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| Music of the 17th and 18th centuries characterized by definite, repetitious rhythms, a strong bass line, functional harmony, even dynamics, and complex melodies. Expresses order, but is lively and cheerful |
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| A composition in more than one movements for solo voices, instruments, and often a chorus (Bach) |
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| A combination of three or more simultaneous notes according to the rules of harmony |
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| The main Baroque type of concerto, for a group of instruments and a small orchestra revolving around the violin family (Corelli, Bach) |
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| A composition for one or sometimes more instruments brought into opposition with an orchestra |
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| A set of chords continuously underlying the melody in a piece of Baroque music |
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| Having to do with chords, or the "vertical" aspect of musical texture. The term "harmonic" is sometimes used to mean homophonic |
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| A musical texture that involves only one melody of real interest, accompanied by chords or other subsidiary sounds |
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| The main secular form of vocal music of the Renaissance and early Baroque, in which various text fragments are set in imitative polyphony or in homophony |
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| A short fragment of melody or rhythm used in constructing a long section of music |
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| A play set to music (Moneverdi, Purcell, Handel) |
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| A half-singing, half-reciting style of presenting words in opera |
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| A vocal number for solo singer and orchestra in an opera |
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| A large composition for voices and orchestra, telling a sacred story without scenery, costumes, or even a plot (Handel) |
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| Music in which two or more melodic lines are played simultaneously |
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| Strict, imitative polyphony, with the identical melody appearing in each voice at staggered intervals (Pachelbel). Rounds are unaccompanied versions of these |
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| A polyphonic composition in which a theme or themes (subject and countersubject) are stated successively by a number of voices in imitation and developed contrapuntally (Bach) |
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| The art of writing polyphonic music |
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| A group of dance tunes in various melodic forms, usually four or five movements, such as the allemande, sarabande, courante, couree, minuet, and gigue |
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| Groups of progressively developed versions of a complete self-contained theme, maintaining the form of that theme although not necessarily its melody |
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