The Baroque Era (1600-1750) – Week 3.
Josquin des Prez (ca. 1440-1521)
Compositions and Style:
Motets & Settings of the Ordinary of the Mass
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Arched, symmetrical melodies
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Regular metre, gentle pulse
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Pervasive imitation in four parts SATB
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A cappella is the norm
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Sacred – either cantus firmus or newly composed
Example: Josquin, motet, Ave Maria … virgo serena
Late Renaissance and Counter-Reformation
1. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) (Italian)
2. Orlando di Lasso (c. 1532-1594) (German)
3. William Byrd (1543-1623) (English)
Baroque comes from the French word derived from the Portuguese noun “barroco”, perjorative terms
used to describe pearls of irregular shape.
The Baroque is characterized by highly ornamental styles in the arts
Baroque art often emphasized contrasts of every kind
Early Opera
Opera: A music drama that is generally sung throughout, combining the resources of vocal and
instrumental music, with poetry and dramatic action, scenery and costumes. First developed in the
early years of the 17th century and a key invention of the Baroque
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Monody: Accompanied Italian solo song (solo voice and continuo), of c1600-40. The term
stands equally for an individual song or the entire repertory.
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Recitative: A type of vocal writing, normally for a single voice, which follows the natural rhythms
and accentuation of speech and its pitch contours.
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Arioso: A passage of vocal music sung midway between recitative and aria.
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Basso Continuo (Continuo, Figured Bass, Thoroughbass): A term to denote the continuous bass
part that runs through a work of the Baroque period and serves as a shorthand indicator of the
harmonies. The harmonies are then “realized” by the accompanist in the performance.
In the original, only the bass line and the numbers would be given; the right-hand part would be
improvised, based on the information conveyed by the numbers
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Example: “Thy hand Belinda” (Recitative); “When I am laid” (Aria, Dido and Aeneas (1689)
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Adaptation of Virgil’s Aeneid
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Aria: A song either independent or part of a larger work.
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Ground Bass: A formal device whereby a recurrent melody (ostinato) is given in the bass, above
which continuous variations are written
Baroque Theatres and Opera Houses
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Many of theatres at noble courts were rather small, intended only for guests of the ruler
Castrato: A male singer who has been castrated before puberty to preserve the soprano or contralto
range of his voice; supported by a man’s lungs, the voice was powerful, agile and penetrating.
Farinelli (Carlo Broschi) (1705-82)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
 Arnstadt (1703-07) — Organ music
 Mühlhausen (1707-08) — Organ music
 Weimar (1708-17) — Organ music
 Cöthen (1717-23) — Instrumental ensemble music, keyboard music, court music, instructional
compositions
 Leipzig (1723-50) — Sacred music, as well as purely instrumental music
Cantata: A multi-movement work for soloists, choir and instrumentalists set to a combination of biblical
and poetic text. Generally 5-8 movements with arias, recitatives and ensemble movements.
Chorale: A congregational hymn of the German Lutheran Church.
Example: Bach Cantata, No. 140, Wachet auf , I and IV
George Friedrich Handel (1685-1759)
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Born and educated in Halle Germany 1685
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Hired as violinist in Hamburg in 1703
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First opera, Almira, performed there in 1705
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Sent for further study in Venice and Florence, to 1710
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Employed as court musician at Hanover in 1710
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Goes to England, 1710-1711 and again in 1712
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Finds support from English nobility and fails to return to his German employer, Elector Georg
Oratorio
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Religious subject
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English
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Abundant choruses
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No staging or costumes
Israel in Egypt (1739)
Messiah (1742)
Samson (1743)
Semele (1744)
Judas Maccabaeus (1747)
Solomon (1749)
Jephtha (1752)