ARCT History
Romantic Era Terms
Chamber music
music for small ensemble (two to ten players), one player per part, and usually performed
without a conductor
Theme and variations
A work featuring a statement of a melody (theme) followed by a series of transformations
(variations). Changes can be made to melody, harmony, rhythm, or orchestration.
Concerto
A multi-movement work for soloist(s) and orchestra; showcases virtuosity of soloist(s)
Cadenza
A solo passage heard in a concerto, aria, or any large orchestral work; often improvised;
displays virtuosity of the soloist
Character piece
An instrumental piece, most often for solo piano, based on a programmatic idea; usually
identified by a provocative title
Pedal Point
A sustained note or notes over which harmonies change
Sonata form
A formal structure often used in the first movements of the sonata cycle; consists of an
Exposition, Development, and Recapitulation
Etude
French for “study”; solo instrumental work intended to develop technical facility
Lied (pl. Lieder)
The musical setting of a German poem; for solo voice, generally with piano accompaniment
Modified Strophic Form
A song structure that allows for some repetition of music; some changes to the melody,
harmony, and accompaniment take place to reflect the text
Rondo Form
Classical formal structure often used in the sonata cycle; ABACA or ABACABA
Opera
drama that is sung; combines vocal and instrumental music with drama (staging and acting),
visual arts (costumes and scenery), and often dance
Aria
A solo song with orchestral accompaniment heard in an opera, oratorio, or cantata; highly
emotional, often virtuosic
Bel canto
A style used in the early nineteenth-century Italian opera, emphasized purity of tone and
lyrical melodies of a highly ornamented nature
Libretto
The text of an opera, oratorio, or cantata, usually written by someone other than the
composer
Recitative
A speech-like, declamatory style of singing heard in an opera, oratorio, or cantata
Music drama
Term used by Wagner to describe the synthesis of music and drama; served to distinguish his
style from “traditional” operas of the day
Gesamtkunstwerk
German for “total art work”; an ideal expounded by Wagner in his writings; achieved through
the perfect union of text, music, and stagecraft
Leitmotif
German for “leading motive”; a device perfected by Wagner in his music dramas; a melodic
fragment imbued with meaning, representing a character, place, object, or emotion;
undergoes transformation as the opera unfolds
Program Music
Instrumental music with extra-musical associations (literary, poetic, visual)
Concert Overture
A single-movement orchestral work with literary or pictorial associations; usually in sonata
form.