Transcript Baroque Era (1600-1750) Scientific discoveries Three phases of Baroque Era Definition of “baroque”

Baroque Era (1600-1750)
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Definition of “baroque”
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extreme ornamentation
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Scientific discoveries
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art / sculpture / architecture / music
used to symbolize wealth and power
Galileo / Newton
Three phases of Baroque Era
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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
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Unity of Mood
Rhythmic Continuity
Melodic Continuity
Terraced Dynamics
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Polyphonic Texture Favored
Strong Importance of Chords (Harmony)
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organ, harpsichord, clavichord - good for this
basso continuo
figured bass
Continuation of Word Painting
Baroque Music
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Baroque Orchestra
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Nucleus
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Basso Continuo - harpsichord + cello / bass / bassoon
Upper Strings - 1st & 2nd violins, violas
Woodwinds / Brass / Percussion varied
 Baroque Trumpet - no valves
Baroque Forms
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movements
Binary / Ternary
Continuous / undivided
Music in Baroque Society
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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
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Concerto Grosso
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tutti alternating with soloist or group
3 movements (F,S,F)
Ritornello Form
ritornello
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 - J.S. Bach
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soloists - harpsichord, violin, flute
dedicated to the margrave of Brandenburg
More Baroque Forms
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Fugue
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a polyphonic composition based on one theme
subject
answer
countersubject
episodes
pedal point
variations of subject
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inversion, retrograde, augmentation, diminution
“Little” organ Fugue in G minor - Bach
The Elements of Opera
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opera - drama sung to orchestral accompaniment
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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
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coloratura, lyric soprano, dramatic soprano
lyric tenor, dramatic tenor
bassobuffo, basso profundo
The Elements of Opera
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one to five acts subdivided into scenes
aria - song for solo voice w/ orchestra
recitative - vocal line that imitates speech
duet
ensemble
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trio, quartet, quintet, etc.
prompter
overture / prelude
Should opera be translated for an audience?
Opera in the Baroque era
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the Camerata
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Euridice by Jacopo Peri (1600)
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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)
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first “great” opera
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
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born in Italy
Career
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served at the court of Mantua - 21 years
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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
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use of dissonance / new effects (pizzicato / tremolo)
Henry Purcell (ca.1659-1695)
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born in England
Career
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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
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Dido and Aeneas (1689)
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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
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recitative with basso continuo
aria with full orchestra
ground bass
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used to show grief and sorrow
The Baroque Sonata
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sonata
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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)
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studied in Bologna - spent most of his life in Rome
friend and music director to Cardinal Ottoboni
laid foundation for modern violin technique
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double stops / chords
wrote only instrumental music
Trio Sonata in B minor, Op.3 No.4
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
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born in Venice / father at St. Mark’s as violinist
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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
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La Primavera (Spring) from The Four Seasons
La Primavera
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concerto for solo violin and string orchestra
Baroque program music
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1. Allegro - birds, streams, storm
2. Largo e pianissimo sempre - goatherd w/ dog
3. Danza pastorale - bagpipes, dancing nymphs and
shepherds
Forms of movements
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1. ritornello form
2. through-composed
3. ritornello form
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
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family of long line of musicians
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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)
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age 18 - becomes church organist at Arnstadt
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conflict with church authorities
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age 23 - resolves conflict
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“complicated” music
“strange” maiden
gets a better position in Mühlhausen
marries the ”strange” maiden, his cousin Barbara
1708 - court organist at Weimar
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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)
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1717-1723 - court conductor for Prince of Cöthen
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1720 - Barbara dies / leaving 4 children
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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
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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)
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1740’s - eyesight began to deteriorate
1750 - goes blind / dies later that year
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Not well-known outside Germany in his day
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Baroque style out-of-date in his late career
Bach’s music largely forgotten
1829 - Felix Mendelssohn presents St. Matthew
Passion
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Bach’s music revived ever since
Bach’s music
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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
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Art of the Fugue
The Well-Tempered Clavier
Bach’s music
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Brandenburg Concerto No. 5
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movements
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instrumentation
tempi
form
key
other notable features
Mass in B Minor
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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
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instrument parts
each section subdivided into arias, duets, choruses
in the “Credo”
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“Crucifixus”
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strings, 2 flutes, chorus
use of ground bass
“Et Resurrexit”
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full orch. (w/ oboes, trumpets, and timpani)
The Baroque Suite
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set of dance-inspired movements all in same key
written for solo instr. / small groups / full orch.
related to specific dance types
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examples
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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
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Lutheran Church service in Bach’s time
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7 am / lasted 4 hours
importance of music
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orchestra: 14-21 players
chorus: 12+ men & boys
single composition could last 1/2 hour
use of vernacular
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chorale
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one note per syllable / moving in steady rhythm
sung by congregation
harmonized by choir
chorale prelude
The Chorale and Church Cantata
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cantata
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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
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Cantata #140: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
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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)
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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)
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man of temperament and conviction
age 21 - went to Italy / established his career
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wrote Italian operas
1710 - music director for Elector of Hanover (Ger.)
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after 1 mo. - asked to leave for London
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Rinaldo
after 1 year - asked to leave again for London
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(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)
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1719 - music director of the Royal Academy of
Music - open for only 9 seasons
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formed his own company
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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)
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1741 - stops composing opera / focuses on oratorio
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1753 - still active conducting/ giving organ concerts
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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
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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