Chapter 10
Baroque Instrumental Music
Key Terms
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Concerto
Concerto grosso
Movement
Ritornello
Ritornello form
Variation form
Ground bass (basso ostinato)
The Rise of
Instrumental Music
• Required new understanding
between composers and audiences
– When to end a piece?
– How to make instrumental works
coherent?
– How to sustain interest and drama?
The Rise of
Instrumental Music (cont’d.)
• Length
– With vocal music, text ends
– With instrumental, form or genre determines
length
• Coherence
– Begin and end in same key
– Use repetition, return, sequence, and imitation
• Sustaining interest
– Use contrast and variation
– Modulate to other keys
– String contrasting movements together
Concerto and
Concerto Grosso
• The most important orchestral
genres of the Baroque era
• Underlying idea is contrast
– Soloist against orchestra
– Group of soloists against orchestra
– Virtuosity, brilliance against power,
stability
Movements
• Movement = Self-contained section
of a larger work
• Typical concerto has three
– I: Bright, extroverted, fast
– II: Slower, quieter, more emotional
– III: Similar to I, often faster
Ritornello Form
• Based on contrast of musical ideas
– Orchestral material (ritornello)
– Solo material
• Returns many times to a stable element
– In whole or in part
– In various keys
– Usually in full and in tonic key to end piece
Standard Ritornello Form
RIT = Complete ritornello statement
[RIT] = Partial ritornello statement
Solo 1, 2, 3, etc. = Solo episodes
Ritornello vs. Episode
Ritornello
• Principal theme
• Solid and forceful
• Often very tuneful
• For full orchestra
• Ends in tonic with
strong cadence
• Familiarity grows
with each return
Solo episode
• Contrasting section
• Faster, more
brilliant
• Free and virtuosic
• For soloist(s)
• Modulates, flows
into next ritornello
• Always something
new and surprising
Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)
• “Red Priest,” famous as virtuoso
violinist, composer, and teacher
– Wrote over 400 concertos
– Renowned for quality of teaching
– Famous for student concerts
• Toured frequently throughout
Europe
• Settled in Vienna near end of his life
Vivaldi, Violin Concerto in G
• Opus 4 = Fourth published set of
concertos
• La stravaganza = Descriptive title of set
• No. 12 = Concerto’s number within the set
• Standard three-movement format
– I and III fast and brilliant, in ritornello form
– II slower and gentler, in ground bass form
Violin Concerto in G, I
• Ritornello theme (for orchestra)
– Three short sections (a, b, c)
– Alternates between first and second violins
Concerto in G, I
• Only ritornello 1 uses entire theme
• Solos become progressively freer
and virtuosic
• Ritornellos and solos swap roles at
times!
• Ends with literal return of ritornello
(b, c)
Baroque Variation Form
• Simultaneous repetition and contrast
• Short theme repeated and varied over
basso ostinato
– Dynamics, tone color, harmonies often
changed
– Less often, tempo, key, and mode
• Other names: passacaglia, chaconne,
ground bass form
Violin Concerto in G, II
• Contrasting slow movement in variation form
• Continuity
– Repetition of ground bass
– Dominant harmony at end of ground bass pulls to
tonic in next repetition
• Variety
– Gradually faster solo figuration in variations 1–4
– Sudden, dramatic changes in 5–6
Violin Concerto in G, II
• Overall ternary feel (A B A)
– Theme and variations 1–4
• Entirely in G major, basso ostinato
– Variations 5–6
• Shifts to G minor, ostinato moves to violins,
continuo drops out
– Final statement of original theme
Violin Concerto in G, III
• Fast tempo, ritornello form
• Form even freer than in movement I
– Solo introduction
– First ritornello statement interrupted by solo
– Second ritornello presents new theme
– Solo violin jumps from one idea to another
• Ritornellos 3 and 5 provide stability
Concerto Grosso
• Concerto for a group of solo
instruments and orchestra
• Otherwise similar to concerto
– Three movements: fast, slow, fast
– Fast movements usually ritornello
form
– Emphasis on contrast (contest)
between soloists and orchestra
J. S. Bach (1685–1750)
• From family of musicians
• First a church organist, later a court
composer
• 1723—Cantor and Director
musices, Leipzig
• Prolific, wrote in almost every genre
Bach,
The Brandenburg Concertos
• Set of six concertos by Bach
• Gift to Margrave of Brandenburg, 1721
• Each uses a different group of solo
instruments
– Unusual combinations
– Dazzling tone colors
– Imaginative contrasts between soloists and
orchestra
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5
• Solo group = Flute, violin,
harpsichord
• Some soloists do double duty
– Violin leads orchestra in ritornellos
– Harpsichord provides continuo chords
• Standard three-movement format
Brandenburg Concerto
No. 5, I
• Allegro movement in ritornello form
• Extended movement—nearly 10
minutes
• To sustain interest, Bach introduces
progressively more dramatic contrasts
Brandenburg Concerto
No. 5, I
• Ritornello theme
– Homophonic feel
– Complete theme only at beginning and end
– Three subsections (a, b, c)
– Complex, irregular rhythms, melodic
contour, and phrase lengths
Brandenburg Concerto
No. 5, I
• Solo episodes
– Solo group with continuo
– Rich, imitative polyphony
– Progressively more dramatic contrasts (central
solo and cadenza)
• Cadenza = Improvised solo passage
– Typically near end of concerto’s first
movement
– This one unusually long for 1721
Key Terms
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Fugue
Subject
Exposition
Subject entries
Episodes
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Countersubject
Inversion
Stretto
Prelude
Arpeggio
Fugue
• Most characteristic form of Baroque
music
• Systematized imitative polyphony
– Polyphonic composition for a fixed number
of instrumental lines or voices
– Built on a single principal theme (subject)
– Subject “chased” from one voice to another
Typical Fugue
• Exposition
• Alternating episodes and subject entries
Fugal Exposition
• The subject = The principal theme
• All voices take turns presenting the
subject in full
• Each voice continues with new material
as next one states subject
Episodes and Subject Entries
• Subject reenters at intervals
– In any voice
– In different keys
• Episodes contrast with subject entries
• Final subject entry in tonic key
Subject Entries vs. Episodes
Subject entries
• Fixed—always
recognizable as
subject
• Stable—in one key
for each statement
• May occur in
different keys after
episodes
Episodes
• Free—may explore
motives from subject
in any order
• Unstable—modulate
from one key to
another
• Connect subject
entries that are in
different keys
Bach,
The Well-Tempered Clavier
• A testament to Bach’s fugal skill
• Book 1 (1722) and Book 2 (1744)
• Each presents a fugue in every key,
both major and minor (48 total)
• Each fugue preceded by a prelude
Bach, Prelude 1 in C Major
• Upward-moving arpeggio
• Rich succession of chords
• Some dissonant harmonies
Bach, Fugue 1 in C Major
• No episodes, no countersubject
• 24 entries of the subject
• Stretto
Key Terms
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Dance suite
Minuet
Sarabande
Gigue
Binary form
Trio
Tambourin
The Dance Suite
• A grouping of miscellaneous dances
– All in same key
– Last dance always fast
• Usually stylized dances
– Written for listening, not dancing
– Allow greater musical sophistication
• Written for various performing forces
– Orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo
harpsichord or lute
Baroque Dances
• Each dance characterized by
– Specific dance steps
– A certain meter
– A distinctive tempo
– Unique rhythmic features
Baroque Dance Form
• Binary form: two sections (a, b)
– Each ends with strong cadence
– Each is repeated (a a b b)
– Symmetrical feel—shared motives,
cadences, etc.
– b usually longer than a
• a a b b or |: a :||: b :|
Dance and Trio
• Larger-scale A B A form
– Groups two shorter dances of same type (A)
– Contrasting middle dance is the trio (B)
– Minuet and trio, gavotte and trio, etc.
• Trio is softer and lighter than A dance
– Uses different melody and rhythms
• Return of A creates satisfying conclusion
Rameau, Menuet and Tambourin
from Castor et Pollux
• No trio for the minuet
• Instead, fast tambourin
• Form
|: A :| |: B :|
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Handel,
Minuet from Royal Fireworks Music
• Composed to celebrate the end of
the War of the Austrian Succession
• Not meant to be danced
Bach, Gigue from Cello Suite
No. 2 in D Minor
• Part of a set of six suites for solo
cello
• Bowing on two adjacent strings
• Form
|: a :| |: b :|