Baroque Music (1600-1750)

Baroque described as filled space on

canvas, in stone or in sound.

Baroque
Scientific Discovery
Galileo
Newton

Giant Composers
J. S. Bach
Handel

Baroque: Three Periods

early:
opera
homophonic texture

middle:
instrumental music

late:
polyphony

Characteristics of Baroque Music

Unity of Mood: a piece usually expresses
one mood
Rhythm:
patterns are repeated through out
the beat is emphasized

Melody: repeated

Baroque Dynamics
Terraced Dynamics:
alternation between loud and soft dynamics
organ and harpsichord could not crescendo

Basso Continuo
Common type of accompaniment
Bass line with improvised chords
cello or bassoon on bass
harpsichord or organ on harmony

The Baroque Orchestra

small (10 to 40 players)
basso continuo and violin family strings
brass, woodwinds and percussion used
occasionally
tone color was subordinate to the melody,
rhythm or harmony

Baroque Forms
movements: a piece that sounds fairly
complete and independent but is part of a
larger composition.

Music in Baroque Society

Music written to order: demand for new
music.
Main source of diversion in the courts of the
aristocracy.
Music Directors job
Pay and prestige were high
compositions were performed
Still a servant of the patron

Music in Baroque Society

Church musicians
earned less than the court and lower status
supplemented with weddings and funerals

Town musicians
Opera houses

The Concerto
Grosso

and

Concerto

Concerto: piece for instrumental soloist,

string orchestra, and basso continuo
Concerto Grosso: piece for instrumental
soloists, string orchestra, and basso
continuo

The Concerto
Performers
Soloists
between two and four
best paid, better players

tutti
String orchestra

basso continuo
harpsichord
cello

Grosso

The Concerto Ritornello form

Three Movements
1.
fast:
ritornello form:
based on
alternation of tutti and solo sections
2. Slow
3. fast & ritornello form

Listening: Brandenburg Concerto

No. 5 in D Major, by J. S. Bach
Written for the Prince at Cthen, dedicated to
the Margrave of Brandenburg
Soloists:
flute
violin
harpsichord: first time harpsichord is used as a
solo instrument

ritornello form: RSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSR

The Fugue: terminology

a polyphonic composition based on one theme
called a subject
written for three, four or five voices
labeled SATB whether sung or played
the different voices imitate the subject

Subject: the melody or theme of a fugue

theme: a short melody used to build a larger
composition

The Fugue: terminology

the answer is the subject in the dominant
countersubject: a different melodic idea
which always appears with the subject
episode: transitional section
stretto: close imitation.
pedal point: a single held-out tone, usually
in the bass

Listening: Little Fugue in G Minor,

by J. S. Bach
Organ (one player)
four voices
Subject

Subject

Subject

Subject (in foot pedals)

The Elements of Opera

opera: a drama in which some or all of the
lines are sung to an orchestral
accompaniment
libretto: the text of the opera
librettist: the one who writes the libretto
overture or prelude:
the orchestral
introduction to an opera

Opera Singing Styles

aria: a song for solo voice with orchestral
accompaniment
recitative: a vocal line that imitates speech,
accompanied by basso continuo
ensembles: compositions for two or more
singers

Opera Origins
Florentine Camerata
Attempt to recreate the Greek tragedy
singing followed the
fluctuations of speech

rhythm

and

pitch

homophonic:
soloist and simple chordal
accompaniment (basso continuo)
polyphony rejected because it would obscure the
text

Early operas:
based on the Greek myth
Euridice by Jacopo Peri, the earliest opera
that has been preserved.
Orfeo by Claudo Monteverdi, the first great
opera

Early operas:
Written for nobility:
1637 first public opera house in Venice (San
Cassiano)
Use of castrato
male hero
women's roles only in church-dominated areas

Claudio Monteverdi
b. Cremona, Italy
Court of Mantua, singer, violinist, director
Composer at St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice

Listening: "Tu se' morta" from

Orfeo by Monteverdi

Composed for the court at Mantua

homophonic
recitative
basso continuo
portative organ
bass lute
word painting

The Baroque Sonata

a composition in several movements for one
to eight instruments (during the early
baroque)
any instrumental soloist with basso continuo
trio sonata
two melodic instruments
basso continuo

Antonio Vivaldi - Life

son of violinist at St. Mark's in Venice
priest - "The Red Priest
Violin teacher, composer, conductor at girl's
orphanage
forgotten after his death
best known for his 450+ concerti and
concerti grossi

The Four Seasons

Four concerti for violin and orchestra

Summer
Fall
Winter
Spring

Listening: "La Primavera",

(Spring) Movement one.
Spring has arrived, and full of joy
The birds greet it with their happy song.
The streams, swept by gentle breezes,
Flow along with a sweet murmur.
Covering the sky with a black cloak,
Thunder and lightning come to announce the season.
When all is quiet again, the little birds
Return to their lovely song.

Spring Concerto
Three movements
fast, in ritornello form
slow
fast

Johann Sebastian Bach (16851750)

b. in Eisenach, Germany
long line of musicians
four sons became musicians

Arnstadt: Church organist

Muhlhausen: Church organist
Weimar: Court organist/conductor
Cthen: Court organist/conductor

Bach in Leipzig - duties

Cantor at St. Thomas Church
music at four municipal churches
rehearsed, conducted, and composed and
extended work for each Sunday

Music education of 55 students at St.

Thomas School
Oversaw stadtpfeiffers (Musicians Guild)

Bach in Leipzig - duties

director of Leipzig Collegium Musicum
student organization
weekly concerts at a coffeehouse

Organ performer and technician

greatest organist and composer of organ fugues
known for improvisation: music created at the
same time as it is performed

Bach

Deeply religious (Lutheran)

20 children by two wives
Blind from cataracs
Today is Buried in St. Thomas Church
Forgotten at his death
Mendelssohn, 1829, St. Matthew Passion

Bach - Church Cantatas

most of his vocal music if sacred
No difference between sacred and secular forms
used operatic forms such as aria and recitative
in sacred cantatas
Italian Concerto
French
.

All genres except opera

Suite

The Baroque Suite

Listening*: Suite No. 3 in D Major

2 ob, 3 tpt, timp, strings, basso continuo
Prelude, Air, Gavotte, Boure, Gigue
Binary Form
AAB B

The Chorale and Church Cantata

chorale: hymn tune sung to a religious text
chorale prelude:
a short composition
played by the organist and based on a hymn
tune
cantata: for chorus, vocal soloists, organ
and small orchestra

Cantata
written for chorus, vocal soloists, organ and small
orchestra.
text from the Bible or familiar hymns
used to reinforce the sermon
half-hour
included choruses, recitatives, arias, and duets.
(all are also found in opera)
Bach composed about 295 cantatas

Listening: Cantata No. 140:

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
Based on the Hymn, "Awake, A Voice is
Calling Us - Mvt. 1
French Overture: dotted rhythms
Italian Ritornello: alternating with chorus
German Chorale: melody in the soprano

Cantata No. 140:

tenor chorale

Mvt. 4, the

uses ritornello form

contrast of string ritornello and slow chorale
melody

Cantata No. 140: Mvt. 7, chorale

4-part, homophonic texture
instruments double voices
Congregation would stand and join

The Oratorio
a large-scale composition for chorus,
vocal soloists, and orchestra
uses choruses, arias, duets, recitatives, and
orchestral interludes
chorus acts as commentary

last approximately 2 hours

The Oratorio

set to a narrative text

no acting or scenery
most are biblical
originally performed in prayer halls called
oratorios

George Frideric Handel

b. Halle, Germany (one month before Bach)

Hamburg: opera
Italy
Elector Georg Ludwig of Hanover

Handel in London
favorite of Queen Anne
Royal Academy of Music - Italian Operas
English Oratorios after failure of Italian
Opera
Blind - from cataracs
Buried in Westminster Abbey

Handel - Music
Instrumental
suites
organ concerti
concerti grossi

Vocal Music
39 Italian operas
Oratorios (mostly in English)

Handel - Oratorios

generally Old Testament

for the paying public, not church
have plots, but no scenery or acting
chorus is the focus

Listening: Messiah
lasts 2 1/2 hours
composed in 24 days
Premiered in Dublin, Ireland in 1742 as a
benefit for people in debtor's prison
later tradition as London orphanage benefit
concert
Only one to use New Testament verses

Messiah - Three Acts

Christmas
"Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted"
aria for tenor
use of word painting

For unto Us a Child Is Born

Rondo form
borrowed from an Italian duet "No, I will not trust you, blind love,
cruel Beauty! You are too treacherous, too charming a deity!
little difference between sacred and secular styles
no copyright laws

Easter
Hallelujah Chorus

Homophony
Monophony
Polyphony
Chorale
Fugue
Pedal

Pentecost
I know my Redeemer liveth
over 50 selections

Handel
Perennially popular