Baroque Music Sonata Concerto Grosso Chorale Prelude Passacaglia

Baroque Music Sonata – Concerto Grosso Chorale Prelude – Passacaglia - Chaconne

Sonata A sonata is usually a piece in several movements for a solo instrument and piano. The piano part is of equal importance to the other instrument, rather than simply accompanying. In Baroque music, the piano did not exist so this role would have been taken by the harpsichord or chamber organ. A ‘cello or lute may also be added, forming the basso continuo group. Watch an example of this in J. S. Bach’s sonata for violin.

Concerto A concerto is a piece for solo instrument accompanied by orchestra. This concept was introduced in the Baroque period, but is still a popular type of composition today. Watch an extract from the famous ‘Concierto de Aranjuez’ by Joaquin Rodrigo.

Concerto Grosso A concerto grosso features a group of solo instruments (accompanied by orchestra)rather than just one. This group of instruments is known as the concertino. The rest of the orchestra are called the ripieno. Both in concertos and concerto grossos, the orchestra often play a returning theme which we hear throughout the movement. This is called a ritornello. Listen to the 3 rd mvt of ‘Autumn’ from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. How many times does the ritornello appear?

Chorale Prelude This is a piece for organ. Bach was particularly good at writing chorale preludes. The melody of a well-known hymn tune or chorale would be hidden amongst an intricate piece of music. The ‘chorale’ part is often played using a different organ stop (or voice) to help it stand out from the rest of the piece. Listen (again!) to Bach’s Wachet Auf – this time, the organ choral prelude version.

Passacaglia Another piece usually written for organ. It consists of a series of variations played over the top of a ground bass. It is usually in a minor key. Listen to Bach’s Passacaglia in C minor

Chaconne Another piece often heard on the organ. It consists of a theme and variations heard over a repeated sequence of chords. It could also be above a ground bass. It is practically the same as a passacaglia but is usually in a major key.