In a broad sense, a piece of music -it is a piece (instrumental or vocal) that is the result of compositional activity. It is characterized by internal completeness, individualized form and content, fixation of musical notation for the purpose of subsequent performance.
A piece of music can be monophonic.(melody and accompaniment) and polyphonic (polyphony, homophony). It can be a separate number, as well as be part of a certain cinematic or dramatic action. The peculiarity and uniqueness of each composer's creation is achieved by a number of expressive means, such as mode, tempo, harmony, meter, dynamics, rhythm, melody.
The concept of "musical genre" is used to characterize various works, depending on their origin and method of performance.
It has long been a variety of songs (round dance,ritual, labor, etc.) accompanied the life of the people and inspired the soldiers to win. So there were numerous vocal genres. A characteristic feature of the songs is the repeated repetition of the tune, the main melody.
Romance is a genre of vocal music that appeared in the 19th century. This piece is for a singer with instrumental accompaniment.
In contrast to the romance, choral compositions are intended to be performed by a large singing group under accompaniment or a cappella (without accompaniment).
Cantata is a rather voluminous musicalthe work intended for performance by the singer - soloist (or chorus) and an orchestra. The works of this genre were written for a long time in honor of a significant date and were solemn. However, there are lyrical, narrative cantatas.
The oratorio is a large-scale musical and dramatic composition. It does not imply a stage action and is intended to be performed by the choir, soloist and orchestra.
Opera - musical and dramatic composition, inwhich combines theatrical action and music. The main feature of this genre is that the spoken language of the characters is replaced by singing.
Instrumental genres of worksformed later vocal. They have an applied meaning. Instrumental music accompanied parades, hikes, religious processions, city balls. In the 17th century, new genres, deeper in meaning and content, appeared.
Sonata is an instrumental piece that is usuallyconsists of three parts in contrast with the tempo (fast, slow, fast). A little later, four-part works of this genre appear in the works of L. Beethoven.
Symphony - musical composition intendedfor performance by the whole symphony orchestra. Just like the sonata, this work in the classical version consists of three parts. It is notable for its large volume, versatility of content and availability of melodic language.
Concert - a piece of music,intended for performance by orchestra and solo instrument. Most often, works of this genre are written in a cyclical three-part form, but sometimes one-part concerts can be found.
Musical form
This concept is characterized by the ratio of partsin the piece. Thus, the two-part form consists of two sections, usually contrasting in character. The three-part is of three, with the first and third parts similar in melodic language and mood, and the middle one is contrasted to them. Variations are a modified repetition of the main motive (theme).
There are other musical forms, such asrondo (the theme is periodically repeated unchanged), cyclical (consists of several independent parts, united by a single plan) and free (found in modern music).
