Baroque Era (1600-1750) Scientific discoveries Three phases of Baroque Era Definition of “baroque”
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Transcript Baroque Era (1600-1750) Scientific discoveries Three phases of Baroque Era Definition of “baroque”
Baroque Era (1600-1750)
Definition of “baroque”
extreme ornamentation
Scientific discoveries
art / sculpture / architecture / music
used to symbolize wealth and power
Galileo / Newton
Three phases of Baroque Era
early - emphasis on dramatic contrast / homophonic
middle - use of maj/min scales / music for certain instr.
late (1680-1750) - what we will focus on
Characteristics of Baroque Music
Unity of Mood
Rhythmic Continuity
Melodic Continuity
Terraced Dynamics
Polyphonic Texture Favored
Strong Importance of Chords (Harmony)
organ, harpsichord, clavichord - good for this
basso continuo
figured bass
Continuation of Word Painting
Baroque Music
Baroque Orchestra
Nucleus
Basso Continuo - harpsichord + cello / bass / bassoon
Upper Strings - 1st & 2nd violins, violas
Woodwinds / Brass / Percussion varied
Baroque Trumpet - no valves
Baroque Forms
movements
Binary / Ternary
Continuous / undivided
Music in Baroque Society
Music written to order
Ruling class
Opera houses / municipalities
Churches
The Overworked Musician
How to Become a Musician … and get a job!
More Baroque Forms
Concerto Grosso
tutti alternating with soloist or group
3 movements (F,S,F)
Ritornello Form
ritornello
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 - J.S. Bach
soloists - harpsichord, violin, flute
dedicated to the margrave of Brandenburg
More Baroque Forms
Fugue
a polyphonic composition based on one theme
subject
answer
countersubject
episodes
pedal point
variations of subject
inversion, retrograde, augmentation, diminution
“Little” organ Fugue in G minor - Bach
The Elements of Opera
opera - drama sung to orchestral accompaniment
began in Italy around 1600
fusion of music, acting, poetry, dance, scenery, costumes
personnel needed to run an opera
libretto
serious vs. comic
voice categories
coloratura, lyric soprano, dramatic soprano
lyric tenor, dramatic tenor
bassobuffo, basso profundo
The Elements of Opera
one to five acts subdivided into scenes
aria - song for solo voice w/ orchestra
recitative - vocal line that imitates speech
duet
ensemble
trio, quartet, quintet, etc.
prompter
overture / prelude
Should opera be translated for an audience?
Opera in the Baroque era
the Camerata
Euridice by Jacopo Peri (1600)
wanted to create vocal style modeled after ancient Greek
tragedy
recitative
homophonic / polyphony rejected
earliest surviving opera
composed for wedding of King Henri IV and Marie
de’Medici
Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi (1607)
first “great” opera
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
born in Italy
Career
served at the court of Mantua - 21 years
singer & violist
music director
wrote Orfeo
1613 - music director at St. Mark’s - 30 years
composed sacred and secular music - all for voices
wanted to create music of emotional intensity
use of dissonance / new effects (pizzicato / tremolo)
Henry Purcell (ca.1659-1695)
born in England
Career
age 10 - choirboy in Chapel Royal
1677 - (age 18) composer for king’s string orchestra
1679 - organist at Westminster Abbey
1682 - organist at Chapel Royal
buried under organ at Westminster Abbey
wrote church music, secular choral music, chamber
music, songs, music for the stage
used ground bass (basso ostinato)
Henry Purcell
Dido and Aeneas (1689)
written for girls’ boarding school
relatively short - one hour long
scored for strings and harpsichord contiinuo
libretto - (p.163)
Dido’s Lament - from Act III
recitative with basso continuo
aria with full orchestra
ground bass
used to show grief and sorrow
The Baroque Sonata
sonata
composition in several movements for 1-8 instruments
trio sonata - 2 high instruments and basso continuo
originated in Italy - spread to Germany, England, France
sonata da chiesa / sonata da camera
Archangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
studied in Bologna - spent most of his life in Rome
friend and music director to Cardinal Ottoboni
laid foundation for modern violin technique
double stops / chords
wrote only instrumental music
Trio Sonata in B minor, Op.3 No.4
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
born in Venice / father at St. Mark’s as violinist
age 25 - took holy orders / left ministry after 1 yr.
‘the red priest”
teacher at music school of the Pietà
virtuoso violinist and composer
popularity waned / died in poverty
composed 50 operas and sacred music
best known for concerti grossi and solo concerti
La Primavera (Spring) from The Four Seasons
La Primavera
concerto for solo violin and string orchestra
Baroque program music
1. Allegro - birds, streams, storm
2. Largo e pianissimo sempre - goatherd w/ dog
3. Danza pastorale - bagpipes, dancing nymphs and
shepherds
Forms of movements
1. ritornello form
2. through-composed
3. ritornello form
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
family of long line of musicians
J.S. had 20 children
9 survived him / 4 became well-known composers
born in Eisenach, Germany
first musical training by father and cousin
age 9 - both parents die / lives with oldest brother
age 15 - leaves bother’s home / goes to school,
supporting himself by singing in church choir &
playing organ & violin
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
age 18 - becomes church organist at Arnstadt
conflict with church authorities
age 23 - resolves conflict
“complicated” music
“strange” maiden
gets a better position in Mühlhausen
marries the ”strange” maiden, his cousin Barbara
1708 - court organist at Weimar
stayed for 9 years / became concertmaster of court orch.
asked to leave when passed over for promotion
jailed for one month by Duke of Weimar
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
1717-1723 - court conductor for Prince of Cöthen
1720 - Barbara dies / leaving 4 children
not involved in church music
conducted orchestra of 18 players
wrote Brandenburg Concertos
marries 21-year-old singer
1723 - cantor of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig
drawbacks from career move / advantages
wrote extended compositions for each Sunday and holiday
became director of Leipzig Collegium Musicum
eminent organist and teacher
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
1740’s - eyesight began to deteriorate
1750 - goes blind / dies later that year
Not well-known outside Germany in his day
Baroque style out-of-date in his late career
Bach’s music largely forgotten
1829 - Felix Mendelssohn presents St. Matthew
Passion
Bach’s music revived ever since
Bach’s music
composed all Baroque forms except opera
bulk of music - vocal - Lutheran
studied Italian concertos / French dance pieces
unique combination of polyphonic texture & rich
harmony
use of musical symbolism
music to demonstrate a specific musical form
Art of the Fugue
The Well-Tempered Clavier
Bach’s music
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5
movements
instrumentation
tempi
form
key
other notable features
Mass in B Minor
setting of Roman Catholic Mass
1733 - wrote Kyrie / Gloria - sent to Catholic monarch
later - completed mass w/ new and re-used music
Mass in B minor
instrument parts
each section subdivided into arias, duets, choruses
in the “Credo”
“Crucifixus”
strings, 2 flutes, chorus
use of ground bass
“Et Resurrexit”
full orch. (w/ oboes, trumpets, and timpani)
The Baroque Suite
set of dance-inspired movements all in same key
written for solo instr. / small groups / full orch.
related to specific dance types
examples
allemande - moderate (Ger.)
courante - fast (Fr.)
gavotte - moderate (Fr.)
sarabande - slow (Sp.)
gigue - fast (Eng./Ire.)
usually binary form
“French overture”
The Chorale and Church Cantata
Lutheran Church service in Bach’s time
7 am / lasted 4 hours
importance of music
orchestra: 14-21 players
chorus: 12+ men & boys
single composition could last 1/2 hour
use of vernacular
chorale
one note per syllable / moving in steady rhythm
sung by congregation
harmonized by choir
chorale prelude
The Chorale and Church Cantata
cantata
written for chorus, vocal soloists, organ, orchestra
German religious text- related to liturgy for each Sunday
recitatives, arias, duets, choruses
based on a chorale tune
Bach’s cantatas: wrote 295; surviving - 195
Cantata #140: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
7 movements
mvt. 1 - Chorus w/ orch.
mvt. 4 - Tenor (solo or unison) w/ strings and continuo
mvt. 7 - Chorus doubled by orch.
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
born in Halle, Germany - not in musical family
father wanted him to study law
age 9 - father relented to let G.F. study w/ organist
age 11 - could compose and give organ lessons
age 12 - father dies
age 17 - studies law at Halle University
age 18 - leaves university; sets out for Hamburg
became violinist/harpsichordist at Hamburg
Opera House / age 20 - own opera produced
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
man of temperament and conviction
age 21 - went to Italy / established his career
wrote Italian operas
1710 - music director for Elector of Hanover (Ger.)
after 1 mo. - asked to leave for London
Rinaldo
after 1 year - asked to leave again for London
(1712-1759) became England’s most important composer
favored by Queen Anne - gave him £200/year
after death of Anne, Elector of Hanover becomes King George
I of England - Handel’s subsidy increased to £400/year
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
1719 - music director of the Royal Academy of
Music - open for only 9 seasons
formed his own company
composed a number of operas for brilliant sopranos and
castrati
impresario / composer / performer
Opera of the Nobility - the opposition
both companies go bankrupt / Handel has nervous
breakdown
recuperates in Germany / returns to England
produces more operas and adds oratorios
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
1741 - stops composing opera / focuses on oratorio
1753 - still active conducting/ giving organ concerts
oratorios criticized, yet productive
played organ concertos between acts
plot against Handel
suffers another breakdown / recovers / composes more
oratorios
almost blind / statue erected in public park
1759 - 3000 mourners at his funeral in Westminster
Abbey
The Oratorio
large scale composition for chorus, vocal soloists,
and orchestra
no acting, scenery, or costumes - “concert”-style
most based on Biblical stories
choruses, arias, duets, recitatives, interludes
chorus provides commentary / participates in story
narrator
longer than cantatas (sometimes over 2 hours)
first appeared in early 17th century Italy dramatized musical settings of Biblical stories