Music History
The Baroque Era
Baroque Era: 1600-1750
Popular musicians include J.S. Bach, G.F. Handel, and A.Vivaldi
The year 1600: rise of opera in Florence
The year 1750: death of J.S. Bach
Science and Thought
Age of great confidence, magnificence and discovery.
Many important scientific developments:
Galileo and Kepler> astronomy.
Harvey>circulation of blood.
Newton> physics.
The world was expanding.
Great courts of Europe were living very lavishly.
Monarchs and Politics
Louis XIV of France (the Sun King) ruled from
1643 until 1713. “L’etat c’est moi.” His palace
at Versailles still stands as a monument to the Baroque idea of a king. The magnificent style is typical of a Baroque
monarch.
Regional Style and National Pride
The Baroque Age was a time of great national awareness and pride. Each nation took great pride in its own
language, and rapidly strove to create a great body of literature in that language.
Baroque Aesthetic
Architecture
The architecture was grandiose. Buildings (ie St. Peter’s in Rome) were large and more ornate.
Sculpture and Painting
Baroque art is very dramatic. Figures are rarely still. Instead they are twisted, moving, struggling and dramatically
lighted. If one item is still, another will be moving. Baroque painting experiments with light and dark settings.
This is intended to create a sense of drama. The Baroque age is concerned with feelings…the stronger the better.
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Church Structure
Churches have grandiose structures, dramatic paintings with religious themes as well as decorations in gold, with rich
textures and surfaces.
Music
The magnificence of the king can be heard in ceremonial music. The notion of drama can be heard in opera. Music is
also used to explore and reveal human emotions.
The Musician in the Baroque Era
Kapellmeister
Musicians who performed as well as composed would compete for positions at courts and churches. They would try to
work their way up to music director positions. The most successful composer-performer was the Kapellmeister the music director of one of the great courts. (George Friederich Handel was employed at the court of George I of
England.) This was a very powerful position. They were responsible for all music. Also, any music they composed
was guaranteed to be performed. However, these positions were insecure. If the Kapellmeister did not stay in the good
graces of the patron or if there was a change politically, they would lose their job. These musicians were constantly on
the lookout for better positions.
Church Musicians
These musicians ran the music programs of large churches. They wrote a large volume of material for services. J.S.
Bach was a well-known church musician. This was considered to be a level below the Kapellmeister.
Performers
The third level is the performers: the singers and the instrumentalists. These were performers, not composers.
They, too, were constantly looking better positions. An example of this group is the castrati.
Because a great deal of music was being written in the Baroque era, composers often used shorthand to save
time. It would be up to the performers to fill in the details. Often times, the melody would be written only as a
contour; the harmony as numbered figures. The players then had the freedom to interpret these markings in
unique ways. This is similar to jazz. In jazz, soloists play their own versions of a basic melody and the rhythm
section improvises based upon a specific set of chord changes. No two performances of a work are ever the exact
same!
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Baroque Style
Color
Color is an important element in Baroque music.
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Most prominent family: string family.
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Most prominent instrument: violin.
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Woodwinds were prized for their agility.
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Trumpets - valveless, parts written for
virtuoso players.
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Harpsichord - solo virtuoso instrument as
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Pipe organ started to be a virtuoso instrument.
well member of the orchestra.
Dynamics
Instruments in the Baroque did not have a great
dynamic range. The only way to change the
dynamic level was to add or remove players. (More players for loud sections, fewer for soft!)
Therefore, the dynamic changes are sudden, not gradual. When composers marked dynamics on a score, they only
used loud or soft.
Rhythm and Texture
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Tempos are usually constant throughout entire movements of a work.
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Textures tend to be busy. The norm is for the texture to be polyphonic - combining several melodic lines. This
type of music can range from containing only a melody and bass line, to four or more melodic lines at once. This
music is never dull!
Melody
The melody is not the prominent feature of Baroque music. Because of the busy texture, there is never one melodic
idea that stands out to the listener. As a result, it would be very difficult to try to ‘hum’ a Baroque work.
Harmony and Tonality
 Rise of the major-minor system.
 Frequent chord changes.
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Baroque Vocal Forms
Opera
 began in Florence, Italy around 1600
 castrato male role, mythological stories.
Opera is a dramatic presentation in which music is the main element. It is written for soloists, chorus and orchestra.
Cantata
 dramatic religious vocal work featuring
soloists, chorus, or both.
Oratorio
 large work for soloists, chorus and orchestra
 sungstaging
in concert format without costumes or
 performed
in a concert hall, not as part of a
church service
developed by G.F. Handel
Baroque Instrumental Forms
Prelude and Fugue
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popular form for solo keyboard
Prelude – improvised
Fugue – contrapuntal, very elaborate form
Trio Sonata
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Two violins + basso continuo
Basso continuo = bass stringed instrument + harpsichord or organ
Four players, not three
Sonata da Chiesa
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Church sonata
4 movements; slow-fast-slow-fast
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Sonata da camera
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Chamber sonata
Several dance movements in binary form
Fugue
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Elaborate form – Latin for flight or chase
All parts contribute equally
Several overlapping melodic ideas
Monothematic – one theme or melodic idea called the subject out of which the entire work is constructed
Usually in four voices
Subject is presented in each of the four voices
Countersubject is a new idea that must compliment the subject
Opening section where all subject matter is stated is known as the Exposition.
After the Exposition is Episode – usually lighter in texture
Expositions and Episodes alternate throughout the fugue
Baroque composers include:
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750)
Works include:
Organ Fugue in G minor
Well-Tampered Clavier
Goldberg Variations
Toccata and Fugue in D The Art of the Fugue
Brandenburg Concertos
George Friederich Handel (1685 – 1759)
Works include:
Beggar’s Opera
Messiah
Sonata in ..(various keys)
Trumpet Concerto in G –
Harmonious Blacksmith
Antonio Vivaldi (1668 – 1741)
Works include:
The Four Seasons
Concerto for Guitar in D +
Sonata for Two Violins
Gloria (Oratorio)