Chapter 10
Baroque Vocal
Music
Oratorio
Key Terms
Oratorio
Chorus
Secco recitative
Accompanied
recitative
Baroque Sacred Music
Baroque sacred music placed special
emphasis on the choir
• Rooted in Renaissance Mass & motet
Strong tendency to borrow from secular
vocal music, especially opera
• Used recitative & aria
• Featured virtuoso solo singing
Oratorio the most theatrical Baroque
religious genre
Oratorio
Basically an opera on a religious subject
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Often on an Old Testament story
Narrative plot presented in several acts
Real characters & implied action
Used recitatives & arias
Differed from opera in some respects
• Presented in concert form (no scenery,
costumes, staging, or gestures)
• Incorporated many more choruses
Chorus
Similar to Renaissance choral music
• Alternation between polyphony & homophony
• Some text painting
Incorporates Baroque theatrical features
• Chorus used to narrate story, comment on the
action, or even participate in the action
• Dramatic contrasts & rests used to build
tension & excitement
• Voices & orchestra provide maximum fullness
Handel, Messiah
Handel’s most famous work
Composed in only 23 days
Unlike other Handel oratorios
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Not a real “story” with characters taking roles
Text taken entirely from the Bible
Uses anonymous narrators & commentators
Narrates episodes from Jesus’s life (recitative)
Comments on episodes (recitative, aria, &
chorus)
Recitative “There were
shepherds” (1)
Angels announce Christ’s birth
Short dramatic scene!
• Narrator tells the story in recitative style
Recitative in four parts
• Alternates between secco recitative &
accompanied recitative
• Parts 1 & 3 (secco) conversational in style with
free rhythm & continuo accompaniment
• Parts 2 & 4 (accompanied) very melodic with
clear meter & orchestral accompaniment
Recitative “There were
shepherds” (2)
Accompanied recitative reserved for
special, dramatic moments
• Part 2 describes the appearance of an angel
 Strings provide a kind of musical halo
• Part 4 marks the sudden arrival of a multitude
of angels
Parts 3 & 4 accelerate the pace
• Move from secco recitative to accompanied
recitative (arioso!)
• They pull us straight into the chorus
Chorus “Glory to God” (1)
Recitative & chorus
• Instead of operatic recitative & aria formula
Text from Luke 2:8-14
Choir participates in the action
• Takes role of the multitude of angels
Vivid contrasts between musical settings
of the three phrases—
• “Glory to God in the highest!”
• “And peace on earth”
• “Good will toward men”
Chorus “Glory to God” (2)
“Glory to God in the highest!”
• High voices singing high pitches
• Rhythmic unison gives words unanimity
• Trumpets add to energetic, marchlike effect
“And peace on earth”
• Low voices singing low pitches
• Begins with a nearly monophonic texture
• Slow, soft, calm, simple, unadorned
Chorus “Glory to God” (3)
“Good will toward men”
• Lively passage in fugal style
• Imitative entrances–as if all creation echoed
the angels’ proclamation
• Two-note “good will” motive intensified in
ascending sequence toward the end
Chorus “Glory to God” (4)
Orchestral ending gets quieter & quieter
• Baroque equivalent of fade out
• Angels disappear as quickly as they appeared
“There were shepherds” &
“Glory to God” (1)
Recitative:
There were shepherds
abiding in the field,
keeping watch over
their flocks by night.
And lo! the angel of the
Lord came upon
them, and the glory
of the Lord shone
round about them;
and they were sore
afraid.
And the angel said
unto them: Fear not,
for behold, I bring
you good tidings of
great joy, which shall
be to all people. For
unto you is born this
day in the city of
David a Saviour,
which is Christ the
Lord.
“There were shepherds” &
“Glory to God” (2)
And suddenly there
was with the angel a
multitude of the
heavenly host,
praising God, and
saying:
Chorus:
Glory to God in the
highest!
And peace on earth.
Glory to God in the
highest!
And peace on earth.
Good will toward men.
Glory to God in the
highest.
And peace on earth.
Good will toward men.
Handel, Hallelujah Chorus (1)
Famous chorus ends Part II of Messiah
At 1st London performance, King George II
was so moved that he stood up
• Even today, English-speaking audiences often
stand for Hallelujah Chorus
As in “Glory to God,” Handel uses a
different texture for each phrase
• Homophony–“Hallelujah” & “The kingdom of
this world”
• Monophony–“For the Lord God”
• Polyphony–”And he shall reign”
Handel, Hallelujah Chorus (2)
• Homophony–“Hallelujah”
• Polyphony–”And he shall reign”
Handel, Hallelujah Chorus (3)
Many dramatic moments—
“The Kingdom of this world is become”
• Starts piano on low descending scale
• At the words “the kingdom of our Lord” it
swells suddenly to forte in higher register
• Vividly expresses transformation described by
text
“King of Kings”
• Intensifying sequence near the end
• Sopranos lead, others answer, higher with each
repetition
Hallelujah Chorus
Hallelujah, Hallelujah!
For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Hallelujah!
For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
The Kingdom of this world is become the
kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.
And He shall reign for ever and ever, and he shall
reign for ever and ever.
KING OF KINGS for ever and ever, Hallelujah!
AND LORD OF LORDS for ever and ever,
Hallelujah!