Download Music Appreciation 202 Name

Music Appreciation 202
Style Analysis Sheet
Name ______________________________
Listen to the following MYSTERY PIECE. Consider the following musical elements in the excerpt that you
hear.
A. TIMBRE - What sounds do you hear? (i.e. What instruments and/or voices do you hear?) Are there
groups of instruments and/or voices that you hear? (i.e. Do you hear an orchestra and/or a chorus OR do
you hear individual instrumental soloists and/or individual voices?)
B. TEXTURE - Is the texture mostly Monophony or Polyphony? If Polyphony, is it mostly Imitative
Polyphony or Non-imitative Polyphony? If Non-imitative Polyphony, is it Hymn-like Homophony OR
Melody With Accompaniment Homophony OR neither? Does the texture change many times within the
same piece (or movement)?
C. RHYTHM - Is there a steady beat OR no steady beat (metrically free)? If a steady beat, it is gently
flowing (in speech-like rhythms) or is the beat emphasized with lots of forward motion?
D. MELODY - Is the melody very smooth with melismas within a small range OR very smooth with longer
arch-like shapes OR is the melody elaborate, ornamented, continously expanding, long, and winding?
E. HARMONY - Is the harmony mostly consonant or does it have some dissonance? Is the harmony
created by individual lines of melody combining together, or is there a chord-making instrument "filling
in" the harmony?
F. DYNAMICS - Is the dynamic mostly at one level? OR are there sudden changes in dynamics (p to f, f to
p) within a piece?
G. FORM - Does the music sound non-repetitive (no noticeable repeats of melodic material) OR is there
imitation of tiny bits of melody OR does one longer main theme repeated over and over at different
times in the piece (sometimes in different modes or in fragments)?
H. MOOD - What is the mood of the excerpt? Is it "floating" and "other-worldly"? Is it "heavy" and
"dense"? Is it "airy" or "calm"? Does the mood change suddenly within the piece? Does the piece have
the same heightened or exaggerated mood throughout without much change in affect?
Using your observations about what you heard in the excerpt, make an educated guess about its historical period
and the composer who may have written this piece.
I believe that this Mystery Piece was probably written in the _________________________
(Early Middle Ages, Late Middle Ages, Renaissance, or Baroque).
The composer of this Mystery Piece is probably ______________________________ .
I am making this educated guess, because I hear the following historical style characteristics in the
Mystery Piece excerpt.
(1)
(2)
(3)
Lists of Style Characteristics
Dynamics - no changes, all one level
Melody - uses melismas, very smooth (legato)
Mood - calm, otherwordly, "heavenly"
Rhythm - no regular beat, free-flowing
Texture - monophonic
Themes - sounds non-repetitive
Timbre - all vocal; a cappella; all men or all women
Texture – polyphonic (dense, non-imitative)
Dynamics - no changes, all one level
Harmony - mostly consonant (hollow-sounding chords) has some
dissonant parts
Melody - uses melismas, more "jumpy" and less smooth
Mood - heavy, dense, very thick, serious-sounding
Rhythm - has regular beat, more complex, has syncopations
Themes - sounds non-repetitive
Timbre - all vocal; a cappella; small groups of all men or all
women (1 on a part)
Dynamics - mostly at one level, changes are made in the
volume by adding together more voices
Harmony - very consonant (secular music uses dissonance for
text painting)
Melody - longer melodies with larger ranges (more higher and
lower notes); smooth, more scalar melodies (pitch
movement by step) with arch-like shapes
Mood - calm, smooth, airy; long stretches of all bright or all
dark
Rhythm - "speech-like" and gently flowing rhythms
Texture - mostly polyphonic (some homophony, emphasis on
imitative polyphony)
Themes - lots of imitation of tiny bits of melody
Timbre - almost all vocal music; use of full mixed (men and
women/children) choirs or small groups (1 on a part) ; a
cappella
Dynamics - sudden changes from loud to soft and soft to loud
Harmony - new emphasis on chords, use of basso continuo,
orchestra mainly consists of strings and basso continuo
Melody - elaborate, ornamented, continuously expanding, long
and winding
Mood - the same mood or “affect” throughout movement (vocal
music is exception; vocal music has many changes of mood,
but closely follows text)
Rhythm - emphasis of beat, lots of forward motion
Texture - more rapid changes in texture (homophony, some
emphasis on imitative polyphony) throughout a single
movement or piece of music
Themes - one main theme repeated over and over
List of Pieces Covered in this Exam
ANONYMOUS Alleluia: Vidimus Stellam (We have seen the star)
J. S. BACH Movement 4 (tenor chorale) Cantata No. 140: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Sleepers Awake)
J. S. BACH Movement 7 (chorale) Cantata No. 140: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Sleepers Awake)
J. S. BACH Organ Fugue in G Minor (The "Little")
J. S. BACH Movement 1 (Allegro) , Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major
HECTOR BERLIOZ Movement 4 (The March to the Scaffold) from Fantastic Symphony
JOSQUIN DESPREZ Ave Maria…Virgo Serena (Hail Mary)
G. F. HANDEL "Hallelujah "from Messiah
G. F. HANDEL "Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted" from Messiah
HILDEGARD OF BINGEN O Successores (You successors)
GUILLAUME DE MACHAUT Agnus Dei from Notre Dame Mass
HENRY PURCELL"Dido's Lament" from Dido and Aeneas
FRANZ SCHUBERT Erlkoing (The Elfking)
BEDRICH SMETANA The Moldau
ANTONIO VIVALDI Movement 1 (Allegro) , Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra, Op. 8, No. 1, Spring
from The Four Seasons
THOMAS WEELKES As Vesta Was from Latmos Hill Descending