Transcript Baroque Music (1600 – 1750)

IGCSE Year 10
October 13th, 2009
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Aristocracy was rich and powerful during the
17th century
The word baroque = bizarre, elaborately
ornamented
Filling up space with action and movement
◦ Contrasting light and dark
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Three phases
◦ Early (1600-1640)
 Italian composers created opera
 Homophonic texture emphasized and unstable chords
◦ Middle (1640-1880)
 Modes gave way to major and minor scales
 New importance of instrumental music
◦ Late (1680-1750) **
 Return to Polyphonic texture
 Dominant to tonic chords
 Instrumental music = as important as vocal
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MOOD
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RHYTHM
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MELODY
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DYNAMICS
◦ One piece = One mood usually
◦ Exception in vocal music – changes in emotions correspond to changes in
musical changes (but usually not suddenly)
◦ Continuity in rhythm
◦ Emphasis on the beat
◦ Also feeling on continuity (reoccurring)
◦ Elaborate and ornamental = not balanced
◦ Continuity – if shifts occur, usually sudden = TERRACED DYNAMICS
◦ Use of ORGAN or HARPSICHORD – no finger pressure control
◦ Clavichord = slight changes allowed = for amateur usage
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TEXTURE
◦ Polyphonic
◦ Repetition of the melody in different voices
◦ Not all were polyphonic
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CHORDS AND BASSO CONTINUO
◦ Chords – became more significant
◦ Sometimes composed melody to fit a chord progression
◦ BASSO CONTINUO and FIGURED BASS
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WORDS and MUSIC
◦ Sometimes many notes for one syllable of text
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Instruments in the violin family
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10-40 players
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Based on the basso continuo – harp and cello,
bass, or bassoon
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Violins and violas
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Woodwinds, percussion, brass were added only
some of the time – ie. when music was festive
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Melody, rhythm and harmony was stressed
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Movements that contrast
Movement = complete and independent, but
part of a larger work
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ABA, AB, Undivided form = ALL COMMON
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Contrasting sounds
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Music written to order (mainly from churches
and courts, and opera companies)
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Good pay and prestige of the music director
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Job is at the call of the patron
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Some had good relationships with their
patrons
◦ Ie. Corelli
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Church also need music – organ or choir, or orchestra
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Church music contributed to the prestige of the city
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Music played in public, for taverns etc.
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Usually musician jobs = handed down from father to
son
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Women were not usually employed performers, but
many became musicians (ie. Caccini, Strozzi)
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To become a musician = pass exam, or do other
non-musical requirements
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Small group pitted against larger group
(Tutti)
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2-4 soloists
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8-20 in Tutti
◦ String instruments, harpsichord as part of basso
continuo
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Usually in 3 movements (fast, slow, fast)
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Usually the form of the first and last movement of concerto
grosso
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Alternating between tutti and solo
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TUTTI with a theme (ritornello)
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Theme returns in different keys in fragments
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End of the piece = ritornello in home key
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TR (home key)
Solo
TR (fragment)
Solo
TR(fragment)
Solo
TR(home key)
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History of the Concerto:
Listening Notes:
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The fugue: polyphonic composition on one
main theme: SUBJECT
Different melody lines (voices) imitate the
subject
TOP LINE – soprano voice, bottom is base
4-5 voices, but usually starts in single voice
Sometimes counter subject
Episodes with new material
Some are introduced by a prelude
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Key Terms:
◦ Stretto
◦ Pedal Point
◦ Inversion
◦ Retrograde
◦ Diminution
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Notes
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Instrumental music grew in importance
Sonata = several movements for 1-8
instruments
TRIO sonatas: 2 high instruments, 2 for basso
Sonata da cheisa vs. Sonata da camera
Notes:
Late Italian Baroque – born in Venice
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Violin teacher, composer, conductor
Composed SOLO CONCERTOS – single soloist
and orchestra
Notes:
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Known as the town musicians
Church organist, court organist, then
concertmaster
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First wife died, leaving 3children – remarried
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Cantor in Leipzig, he was a religious man
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No opera, his vocal music – usually hymns
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Polyphonic texture and rich harmony
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Several melodic lines at once – chord
progression
Single idea per piece – twisting the inner
voices etc
Notes:
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Same key but different tempo, meter, or
character
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Allemande
Couratne
Gavotte
Sarabande
Gigue
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AABB
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Balance and symmetry
Notes:
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Opera
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Chorale/Cantatas
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Oratorios
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Fusion of music, acting, poetry, dance, scenery, constumes
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Began 1600
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Orchestra and actors with conductor
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LIBRETTO – text
Parts:
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Coloratura soprano
Lyric soprano
Dramatic soprano
Lyric tenor
Dramatic teno
Basso buffo
Basso profondo
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ARIA
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RECITATIVE
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ENSEMBLE
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CHORUS
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PROMPTER
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OVERTURE/PRELUDE
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Camerata – ancient Greek tragedy
They rejected polyphony
Euridice by Peri earliest opera preserved
Orfeo by Monteverdi
1st opera house in Venice – 1637
Castrato
Late baroque – secco recitative/accompanied
recitatives
ABA da capo Arias
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Early Baroque era
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Wrote Orfeo
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Music directer in Venice
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Bridging the 16th and 17th century
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Wanted emotional intensity in music
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Used dissonances, tremolo and pizzicatos
Notes:
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London, choirboy, then composer then
organist
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English composer, wrote with all music forms
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Wrote Dido and Aeneas
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Homophonic textures and polyphony
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Used GROUND BASS – repeated bass pattern
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Libretto by Nahum Tate – inspired by Aeneid
by Virgil
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Dido – Queen and Aeneas – king of Trojans
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Aeneas lands in Carthage and falls for Dido
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False messenger tells Aeneas to leave – Dido
suicides
Notes:
Music used often in churches – 4 hour services!
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Chorale: hymn tunes sung to German texts
- Usually one note to a syllable
- New music was often based on traditional melodies
- CHORALE PRELUDES before the hymn
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Cantata
- Piece that was sung
- usually for chorus, vocal soloists, organ and
orchestra
- Resembled the opera at the time
Notes:
Large scale for chorus, solo and orchestra
- No acting,based on biblical stories
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Choruses and arias, duets and recitatives
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Longer than cantatas and have story line
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Ie. Messiah
Italian opera and English oratorio
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Studied law in university
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Music director at for Hanover
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Wrote Rinaldo (opera)- success
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Favorite of Queen Anne
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Scapegoat of political struggles
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1741: Messiah
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Late Baroque- just like Bach
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His works are nearly always serious, based on
Roman and Greek history
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English oratorios – stories from Old Testament
But not for the church, just for entertainment
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The chorus was his focus!
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Changes texture frequently
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Sharp changes in mood – major and minor
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Notes:
Notes Continued: