The Baroque Period
1600-1750
3 phases:
 _____________ (1600-1640)- favored homophonic texture (one main melody)
 _____________ (1640-1680)- importance of instrumental music (violin family most popular)
 _____________ (1680-1750)- best music known today comes from this period
Characteristics of Baroque Music
 ___________- usually expresses one basic mood and remains in that mood throughout the piece
 ___________- patterns heard at the beginning of the piece are usually heard throughout
 ___________- many are not easy to sing or remember
 ___________- volumes tend to stay constant throughout. When they do shift it is usually sudden
Terraced Dynamics
 Alternation between ________ and ________ volume in a piece of music
Music in Society
 Instead of being in the service of the church, composers now were being
________________________________.
 ____________________- good job and good pay, but no matter what, the director
_______________________________________
 ________________________________- churches, processions, concerts, university graduations
 ____________________________- clubs, university societies, private homes, coffeehouses, taverns
Instruments
 Modern _____________ instruments that we still use today were ______________ during this period
 ___________________________________- flute, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, and French horn
 The ____________________ family that we know today was developed, including the _____________,
____________, _______________, and _________________.
 Modern _________________ family was also developed including the modern _______________.
*Early Baroque -favored the ___________________
*Later Baroque- the ___________ replaced the harpsichord
Music for Money
 Up to this point ________________ were considered to be in the service of the _______________.
 Now we see composers being employed by the wealthy ruling class- ____________________________
 _________________ choral service was sung in _________________
 Roman Catholic Church sung in ________________
Titles
 _______________________- music director
 _______________________- concertmaster
 ____________________- teacher
Sacred and Secular Vocal Works
 The _____________ continued to be an integral part of the _______________________ tradition
throughout the Baroque era.
 ____________________- contrasted solo voices (accompanied by instruments) with a larger chorus
 ____________________- exchanges between choirs and instruments (Germany)
Definitions
 ________________ -Large-scale musical composition on a sacred subject for solo voices, chorus, and
orchestra.
 _________________- verses for solo voices (with organ accompaniment) alternated with verses sung
by the full choir
 ______________ – a hymn sung in German (rather than Latin) by the congregation
 ____________________ – followed the polyphonic contrapuntal approach of the 16 th century
Opera
 First opera house was built in ________________
 Entry was only for those for the price of _________________
 Most operas were based on ________________________ and _____________________________
Important Composers
Johann Sebastian Bach



A true ___________
One of the ______________ composers of all time
One of the most _________________ composers of all time

Born in Eisenach, _____________

As a child, he mastered both the ____________ and the _____________
 Large number of _______________ and _______________ works
 Had 20 children total - four went on to become well-known _________________

Choral works include sacred and secular ________________
 Did not work on _______________
 Mastered strict ____________________ techniques
 He enabled expressive _________________ with the rigorous intricacy of _____________________
and the ______________ form

Life works compositions:
* Early – Most of his ____________ works
* Middle – Most of his __________________ works
* Late – Most of his _______________ choral music
George Frideric Handel
 Born in _______________, spent most of his life in ________________
 Master of _________________ musical ideas
 Themes expertly developed and dramatically ____________________
 Master ___________________ to audiences of the Baroque Period
 Born the same ________________ as Bach
 Wrote mostly ___________________ music
 Most famous composition was the ______________ (1741)
 Took him ________days to write the Messiah
 Messiah
* Oratorio set to text from the ________________________________
* Considered the greatest __________________ writer ever
 ________________ -Large-scale musical composition on a sacred subject for ________________,
_________________, and ________________.
 Oratorios have no ___________, ________________ or ________________
Antonio Vivaldi
 Born in ____________
 Identified with the musical life of ________________
 ________________ violinist and talented ___________________
 Wrote approximately ____________ concertos
*ex. The Four Seasons
Claudio Monteverdi
 Born in ___________
 Regarded as a _________________
 Specialized in writing ________________
 Spent most of his career in ________________________