Music Theory Terms
Speed of a piece indicated through the use of Italian-language terms
(Ex: Largo, Adagio, Andante, Allegro, Presto)
What is Tempo?
Set of detailed instructions for solving a problem
(Ex: "Sort a List", "Divide two numbers")
- Written in detail to explain how to handle all possible inputs or fail if the task is impossible
- Derives from the name of Al-Khwarizmi
What is Algorithm?
(1938)
- By Aaron Copland and choreographed by Eugene Loring
- Depicts episodes in the life of the title Old West Outlaw
- Sections include "Card Game at Night" and a "Gun Battle"
What is Billy the Kid?
What is Gaborone?
This George Gershwin piece was written for Paul Whiteman's band and opens with a clarinet glissando
What is Rhapsody in Blue?
The distance between two pitches
- Described with ordinal numbers (first, second, third)
- Unisons would be considered first
- Octaves are considered eighth
What are Intervals?
Mathematical concept often used in algorithms
- Vertices (dots) are connected by edges (lines)
- Path refers to a sequence of lines between two dots
- Cycle refers to a path that begins and ends at the same dot
What is Graph?
(1923)
- By Darius Milhaud and choreographed by Jean Börlin
- Inspired by a trip to the U.S.
- Shows the influence of jazz, blues, and traditional African rhythms
- Depicts the beginning of creation in African tradition
What is The Creation of the World (La Création du Monde)?
Capital of Central African Republic
What is Bangui?
Aaron Copland wrote this ballet for Martha Graham that contains a set of variations on the Shaker tune "Simple Gifts"
What is Appalachian Spring?
Indicate the volume at which music is to be played
Ex: Forte (f) and Piano (p)
What are Dynamics?
Way to write algorithms and other instructions in a way that can be understood and executed by a computer
- Define variables and functions
Ex: Java, Javascript, C, Python
What is Programming Language?
(1944)
- By Leonard Bernstein and choreographed by Jerome Robbins
- Inspired by Paul Cadmus's painting The Fleet's In!
- Depicts three sailors on shore leave in New York City
What is Fancy Free?
Any of South Africa's 3 Capitals
Either One of These Three
- What is Pretoria?
- What is Cape Town?
- What is Bloemfontein?
This founder of the Second Viennese School wrote Pierrot Lunaire and created the twelve-tone method of composition
Who is Arnold Schoenberg?
The various techniques which may be used to modify the attack or performance of a single note or a series of notes
(Ex: Staccato, Tenuto, Legato)
What is Articulation?
Used with many programming languages to convert human-readable code into instructions for machines
Ex: GCC (C/C+++), Java Virtual Machine (Java)
What is Complier?
(1910)
- By Igor Stranvinsky and choreographed by Michel Fokine
- First of many collaborations between Stravinsky and Sergei Diaghilev
- Protagonist is Prince Ivan, who captures a mythical creature with the same name as the ballet's title
What is The Firebird (L'Oiseau De Feu or Zhar-Ptitsa)
Capital of Madagascar
What is Antananarivo?
This Austrian composer, who died before finishing his Symphony No. 10, set translated Chinese poems to music in The Song of the Earth
Who is Gustav Mahler?
Technique developed by Arnold Schoenberg
- Method of writing atonal music (no key or tonic pitch)
- Based on a tone row from each of the twelve pitches in a chromatic scale
What is Twelve-Tone Technique?
Algorithm that uses recursion to split problems into smaller ones
- Uses smaller inputs to solve these subproblems, allowing efficient solving on big input sets
Ex: Merge Sort, Binary Search, Karatsuba's Algorithm
What is Divide-And-Conquer Algorithms?
(1892)
- By Peter Tchaikovsky and choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov
- Based on E.T.A. Hoffmann's story about a Christmas Party
- Drosselmeyer gives his granddaughter Clara a toy and her brother Fritz soon breaks it
What is The Nutcracker (Shchelkunchik)
Capital of Ivory Coast (or Côte d'Ivoire)
What is Yamoussoukro?
This Soviet composer's fifteen symphonies include ones nicknamed "Leningrad" and "Babi Yar"
Who is Dmitri Shostakovich?