THE BAROQUE PERIOD OF MUSIC 1600 1750 BACH

THE BAROQUE PERIOD OF MUSIC 1600 -1750 BACH, HANDEL, VIVALDI

CHARACTERISTICS WHERE: EUROPE n WHAT INSTRUMENTS WERE POPULAR: STRINGS INSTRUMENTS, ORGAN, HARPSICHORD n DESCRIBE THE MUSIC: OPERA, FUGUE, LOTS OF RUNS AND TRILLS, VERY ORNAMENTED n DYNAMICS: LAYERED n

Bach and the Fugue Who was Bach? What is a fugue? Why should I care?

Johann Sebastian Bach was a famous composer who lived during the Baroque period. This period was between 1600 and 1750. If you do your math, that period began over 400 years ago!

Here is what Bach’s music looked like. Pretty confusing, huh?

Listen to Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring. Bach wrote music that is still played today, over 250 years after his death. His music must be pretty good for people to still want to hear it after such a long time. He wrote so much music that it fills over 20 volumes!

Now that we know a little bit about Bach, let’s look at what a fugue is. A fugue is a musical form that Bach used a lot. In fact, he was so good at writing fugues that no one has ever done it better.

A fugue is like a game of Follow the Leader. You know how to play that game, don’t you? Your job is to follow whoever is in front of you. That’s kind of like what a fugue does.

A fugue is also like a round. Have you ever sung, Row, Row Your Boat? One person starts the song, then others come in, singing the same tune, but not together. That’s what a fugue is like.

This is what a fugue would look like if it were a picture. Do you see how themes follow each other, coming in on higher and lower pitches? 5 th time 3 rd time 2 nd time The theme enters 4 th time

Fugues are much more complicated than simple rounds. Each part of a fugue continues to play new material while other voices enter. The best way to demonstrate this is to have you listen to the five parts one more time before you hear them all joined together.

Viola Bach starts his fugue with a simple theme on the viola.

Second Violin Bach brings in the second violin. It plays the same theme, but higher.

Here is theme played for the third time on the first violins, even higher. First Violin

The cellos and string basses take theme way down low. How many times has theme been played so far? Cello String Bass

Flute Bach brings in theme way up high in the flutes. How many times have you heard it?

If you guessed theme played five times, you’re right! Can you name the instruments you just heard?

The instruments were: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Viola Second Violin First Violin Cello String Bass Flute

Of course there are more instruments in an orchestra than those we just heard. In the piece you are about to hear there is an important instrument called a harpsichord. This was one of the most important instruments of Bach’s day.

Here is what a symphony orchestra look like. Can you find the instruments in this picture?

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685 -1750 In the next slide you will hear the Brandenburg Concerto in G Major. It was written by Bach. Try to hear themes as they make their entrance.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Listen for themes as they make their entrance.

Wow! That was quite a piece, but I got lost! That’s the fun of Bach’s tunes. Once you know a little bit about how he builds his music, you can sit back and enjoy the great sounds. You did a great job! Congratulations!

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Online Bibliography n n Baroque. [Online] Available http: //www. empire. k 12. ca. us/capistrano/Mike/cap music/baroque. htm, July 24, 2001. Classical Archives (c) 2001 Classical Archives, LLC. [Online] Available http: //www. classicalarchives. com/, July 24, 2001. JS Bach. [Online] Available http: //www. empire. k 12. ca. us/capistrano/Mike/cap music/bach. htm, July 24, 2001. Pictures of Johann Sebastian Bach. [Online] Available http: //home. uchicago. edu/~mao 2/picts. html, July 24, 2001.