caccia

The caccia (Italian for “hunt”) is a type of song that was popularized by composers Giovanni da Cascia and Jacopo da Bologna in the mid-14th century. The hunting in these cacce is depicted both musically and textually. The upper parts are in canon, so there is an audible hunt as the parts “chase” each other.

The caccia was another popular musical genre in Trecento Italy. Similar to the French chace, the caccia is a three part composition which plays on the dual meaning of the name: the three parts 'chase' each other in a canon, which describes an exciting event such as a hunt.

It consisted of two voices in strict canon at the unison (i.e., in strict melodic imitation at the same pitch), and often of a non-canonic third part, composed of long notes that underlay the canonic voices, followed by a ritornello.

Italian Musical Terms

Classical music The elitist and complex form of music of the Baroque Era was replaced by a simple, less ornate form of music. Classical music was the music of the Enlightenment. It was simple enough for all inhabitants of the Western world to appreciate its beauty.

• Tempo: Overall pace of the song; speed of the music.
• Rhythm: In songs, words usually match the rhythm.
• Pitch: High or low tones.
• Timbre: Color of the sound.
• Dynamics: Loudness or softness of the sound.
• Melody: The tune.
• Harmony: The blending of tones or sounds played or sung simultaneously to make up chords.

Characteristics of music include: sound, melody, harmony, rhythm or the driving beats in a measure or section of music, structure or form, texture, and expression.

And it's all because Italian music theorists got there first… When the rules for music notation were worked out and written down, it was all done in Italian. Around 1000 AD, Guido of Arezzo created the earliest version of the heads-and-stems-on-staves structure that we know today.

bel canto, (Italian: “beautiful singing”) style of operatic singing that originated in Italian singing of polyphonic (multipart) music and Italian courtly solo singing during the late 16th century and that was developed in Italian opera in the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries.

Whereas Baroque music, the dominant style of the previous era, was filled with complex melodies and exaggerated ornamentation, music of the Enlightenment was technically simpler. Instead of focusing on showing off skill and refinement, this new music was focused simply on enjoyment and was meant to be pleasing.

The Enlightenment influenced composers to create music that was more egalitarian in nature. While its ancestor, baroque music, was originally created for elite members of society, classical music incorporated folk music and celebrated individual reason over tradition and pageantry.

Melody, harmony, rhythm, and form and the expressive elements of dynamics, tempo, and timbre (tone color).