The flashcards below were created by user
Risette
on FreezingBlue Flashcards.
-
What does opera literally mean?
"work"
-
What were the original operas about?
The first operas were an attempt to recreate the style of ancient Greek drama and contained subjects of Classical Mythology and Ancient History
-
A printed book containing the words of an opera
Libretto
-
Writer of the lyrics in an opera
Librettist
-
Can be Coloratura, Soubrette, Lyric, Spinto, Dramatic; often the “heroine” or “prima donna”
Soprano
-
Can be Lyric, Coloratura, Dramatic; often play the “trouser” or “pants” role
Mezzo-soprano/Alto
-
Often the old maid/witch
Contralto
-
Can be Lyric, Dramatic, Castrati/Countertenor/Haute-contre, Character, Wagnerian/Heldon, often the hero
Tenor
-
Lyric, found in Mozart’s operas and became popular in Verdi’s operas as a secondary hero
Baritone
-
combines the qualities of the bass and the baritone, often associated with Wagner
Bass-baritone
-
often a figure of authority such as a king, a priest, a father or a god.
Bass
-
A florid figuration or ornamentation
Coloratura
-
A passage of floral writing in which several notes are sung to the same syllable
Melisma
-
The embellishment of a melodic line, either improvised by the performer or written out by the composer.
Fiouritura "flourish
-
"beautiful singing"; A term loosely used to indicate the elegant Italian vocal style of the 18th and 19th Centuries and the operas designed to exploit that style.
Bel Canto Opera
-
A term used by Wagner for his music dramas, in which all the arts (music, poetry, movement, design etc) should combine to the same artistic end.
Gesamtkunstwerk
-
A term used to signify the Paris Opéra and the operas performed there, especially the monumental works performed at the Opéra during the middle 1800’s.
Grand Opera
-
A term for an opera consisting of individual sections or numbers which can be detached from the whole.
Numbers opera
-
Continuous Music with no repetitions, breaks or pauses in the music or drama. Unified by Leitmotifs.
Through-composed opera
-
A name for the Italian version of the late 19th Century movement towards naturalism in literature, (Emile Zola, Charles Dickens)
Verismo
-
Orchestral music designed to precede a dramatic work. Often sets the mood and introduces the main musical themes
Overture
-
An introductory scene in which the author explains the context and meaning of the work to follow.
Prologue
-
One of the main divisions of an opera, usually completing a part of the action and often having a climax of its own.
Act
-
Music written for performance between the acts
Entr'acte, Interlude, Intermezzo
-
The concluding, continuously composed, section of an act of an opera. “Lieto fine” – a happy ending
Finale
-
Musically-heightened speech that expresses the opera's action
Recitative
-
Recitative that includes basso continuo
Recitativo secco
-
Recitative that is accompanied by the orchestra
Recitativo Accompagnato
-
a small ensemble of at least two instrumentalists who provide a foundation for the melody or melodies above
basso continuo
-
passionate, expansive music that expresses the character's emotion
Aria
-
Music sung halfway between recitative and aria
Arioso
-
French/English term for "song" or "aria"
Air
-
Shorter and less elaborate than a fully developed aria
Arioso
-
-
A song inviting a company to raise their glasses and drink
Brindisi
-
songs sung outside the dramatic action
Canzone, Canzonetta
-
a short aria, without da capo, often an entrance aria
Cavatina
-
an instruction to return to the head of the piece of music and repeat the first section
Aria da capo
-
A comic song in which the humour derives from having the greatest number of words uttered in the shortest possible time.
Patter-song
-
the concluding section of an aria; generally in a fairly rapid tempo and with mounting excitement
Cabaletta
-
a virtuoso passage in an aria
Cadenza
-
Usually the first, slower part in a two-part aria
Cantable
-
The quality of a musical passage or composition that causes it to be sensed as gravitating towards a particular note, called the keynote or tonic.
Key
-
The movement out of one key into another as a continuous process. It is particularly used in opera as a device to suggest a change of mood
Modulation
-
a short musical idea, melodic, rhythmic, or harmonic
Motive
-
a motive that symbolizes a person, object, action, place, etc...
Leitmotif
-
The repetition of a musical pattern many times over
Ostinato
-
a piece of music constructed around a repeating bass line
ground bass
-
A short recurring instrumental passage, particularly the tutti section of a Baroque Aria.
Ritornello
-
Term for the form of a song or aria in which all stanzas of the text are set to the same music.
Strophic
-
A term for a melody that remains the same in each verse however the accompaniment varies.
Modified strophic
-
Term for the form of an aria in which the music for each stanza is different.
Through-composed
-
Opera seria, heroic characters, one emotion per aria
Baroque opera
-
Opera buffa, realistic characters, rapid changes in mood
Classical opera
|
|