1600 1750 THE BAROQUE TIME PERIOD Baroque Scientific

1600 -1750 THE BAROQUE TIME PERIOD

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

Basso continuo

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

The Baroque Orchestra

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 Director’s 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 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 rhythm and pitch fluctuations of speech ○ 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

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 The Red Priest

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

The Concerto Grosso: Performers � Soloists �between two and four �best paid, better players � tutti �String orchestra � basso continuo �harpsichord �cello

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

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

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 � Cöthen: Court organist/conductor

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

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 Suite � All genres except opera

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 �

Cantata No. 140: Mvt. 4, the tenor chorale � uses ritornello form � contrast of string ritornello and slow chorale melody

Bach - St. Thomas Church

George Friderick Handel

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)

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

Handel - Oratorios � generally Old Testament � for the paying public, not church � have plots, but no scenery or acting � chorus is the focus

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