Baroque Era "The Era of Contrast"

May 22, 2017
Baroque Era “The era of contrast”

1600-1750 (dates not exact)
except 1750
 Chord progressions came about during this era
o Major and minor scales
 Concerto – Multi-movement piece for soloist and orchestra
 Concerto Grosso – Multi-movement piece for soloists (more than one) and orchestra
o Bach “Brandensburg Concerto #5”
 3 soloists
 flute, harpsichord, and violin
o Harpsichord prominent – Bach made this one of the solo
instruments (first time used as a solo instrument)
 Figured bass – shorthanded numbers to guide the
keyboard player. Way for composers to cheat
 Ritornello – “return” melodic idea that is heard at the beginning and the
end of the movement “frames the movement”, and parts throughout
 Used to capture the audiences interest and bring unity to the
piece.
1580 – Florentine Camerata

Consisted of visual artists, musicians, poets, writers, theater people
Merchants – promoted the arts and come up with new art creations, new art. Visual arts as
well.
 Greeks
o Monody – no meter, free rhythm. One instrument plays a chord and the
singer speaks to us in song
 Florentine Camerata called it Recitative (recited style)
 The rise of the Baroque era coincides with the birth of Opera
Claudio Monteverde
 Orfeo (1607) – Opera based on Orpheus’ story in Greek mythology
o “Passanti Spirito” – will be on test
 Barratone – males voice
 Rhythm is free and not metered
 Accompanied by organ with wooden pipes and continuo, with two violins
 Ornamented Recitative using melisma’s
 St. Mark’s Cathedral
o Basilica design – church shaped like a cross
o Nave – people stand here (center of the church)
 Two organs on either side of the nave and a choir on each side
 One side would sing and the other would respond
o Antiphonal, spacial effects
o Polychoral – More than one choir
o Apse - clergy
o Transept
Henry Purcell
 Dido and Aeneas Opera
o “Dido’s Lament” – will be on test
 Soprano – female voice
 Aria
The First Movement from “Spring”

Little Fugue in G minor - Bach
Cantata #140 – Bach (First movement) “Wachet Auf” (Sleepers Awake)
G.F. Handel
Rejoice Greatly
Halleluia
Air from Water Music
Differences Between Recitative and Aria
Recitative Aria
2-3 instruments – continuo Orchestra of 12-15 players
Declamatory Repetition of text
Carry the story – figure out the plot Action stops – we get the insight
Free rhythm Metered/regular pulsation
Late Baroque
 Mostly polyphonic music
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - Most Important Composer of Baroque

 Born in Germany and stayed there all his life
o 3 cities associated with Bach
 Weimar
 First job, worked for a local Duke
 A lot of his organ pieces were written
 Cothen
 Worked for the Dukes nephew
 Leipzig
 Final 30 years of his life
 Was the cantor at St. Thomas Church (Lutheran)
o Taught the children of the church Latin
o Collegium Musicum (outside of the church)
 Cantatas and other great life works created here
o Written for the Lutheran Worship Service
o
 Born into a musical family and had a musical family (22 children)
 Wrote music for many different instruments, mainly the strings
 Not respected as a composer throughout his lifetime
o Was not famous until about 75 years after his death
Fugue – Instrumental composition with 3-6 voices in imitative counterpoint

“The Art of the Fugue”
Cantata – similar to an oratorio only it’s played at St. Thomas Lutheran Church
Only written by Bach
Choral – A melody that everyone knows and everyone in the worship service could participate.
Ex: “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme”
Tonality
 Came about in the middle Baroque era
 Equal temperament – makes everything equally out of tune
o Octave divided equally
o Important because composer could write in every key
Triads – chords built on the interval of a third
George Friedrich Handel (1685-1759) – Second most important composer of the Baroque era
Internationally famous
 Born in the northern part of Germany
 Spent some time in Italy
 Spent most of his life in London
o Helps confound the royal conservatory of music to promote opera
o George I becomes king and Handel writes music for his coronation
 Wrote the Water Music – performed on the Thames River
 Water Music – Suite: dance based music
o “Air” in F major
 Binary form
o “Alla Hornpipe”
 Three-part ABA form, triple meter
 Worked for a while in Hanover Germany
o Worked for George I
 Elector of Hanover – Royal representative
 Handel left on bad terms to do his own thing in London
 Creator of Oratorio
o Most famous “Messiah” – (Hallelujah)
o “Rejoice Greatly” – ABA aria (Do capo aria)
Opera – all art forms combined: visual, literary

 Early opera was based Greek Mythology
Oratorio- an opera without the visuals

 Based on the Christian bible – Theology
o Narrative
o Less expensive than an opera
Contrast, repetition, variation

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May 22, 2017

Baroque Era “The era of contrast”

1580 – Florentine Camerata

The First Movement from “Spring”

Differences Between Recitative and Aria

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - Most Important Composer of Baroque

Fugue – Instrumental composition with 3-6 voices in imitative counterpoint

Opera – all art forms combined: visual, literary

Oratorio- an opera without the visuals

Contrast, repetition, variation

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