Baroque Music
1600-1750
The Concerto
• Comes from concertare (to contend with)
– the opposition of two dissimilar bodies of
sound
• Two types of Baroque Concerto
– Solo concerto
• Violin favored instrument
• Fast-slow-fast scheme
– Concerto grosso
• Tutti or ripieno
Antonio Vivaldi
(1678-1741)
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Known as the “red priest” because
of his hair
Music master at an all-girl school;
although well-established career,
died mysteriously in poverty
Wrote over 500 concertos, about
230 for violin
Wrote operas, cantatas, chamber
music, an oratorio, a famous
“Gloria”
Known as “father of the concerto”
(and for establishing the
ritornello)
Most of his concertos bear
descriptive titles (Four Seasons)
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons
• A group of four violin concertos
• Use of rapid scale passages, virtuosic
• Word painting – hear “birds,” etc., in the
music. Poems, probably written by the
composer, describe each season. Each
line of the poem is printed at a particular
spot in the music.
“Spring” from Four Seasons
• Description on p. 446
• Poem on p. 447
• Ritornello – a recurring theme that unifies
the movement
Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos
• Dedicated to the Margrave Christian of
Brandenburg
• Concerto grosso (big group [tutti or
ripieno] vs. little [concertino] group)
• Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 (p. 450)
– Three movement scheme
– Concertino: violin, oboe, recorder, trumpet
– Ritornello unifies the movement
The Baroque Suite
• Comes from an earlier tradition of pairing
dances of contrasting tempos and characters.
• A set of dances (standard four w/others)
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Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Gigue
• Written in the same key
• Orchestral suites and keyboard suites
Handel’s Water Music
• Played for a royal party, held by King
George I, on the Thames River in London
on July 17, 1717. (p. 453)
• Contains 22 numbers, divided into 3 suites
• Contains many of the “optional” dances;
suite movements are not in the standard
order
• Suite in D Major: Allegro, p. 454
Bach and the Chorale Prelude
• Prelude – a fairly short piece based on the
continuous expansion of a melodic or
rhythmic figure
• “pre” – before; a piece played to introduce
a group of dance pieces, among others
• Preludes – used in church
• Chorale preludes combine hymns with
improvisation
• Bach wrote over 140 organ chorales
Bach’s Chorale Prelude:
A Mighty Fortress is Our God
• p. 457-458
• 1709
• Features imitation and a cantus firmus
melody (tune of the hymn)
• Composed for a three-manual organ
Bach’s Preludes and Fugues
• Well-Tempered Clavier
– To “show off” the new system of tuning
keyboards
– One Prelude & Fugue in EVERY key
– Wrote 2 books of these
• Preludes – different characters
• Fugues – imitative pieces (mostly 3 or 4 voices)
Bach’s Prelude and Fugue No. II in
C Minor, WTC I
Performance on harpsichord
• Prelude
– Perpetual motion
– Contains free, cadenza-like section
– Ends fast
• Fugue
– 3 voices