Baroque Period Baroque Period 1600 1750 Big Composers

Baroque Period

Baroque Period • 1600 -1750 • Big Composers : George Frideric Handel & Johann Sesbastian Bach • Other Composers: Claudio Monteverdi, Henry Purcell, Arcangelo Corelli and Antionio Vivaldi • Most music forgotten until 20 th century: baroque revival in 1940 s

Baroque Period • Three Phases: early(1600 -1640), middle (16401680), late (1680 -1750) • Music know today mostly comes from late baroque • Monteverdi (1547 -1643) early baroque composer created passion and dramatic contrast in music; laid the foundation for beginning of opera; emphasis on drama and text; melodic lines imitated the rhythm and inflection of speech

Early Baroque • Composers favored homophonic texture (choral style); believe words projected more clearly by using one melody with chordal accompaniment • Late baroque; return to polyphonic texture • Used dissonace with new freedoms: lots of unstable chords • Contrast of sounds stressed: solo singer vs. chorus; voices vs. instruments • Melodic lines composed for instruments; no ins. Copying vocal parts

Middle Baroque (1640 -1680) • Music spread from Italy to all over Europe • Church modes gave way to major and minor scales; by 1680, basis for composition • Rise of instrumental music; music written for specific instruments; string family most popular

Late Baroque (1680 -1750) • Most of baroque music heard today • Harmony: Dominant to tonic relationship, V-I (modern harmony) • Instrumental music just as important as vocal music • Lots of polyphony • Focus on Late baroque

Characteristics of Baroque Music • Unity of Mood: stays in one context; happy, sad; moods called affections; composers wrote music to describe affections; mostly in vocal music • Rhythm; rhythmic patterns heard at beginning played throughout music; beat emphasized greatly

Characteristic: Melody • Opening melody heard over and over; even when varied, style of melody remains constant; continuous development and unfolding of melody • Melodic sequences constant; baroque melodies sound ornamented; not easy to sing or remember, lots of notes after short melodic introduction

Characteristic: Dynamics • Constant dynamic level within section • Dynamic level shift suddenly: Terraced dynamics; sometimes subtle changes (expressive purposes) • Gradual changes (crescendo, decrescendo) happen, but not as prominent as terraced dynamics

Characteristic: Texture • Mostly polyphonic: two or more musical lines that were interesting • Imitation common; ideas in one line occurred in another • Some composers did things different • Bach: consistent polyphony; Handel: contrast between polyphonic and homophonic sections

Chords/Basso Continuo • Chords became more important; earlier focus was melodic line. • Composers began to think of chords to match the melody; sometimes wrote melody to fit harmonic structure • Interest in chords brought prominence to bass; harmony centered around bass

Basso Continuo • Accompaniment composed of bass part with numbers above to indicate which chords where played above bass; AKA “figured bass"; most characteristic aspect of baroque music • Continuo played by at least two instruments: organ/harpsichord and low instrument • Left hand bass part (low instrument); right hand, melodic line or chords • Numbers specified only specified basic chord; not how chords are played. Allowed for great freedom by keyboardists. Similar to jazz/pop lead sheets

Figured Bass • Advantages: emphasis of bass, use of numbers saved time for baroque composers • Saved paper at a time when paper was expensive

Words and Music • Very similar to renaissance music, add chromatic notes.

Baroque Orchestra • Based on the string family of instruments • Small by today's standards • Basic orchestra: basso continuo and upper strings; use of other strings was based on the piece: recorders, flutes , oboes, trumpets, horns, trombones, etc… • Trumpets and timpani added for festive music. • Later orchestra has four sections

Baroque orchestra • Baroque trumpet has no valves, but given high melodic lines; associated with royalty • Treated like the aristocrat; in war, if captured was treated like a military officer • Composers would experiment; tone color subordinate to melody, rhythm and harmony; arrange own works for different instruments, keeping the same qualities. Instruments would interchange parts or imitate each other.