia." It had a lower range than the modern oboe.

oratorio: a long, dramatic, sacred work which tells a story using soloists, a chorus, and orchestra. Unlike an opera, an oratorio is rarely acted out.

Ordinary: those parts of the Catholic Mass whose texts remain the same every day. There are five Ordinaries which are normally set to music by composers: Kyrie (Lord have mercy), Gloria (Glory to God in the highest), Credo (We believe in one God), Sanctus (Holy, holy, holy Lord), and Agnus Dei (Lamb of God).

organ: a keyboard instrument using pipes to produce the sound. Although the manuals (keyboards) are played like the modern piano, an additional keyboard of pedals is played by the feet, and a stream of wind blows through the pipes as the instrument is played, producing the sound. The organ was used most often in church (sacred) music.

organist: one who plays the organ

ostinato: a repeating pattern. May be melodic (pitches repeated), rhythmic (rhythms repeated) or a combination. A ground bass is an example of an ostinato, where both pitch and rhythm are repeated.

© 2004 Carol Traupman-Carr