Part III
The Baroque Period
1600-1750
1600—invention of opera
1750—death of Bach
2011 © McGraw-Hill Higher Education
Traits of Baroque
• Evocation of emotion (early baroque)
– Music textually oriented
• Compare: As Vesta Was Descending/Dido’s
Lament
The Baroque Style
• “Baroque” used early on a pejorative
• Overly ornamented, flamboyant
• Baroque style “fills the space”
• Visual Art
• Implies motion
• Busy
• Architecture
• Elaborate
• Change in approach to science
• Age of Rationalism—God as watchmaker
• Inventions and improvements result
• Saint Yves at La
Sapienza--Rome
1660 by Francesco
Borromini
Music in Baroque Society
• Age of absolute monarch
– Arts shaped by aristocratic tastes
• New music written to order!
– Role of musicians: servant
– Court Music Director: a good, but demanding job!
• Simultaneous rise of middle class
– Composers also wrote for Church, aristocracy and
public, particularly for opera
– Role of women: professional composers existed
• Barbara Strozzi, Francesca Caccini
• Some aristocrats were musicians
• Church music was very elaborate
• Most people heard music only in church
• Some, though few, public opera houses
• Music careers taught by apprenticeship
• Orphanages taught music as a trade
Venice!
• Venice becomes a
musical capitol
– SIX opera houses
– Increasing need for
“town” musicians
Ch. 1 - Baroque Music
• Two giants of Baroque composition
– Johann Sebastian Bach (period ends w/ Bach’s death)
– George Frideric Handel
• Other noted composers
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Claudio Monteverdi
Henry Purcell
Arcangelo Corelli
Antonio Vivaldi
• Period divided into three phases
• Early:
1600-1640
• Middle:
1640-1680
favored homophonic
texture
major & minor
scales
• Late:
1680-1750
dominant chord
to the tonic
Early Baroque: Homophony
• Compare
– Josquin DePrez “Ave Maria” and “Tu se’ Morta
– Opera: focused on text
Rise of instrumental, non-dance music
• No longer reliant on voice to convey interest or
emotion
• Whole sets of musical conventions arose to
convey emotion through music
• Argued that only one affect could be effectively
projected in a piece
– Doctrine of Affections—a treatise on harmony
• Rameau
• Goes far beyond major and minor scales
Example: Bach, Brandenberg
concerto No.5, 3rd movement.
• How is “unity” expressed in
– Melody
– Rhythm
– Mood
– Dynamics?
Characteristics of Baroque Music
• Unity of Mood
• Expresses one mood throughout piece
• Rhythm
• Rhythmic patterns are repeated throughout
• Provides compelling drive & energy
• Melody
• Opening melody heard again and again
• Continuous expanding of melodic sequence
• Dynamics
• Volumes are constant with abrupt changes – terraced dynamics
Characteristics of Baroque Music
• Texture
• Late Baroque mostly polyphonic
• Extensive use of imitation
• Chords and the Basso Continuo
• Chords meshed with the melodic line
• Bass part served as foundation of the harmony
• Basso Continuo: accompaniment played by keyboard instrument following
numbers which specifies the chords – similar to modern jazz & pop “fake
book” notation
• Words and Music
• Text painting/word painting continues
• Words frequently emphasized by extension through many rapid notes
The Orchestra
• Compare to Renaissance: consorts, chests of instruments
– Composers did not specify parts
– No distinction between vocal, instrumental part (with
exception of lute song)
• Baroque orchestra: violin family
– Small by modern standards
– Composers wrote for specific parts—instrumentation could
vary—strings, brass, woodwinds, percussion
– Specific instrument might be highlighted
• Flute, oboe, etc
– Tone color subordinate to melody
– At its core: the basso continuo
Baroque Forms
• Instrumental music frequently made up of
movements
Movement: a piece that sounds complete in itself,
but is part of a larger composition
• Performed with pause between movements
• Unity of mood within individual movements
• Movements often contrast with each other
• Common basic forms:
• Ternary
• ABA
• Binary
• AB
• AAB
• ABB
• AABB
Ch. 3 - The Concerto Grosso
and Ritornello Form
Concerto Grosso
• For small group of soloists and orchestra
• Multi-movement work
• Usually 3 movements
• Fast
• Slow (usually quieter)
• Fast (sometimes dance-like)
Ritornello
• Frequently used in 1st & last movements of
concerto grosso
• Theme repeatedly presented in fragments
• Contrast between solo sections and tutti
Listening
Brandenberg Concerto No. 5 in D major by
Johann Sebastian Bach
For string orchestra and group of soloists
Soloists: flute, violin, and harpsichord
First movement
Ritornello form
Listening Outline: p. 109
Basic Set, CD 2:04
Brief Set, CD 2:01
The Brandenberg Concerti (plural
of concerto)
• 1721
• Cȍthen period (1717-23)
– Prince Leopold—musician, supported Bach well
until his (the prince) marriage in 1721….
– Bach stayed until 1723, but wrote the Margrave of
Brandenberg, and accompanied the letter with all
six concerti!
Highlights of No. 5
• First time harpsichord used as soloist in
concerto
– New harpsichord—Bach wanted to show it off, as
well as his own talents
– Remarkable solo!
• Six Brandenberg concerti—all remarkable
pieces of music—a great start to a record
collection
Ch. 4 - The Fugue
• Cornerstone of Baroque music
• Very high art form, still used today
• Polyphonic composition based on one main theme
(monothematic)
• Vocal or instrumental
• Subject: Main theme
• Presented initially in imitation—multiple
“voices”
• Each voice enters after previous voice has
completed presenting the subject
• Subject followed by Countersubject—varies
in rhythm and melody
“Tools” of the fugue: all used within
very strict composition rules
• Inversion—turning theme upside down
• Retrograde—playing it backwards
• Retrograde inversion—backwards and upside
down
• Diminution—theme presented in faster rhythms
• Augmentation—theme presented in slower
rhythms
• Pedal point—holding a note while harmonies
change around it (not exclusive to fugue)
Listening
Organ Fugue in G Minor
by J. S. Bach
Note individual voice entry on same melody
(subject)
Listening Outline: p. 113
Basic Set, CD 2:17
Brief Set, CD 2:06
Chapter 5: Opera
• The ultimate art form
– Fuses music, acting, poetry, dance, scenery,
costumes into single production!
– Began in Italy in 1600
• Many non-western forms of musical drama predate
opera
– Outlandish plots!
– Emotional intensity!
– Sometimes mythical figures
– Social function?
Ch. 5 - The Elements of Opera
• Drama sung to orchestral accompaniment
• Text in opera is called libretto
• Music is written by a composer
• Libretto is written by a librettist
• Opera can be serious, comic, or both
• Two primary types of solo songs:
• Recitative: presents plot material
• Aria: expresses emotion—usually a “show-off” vehicle for the singer
• Other types: duet, trio, quartet, quintet, etc.
• Three or more singers make up an ensemble
• Chorus: groups of actors playing crowd parts
• The prompter—gives cues to singers
• The orchestra pit – sunken area in front of stage
• Prelude or overture - instrumentals that open
opera acts
• Modern questions concerning text in opera
• Translation of text and effects upon text painting
• Supertitles-projection of text above the stage
Ch. 6 - Opera in the Baroque Era
• Result of musical discussions of the Camerata in Florence
• 1st known opera: Euridice (Peri-1600)
• Orfeo (Monteverdi-1607)
• 1st large scale (great) opera
• Opera composed for court ceremonies
• Display of magnificence and grandeur
• Patrons compared to ancient heroes
• 1st public opera house 1637 in Venice
• Rise of virtuoso singer—chief was castrato
• Secco vs accompanied recitative
Ch. 7 - Claudio Monteverdi
• Italian, early Baroque composer
• Wrote first great operatic work, Orfeo
• Worked last 30 years at St. Mark’s in Venice
• Composed both sacred music and secular
music for the aristocracy
• Only 3 of his 12 operas still exist
Listening
Tu se’ morta from Orfeo by Monteverdi
Note: Homophonic texture
Use of text painting
Vocal Music Guide: p. 122
Basic Set, CD 2:20
Brief Set, CD 2:09
Tu se’ morta
Tu sé morta, sé morta, mia vita,
You are dead, dead, my life,
ed io respiro; tu sé da me partita,
And I breathe; you have left me,
sé da me partita per mai più,
You have left me forevermore,
mai più non tornare, ed io rimango--
Never to return, and I remain--
no, no, che se i versi alcuna cosa ponno,
No, no, if my verses have any power,
n'andrò sicuro a' più profondi abissi,
I will go confidently to the deepest abysses,
e, intenerito il cor del re de l'ombre,
And, having melted the heart of the king of
shadows,
mecco trarrotti a riveder le stelle,
Will bring you back to me to see the stars again,
o se ciò negherammi empio destino, rimarrò teco in Or, if pitiless fate denies me this, I will remain with
compagnia di morte.
you in the company of death.
Addio terra, addio cielo, e sole, addio.
Farewell earth, farewell sky, and sun, farewell.
Ch. 8 - Henry Purcell
• English composer (1659-1695)
• Highly regarded, held court
positions
• Buried beneath the organ in
Westminster Abbey
Listening
Dido’s Lament from Dido and Aeneas by Purcell
Ground Bass
• Repeated musical idea in bass
• Variation form—melodies above change
• Also called basso ostinato
Note: Recitative followed by da capo aria
Aria makes use of ground bass
Ch. 9 - The Baroque Sonata
• Instrumental work
• Multi-movement piece for one to eight
instruments
• Trio sonata
• Three melodic lines: basso continuo and two above
• Written as three parts, but performed by four players
• Sonata da chiesa—church sonata (dignified)
• Sonata du camera—chamber sonata (more
dance-like, intended for court performance)
Trio Sonata in A Minor, Op. 3, No. 10
(1689) by Arcangelo Corelli
Trio Sonata in A Minor, Op.3 No. 10
by Arcangelo Corelli
For 2 violins and basso continuo
Basic Set, CD 2:23 and 2:24
Note:
Polyphonic texture
Multi movement work
Contrast between movements
Ch. 10 - Antonio Vivaldi
• Late Baroque Italian composer
• Il prete rosso (the red priest)
• Taught music at girls orphanage in Venice
• Girls performed at mass hidden behind screen
• Wrote sacred and secular vocal and
instrumental music
• Famous as a virtuoso violinist & composer
Listening
La Primavera (Spring), Op. 8, No. 1, from The
Four Seasons (1725) by Vivaldi
Listening Outline: p. 128
Basic Set, CD 2:25 Brief Set, CD 2:12
Concerto for violin and string orchestra
Note: Polyphonic texture & ritornello form
Baroque program music
Descriptive effects (trills for bird songs,
string tremolos for thunder)
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Instrumentation: violin (solo), strings, harpsichord (basso continuo)
CD 1, Tracks 63-67, Duration 3:15
63) Spring has come
The first phrase of the ritornello is presented by the string orchestra (tutti).
:23 Closing phrase in a syncopated rhythm.
64) Song of the birds
This first solo section consists of a solo violin with two supporting violins. Bird songs are
imitated with trills in the high register and repeated notes.
:33 Return of tutti with second phrase of ritornello.
65) Murmuring streams
Flowing water is represented by running passages in the violins and cellos.
:23 Return of tutti with second phrase of ritornello.
66) Thunder and lightning
String tremolos and rapidly moving ascending scales introduce the solo violin.
:26 Return of tutti with second phrase of ritornello (in minor).
67) Song of the birds
Solo violin with two supporting violins. Bird songs are imitated with trills in the high register
and repeated notes (in minor key).
:17 Tutti, with variation of opening phrase which ends in a major key.
:27 Running passages in solo violin accompanied by the continuo (harpsichord).
:41 Closing phrase of ritornello is presented by the tutti in a major key.
Ch. 11 - Johann Sebastian Bach:
Greatest Western composer ever?
• German, late Baroque composer
• Organist and violinist
• Deeply religious (Lutheran)
• I.N.J/J.J?
• Worked in sacred and secular positions
• Weimar/Cothen/Leipzig
• Large family
• Known during lifetime as keyboardist
• Wrote in every form except opera
• Recognized for technical mastery
• Highpoint of polyphony combined w/ harmony
Ch. 12 - The Baroque Suite
• Instrumental, multi-movement work
• Written for listening, but based upon dance
• Movements usually in binary form—AABB
• Often began with a non-dance overture
• French overture—2 sections
• 1st slow, dignified
• 2nd faster, often beginning as a fugue
• Forerunner of forms used in the next period
Listening
Suite No. 3 in D Major (~1730)
by J. S. Bach, 4thmovement
Basic Set, CD 2:41 Brief Set, CD 2:21
Listening Outline p. 135
Note:
Extensive polyphony
Contrast of dance forms and
tempo in various movements
The Suite—International by design
• Non-dance movement, followed by several
dance movements
• Courante: fast triple meter (France)
• Gavotte: moderate duple (France)
• Allemande: moderate duple (German)
• Sarabande: slow triple (Mexico)
• Bouree: fast duple (France)
• Gigue: fast triple (England, Irleland)