N 5 Music Through The Ages Baroque Music

N 5 Music Through The Ages Baroque Music

Baroque Concerto Cadenza Opera Harpsichord Scale Ground Bass Major / Minor Soprano / Alto Chord / Harmony Tenor / Bass Broken chord / Arpeggio Mezzo Soprano / Baritone Pedal Ornament Inverted Pedal Trill Canon Episode Binary AB Homophonic/Polyphonic Ternary ABA Syllabic / Melismatic All concepts in red are Higher concepts

The word Baroque was first used to describe the highly decorative and grand style of architecture and art of the 17 th Century • Musicians adopted the word using it to describe the musical styles of the years 1600 -1750

The system of Modes, Modes which the tonality was based on in the Medieval and Renaissance periods was disused and by the end of the 17 th Century music was based on Major and Minor tonalities. Many new musical structures were introduced and developed by Baroque composers including. . . Opera Aria Concerto Cadenza Oratorio Suite Recitative Concerto Grosso Fugue

There were many important composers in the Baroque period. . The two most influential were: George Frederic Händel • 1685 -1759 • Born in Halle, Germany • Died in London England Johann Sebastian Bach • 1685 -1750 • Born in Eisenach, Germany • Died Leipzig Germany

Baroque Instrumental Music The Baroque Orchestra Contained • A string section • 1 or 2 flutes (or recorders), oboes and bassoons • 1 or 2 horns and occasionally trumpets (NO VALVES !!!) • Timpani • Organ or Harpsichord (Continuo) The Violin family (Violin, Viola, Cello and Double bass) replaced the viols of the renaissance period in the first half of the Baroque period.

The organ or harpsichord played a continuo or figured bass The performer follows a Bass line with a series of figures (Figured bass) which tells the player which chords to improvise around

The key styles of instrumental composition in the baroque period were. . . Fugue http: //www. educationscotland. gov. uk/learnlisteningonline/higherandadvanced higher/musicaltopics/form/Fugue. asp http: //www. pgsarts. co. uk/listening 1. html Ground Bass - A theme in the bass which is repeated many times while the upper parts are varied. Suite Concerto Grosso

Concerto Grosso Was one of the most important forms developed in the Baroque period In concerto Grosso, a small group of soloists called the Concertino contrast against the orchestra Ripieno The most well known concerto Grosso are the Brandenburg concertos by J. S Bach

Fugue Composers moved away from the homophonic texture; where all parts move together to polyphonic/contrapuntal writing, where two or more parts move at different times from each other The fugue is the most important type of polyphonic writing in the Baroque period, and is based on imitation. The fugue uses 3 or 4 parts which merge together and overlap using imitation Fugues were mostly written for harpsichord or organ

The two main types of Baroque vocal compositions are Opera and Oratorio, These are similar but have some differences. . Feature Opera Oratorio Opera would be 4 Part Choir Yes performed in a Orchestra Yes concert Hall or Opera house Solo Voices Yes Oratorio would be Sacred Story No Yes performed in a Secular story Yes No church Costumes Yes No Scenery Yes No Acting Yes No

The solo song in opera and Oratorio is called an Aria, The key features of an aria are. . . . Accompanied by orchestra Usually in ternary form Known as Da Capo Arias Syllabic: where each syllable of each word is given 1 musical note to be sung Melismatic: where each syllable can be given more than one note per syllable Word Painting: Where the musical line reflects the words being sung

Homophonic • Texture where you hear melody with accompaniment or where all the parts play a similar rhythm at the same time. • See how the parts all have the same rhythm here: Polyphonic Texture which consists of two or more melodic lines, possibly of equal importance, which weave independently of each other. Polyphonic is similar in meaning to contrapuntal.

Episode A section of music linking two appearances of the same material. Listen to an episode from a Concerto Grosso. In Fugue an episode can be used as a modulating link between entries of the subject and is frequently based on fragments from the subject or Counter subject. Episode

Pedal Short for pedal point. A note which is sustained, or repeated continuously, in the bass beneath changing harmonies. In the notation, a pedal note can be seen in the lower part. Inverted Pedal A note which is held on or repeated continuously at a high pitch. Opposite in pitch to pedal.