Ancient and Medieval Music
This Greek myth about a musician who descends to the underworld to save his wife inspired early operas like Monteverdi's L'Orfeo.
Orpheus and Eurydice.
This term describes a pre-existing melody, often from Gregorian chant, used as the structural basis for Renaissance vocal polyphony.
Cantus firmus
This Italian composer’s The Four Seasons is one of the most famous sets of violin concertos in Baroque music.
Antonio Vivaldi
This composer’s Orfeo is considered one of the first true operas and helped shape the Baroque genre.
Claudio Monteverdi
This Baroque vocal form features a three-part structure with the first section repeated after the contrasting middle section, often used in operas and oratorios.
Da capo aria
This collection of plainchant was codified under Pope Gregory I.
Gregorian chant
This composer of the Renaissance is credited with saving polyphony during the Counter-Reformation.
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
The Brandenburg Concertos are a set of six concertos composed by this German Baroque master.
Johann Sebastian Bach
This vocal style, used in Baroque opera, is designed to mimic natural speech and is often used for dialogue or narrative.
This musical form consists of two distinct sections, usually each repeated, often used in Baroque dance movements like the gavotte or minuet.
Binary form
This polyphonic genre originated in the 13th century when composers added new texts to the upper voices of clausulae.
The motet
This secular vocal genre was popular in Italy, often featuring word painting, a technique where the music reflects the literal meaning of the text when setting poetry to music.
This term refers to the Baroque style of music with two contrasting groups: a small solo group and a larger ensemble.
Concerto grosso
The very first operas were composed in 1600 for this Italian city, known for its early Baroque musical developments.
Florence
This complex form of counterpoint involves a main theme, called the "subject," which is introduced and then imitated in different voices, with terms like "exposition," "answer," and "countersubject" often used to describe its structure.
Fugue
This medieval female composer, also a mystic and abbess, wrote the Ordo Virtutum.
Hildegard of Bingen
This leading Franco-Flemish composer was renowned for his use of imitative polyphony, where voices enter successively with the same melodic material, as seen in works like "Ave Maria" and "Mille regret."
Josquin des Prez
This musical part, almost universal in the Baroque era, provides the continuous support of a bass line, typically played by instruments like the harpsichord or theorbo.
Basso continuo
This Baroque composer’s Dido and Aeneas is one of the earliest operas in the English language.
Henry Purcell
This form of Baroque concerto alternates between the orchestral ritornello, which returns throughout the work, and the contrasting episodes, featuring the soloist or small group.
Ritornello form
This 14th-century French composer and poet is known for his Messe de Nostre Dame
Guillaume de Machaut
As part of its Counter-Reformation efforts, this Catholic Church council sought to regulate church music, emphasizing textual clarity and spiritual focus in response to the complexities of polyphony
The Council of Trent
This type of Baroque instrumental work typically consists of a series of stylized dance movements, often including the allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue.
Dance suite
This French composer’s operas established the French opera style with its emphasis on ballet, French overtures, and lyrical melodies.
Jean-Baptiste Lully
This musical form involves a theme followed by sections where the theme is altered in melody, rhythm, harmony, or texture.
Theme and variations