Genre
Opera
Gregorian Chant
Organum
Canon (round)
Lute song
Madrigal
Motet
Mass Requiem
Continued secularization (post reformation)
Growing emphasis on science and reason
Middle class population increased
Intricate art, highly decorated art and architecture due to emphasis on expression
Musical Developments of the Baroque
Birth and rise of opera
Flowering of instrumental music
Beginnings of concert performance
Performance Contexts
Middle Ages/Renaissance
Church
Court
Baroque
Church
Court
Concert/Theater
Musical Style Traits
Solidification of tonality (major and minor)
Presence of basso continuo
Basso continuo: continuous bass. One of more plucked instruments (harpsichord, lute, theorbo) and one brewer instrument (viola de gamba - precursor of the cello).
Emphasis on melody and bass - hom*ophonic texture
Increased emphasis on theatrically and virtuosity
Dynamics have a greater importance
New musical forms (ritornello and fugue)
Tonic (I): The first note of the scale and the tonal center. Dominant (V): The fifth note of the scale A common tonal pattern in western music is the tonic-dominant-tonic pattern or the I-V-I pattern
Opera
Drama - tells a story with words and music
Sung - no spoken words in an opera
Libretto - the text of an opera
Staged - acted with costumes and set pieces
Originated from italy
Earliest operas
1585 - dafne by jacopo peri
1600 - euridice by jacopo peri
1607 - l’orfeo by monteverdi
carrying interest of roman mythology into opera
Henry Purcell (1659 - 1695)
Dido and Aeneas (1689)
Draws on English dramatic traditions
Musical influences from italian solo singing and venetian lament, as well as english choral tradition
Based on two lovers, the man has to leave the woman to go establish a kingdom. The woman dies of despair (happens to women often in opera)
Free meter
Minimal accompaniment
First known performance at a school
Plot centers on Virgil’s Aeneid and Aeneas’ journey from Troy to Rome
Dido’s Lament - Recitative Text
Thy hand, Belinda; darkness shades me
On thy bosom, let me rest:
More I would, but Death invades me:
Death is now a welcome guest.
Dido’s Lament - Aria Text
When I am laid in earth,
May my wrongs create
No trouble in thy breast;
(repeated)
Remember me,
but ah forget my fate.
(repeated, ornamented)
Built on a recurring bass-line (basso ostinato or ground bass)
Chromatic descending line signals a lament
Chromatic: characterized by half step motion
Their Land Brought Forth Frogs (George Fredric Handel - 1739)
From Israel in Egypt
George Frederic Handel (1685 - 1759)
Germany
Italy
England
Messiah (1741)
Oratorio
Life of christ divided into 3 parts
I - Birth of Christ
II - Passion of Christ
III - Christ’s glorification in heaven
Hallelujah
There were shepherds abiding
Parts of a Baroque dramatic vocal work
Recitative
Aria
Chorus
Recitative Simple recitative: Also called secco or dry recitative, accompanied by continuo, usually unmetered. Accompanied recitative: Accompanied by orchestra, can be metered.
Recitative, both simple and accompanied
Chorus: variety of textures, dynamics, timbre
Historiography: The study of the writing of history.
Messiah lovers may be surprised to learn that the work was not meant for Christmas but for Lent, and that the “Hallelujah” chorus was designed not to honor the birth or resurrection of Jesus but to celebrate the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple in A.D. 70. For most Christians in Handel’s day, this horrible event was construed as divine retribution on Judaism for its failure to accept Jesus as God’s promised Messiah.
Royal African Company: Shipped more enslaved Africans to the Americans than any other company.
Oratorio
Storytelling through music
Originated in Italy
usually sacred stores
Shared elements with opera but has more choruses
No acting, costumes or scenery
The Harpsichord
Predecessor of the piano
Strings inside are plucked
Associated with bass continuo
Also could be a solo instrument
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)
Born in Eisenach
Lived and worked within 200km of his birthplace
Leipzig 1723 - 1750
St. Thomas Lutheran Church
Fugue in C minor
Well-tempered clavier
Set of preludes and fugues in all 24 keys
Book 1-1722
Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor, large scale form
Overture
Rondo
Sarabande
Bourre I and II
Polonaise
Menuet
Badinerie (plaything)
Binary Form: Form divided into two sections.
Double Concerto in D Minor
Genre: Concerto
Form: Ritornello
Bach
Multi-movement
Fast-slow-fast
Movement I - Vivace (fast and lively)
Opening ritornello
Solos
With ritornello motives
Center ritornello
solos
with ritornello motives
Closing ritornello
Ritornello form with fugal processes
Concerto: Work for one or more instrumental soloists with orchestra.
Ritornello: A section which returns several times and serves as a point fo structural reference. Almost always appears at the beginning and the end. Common for baroque concertos. Ritornello is played by the ensemble, and episodes are played by the soloists.
Fugue
One-movement work in imitative counterpoint, where the theme is stated in each voice as a series of subjects and answers. A work (or a process) in which a themes is stated in each
voices as a series of subjects and answers
Parts of a fugue:
Subject: Main melodic material
Answer: Subject repeated at a different pitch level
Episode: Passages without subject or answer. Often include motives derived from the fugue.
While the second voice is played the answer, the first fills in with a counterpoint.
Counterpoint: A pleasing and technically intermingling
A fugue then continues in a series of episodes (parts without the theme) with entrances of the subject/answer.
Fugue exposition: The first section of the fugue where the main theme is played in all of the voices.
Continuation: Subject and answer as well as episodes
Cadence: The ending of the fugue
Fugue texture: polyphonic
Fugue form: fugal subject, continuation, cadence
Popular in the baroque
Imitative form
Imitation: Repetition of a motive or a melodic fragment in another voice
Dance Suite
Instrumental genre
Could be soloist, group of instruments or an orchestra
Multi-movement
Dance-based movements
Contrast in tempo and character
Minute, sarabande, Gigue
Minute: slow, stately dance in triple time Sarabande: a slow, stately dance with 3 beats in a bar (3/4 time or Simple Triple). Gigue: a fast dance typically in compound meter and binary form.
Lutheran Chorales
Spiritual Melodies
Compositions in german as it was vernacular at the time
Some new compositions, some derived from chant melodies or popular song
Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (A mighty fortress is our god)
Chorale
Cantata: Genre of vocal composition originating in the Baroque, sacred or secular, for soloist or chorus.
Tells a sacred story with music and singing
Smaller in scale than an oratorio
Shorter
Smaller number of performers
Often based on a chorale
Cantata no. 80, Ein feste Burg is unser Gott
Johann Sebastian Bach (wrote 300 cantatas)
Texture: Polyphonic
Uses chorale tune
Baroque Genres
Oratorio (sacred stories but still theatrical)
Opera (vocal genre)
Cantata (scaled down oratorio)
Fugue (open, polyphonic form, harpsichord fugue)
Mass
Chorale (mighty fortresses are god - religious song in vernacular - protestant reformation in germany, allows people to have a more personal relationship with god)
Dance Suite (stylized dances, multiple movements, varying tempo)
Concerto
