Music of the Baroque Period

(1600-1750)
Baroque Historical Highlights

Age of Absolutism; Kings and Queens are all-

powerful
Known for extreme decadence and
extravagance of aristocracy (e.g. Louis XIV and
his palace of Versailles)
Church Splits in Two; Europe split into Catholic
countries (Italy, France, Spain) and Protestant
countries (England, Germany, Netherlands,
Sweden)
The Palace at Versailles
The Kings Bedroom,
The Opera House
Baroque
Defined
Baroque means
exaggerated or
over-ornamented;
these adjectives
relate to music and
visual arts
 Baroque
Artistic
Highlights
Emphasis on
DRAMA
(extreme and
heightened
emotion) in
music and
visual arts
Paintings by
Artemisia
Gentilleschi
show this
emphasis on
 Baroque Musical Highlights
Birth of OPERA - theatrical presentations with
music and elaborate stage spectacle
New focus on instrumental music and
instrumental accompaniment to voices
New emphasis on chords and use of BASSO
CONTINUO
Examples:
Henry Purcell Didos Lament " from Dido and
Aeneas
Claudio Monteverdi Tu se morta from Orfeo
Basso Continuo

Baroque accompaniment made up of a

bass part usually played by two
instruments
A keyboard (or other chord-generating
instrument such as the lute, organ, or
harpsichord)
Plus a low melodic instrument (such as the
cello or bassoon)
Baroque Music Genres

Vocal Music Genres Instrumental Music

Opera Genres
Oratorio Chamber Music
Cantata Concerto Grosso
Opera
Sung theatrical work with orchestral
accompaniment
Vocal soloists and chorus

Staged with costumes and sets

Example: HENRY PURCELL "Dido's Lament"
from Dido and Aeneas CD#1/69-70
Recitative

Vocal line in a opera, oratorio, or

cantata that imitates the rhythms and
pitch fluctuations of speech, often
serving to lead into an aria

Recitative often gets across mostly plot

information in the opera, while the Aria
communicates the characters emotions
Aria

Song for solo voice with orchestral

accompaniment, usually expressing an
emotional state through its outpouring of
melody; found in operas, oratorios, and
cantatas
HENRY PURCELL "Dido's Lament"
from Dido and Aeneas
Aria vs. Recitative
Listen for Basso
continuo in Recitative
Aria built on Ground
bass - a repeating
bass line (dark-
sounding harmony,
descending in pitch)
Listen also for affect of
ground bass
Affect
The one basic mood that usually lasts
throughout a single movement or piece
of a Baroque composition
Emotional states expressed in music
were called affections
Exceptions can be found in some vocal
music where the affect may change if
the characters emotional changes
within an aria or recitative
Recitative
Thy hand, Belinda, darkness shades me,
On thy bosom let me rest; Dido tells
Belinda to
More I would bet Death invades me; leave her
alone, so that
Death is now a welcome guest. she can
commit
suicide

Aria
Dido tells
When I am laid, am laid in earth, us how she
feels about
may my wrongs create committing
suicide
No trouble, no trouble in thy breast.
Remember me! But ah! Forget my fate.
Oratorio
Like opera - [Sung theatrical work with orchestral accompaniment for
vocal soloists and chorus] , but unstaged [without acting, scenery, or
costumes]

Uses a religious story

Example: GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDELs Messiah
"Hallelujah" CD#2/11-16
"Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted" CD#2/10
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDELs
Messiah
"Hallelujah"
Listen for
Changes in texture
Hymn-like
Homophony
Imitative
Polyphony
Pedal Point
Emphasis of beat
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDELs
Messiah
"Ev'ry Valley Shall Be
Exalted"
Listen for
Terraced dynamics
Emphasis of beat
Ornamented melody
Continuous affect
Word painting
Terraced Dynamics

Abrupt alternation between loud and

soft dynamic levels; characteristic of
Baroque music
 Extremely
Evry valley ornamented
melody
Evry valley shall be exalted,
And evry mountain and hill made low,
The crooked straight,
And the rough places plain. Word Painting

Evry valley shall be exalted,

And evry mountain and hill made low,
The crooked straight,
And the rough places plain.

The crooked straight,

And the rough places plain.
Cantata
Like opera, but unstaged,
Usually with religious text & mostly performed in
churches
The church cantata for the Lutheran service in Germany
during the baroque period often includes chorales
Chorales are hymn tunes set to a German religious text

Example: J.S. BACH Cantata No. 140: Wachet auf, ruft

uns die Stimme (Sleepers Awake) Mvt. 4 [Tenor Chorale]
CD#1/71-73 & Mvt. 7 [Chorale] CD#1/74-75
J.S. BACH Cantata No. 140:
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
(Sleepers Awake)
Mvt. 4 [Tenor Chorale]
Listen for
Extremely ornamented
melody
Continuous affect

Mvt. 7 [Chorale]
Listen for
Hymn-like homophony
Complete and incomplete
cadences
Chamber Music

Uses a small group of musicians, with one player

to a part
Meant for smaller, more intimate performance
venues
Includes music for solo instruments
J.S. Bachs Organ Fugue in G Minor The Little
 J.S. BACH Organ Fugue in G Minor
(The "Little")
Fugue - polyphonic composition based
on one main theme called a subject
Subject (Main Theme) stated in different
voices during Exposition (imitative)
Exposition followed by alternating
Episodes (non-imitative) and Subject
Entries (imitative)
Countersubject - countermelody that
accompanies Subject in Exposition &
Subject Entries
Picardy Third - major chord ending
pieces in minor
Concerto Grosso
Composition for several instrumental soloists
and small orchestra; common in late baroque
music
Tutti vs. Soli groups
Tutti = all, the entire ensemble
Soli = a small group of featured soloists (2 or 3)
Ritornello form - Ritornello (a homophonic or
polyphonic block of music) alternating with
Episodes (contrasting melodic, softer dynamics,
virtuosic scales and arpeggios)
Examples of Baroque Concerto
Grosso
J.S. Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in
D Major
Movement 1
Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto for Violin and String
Orchestra, Op. 8, No. 1, La
Primavera [Spring]
from The Four Seasons
Movement 1
 Baroque Music Style Characteristics

Timbre new emphasis on instrumental music & instrumental accompaniment to

voices
Rhythm beat is emphasized; lots of forward motion
Melody elaborate, ornamented, continuously expanding, long and winding
Form one main theme repeated over and over
Dynamics sudden changes from loud to soft and soft to loud called terraced dynamics

Texture more rapid changes in texture (homophony, imitative polyphony) throughout

a single movement or piece of music

Harmony new emphasis on chords; orchestra mainly consists of strings and basso
continuo (bass melody instrument like cello or bassoon + chord generating
instrument harpsichord, organ, or lute)
Mood the same mood throughout movement; this heightened emotional state
called affect (vocal music is exception; vocal music has many changes of
mood, but closely follows text)
The Palace at Versailles
The Royal Chapel, Hall of Mirrors & Royal Coach
The Royal Chapel,
The Kings Bedroom, Marie Antoinettes Room, The
Opera House
Henry Purcell
George
Frideric
Handel
Antonio
Vivaldi
 Johann
Sebastian
Bach