1. Chapter 7 The Early Baroque Period
The Rise of Instrumental Music

2. Key Terms Dance Stylized dances Suites Movements Virtuosity Fugue
Variations
Registrations
Toccata
Canzona
Balletto
Corrente
Passacaglia
Chromaticism

3. The Rise of Instrumental Music
Vocal music was Renaissance ideal— instrumental music lagged behind
Though it didn’t catch up with opera, instrumental music became much more important in Baroque era
Many new instrumental genres created
Three sources of inspiration for instrumental composers
Dance, virtuosity, & vocal music

4. Dance Dance had always been popular
Ballet was an integral part of new genres such as opera, especially in France
Dances from popular operas were compiled in dance suites for orchestra
Composers also wrote dances (often stylized) & suites for lute, harpsichord, & chamber ensembles
The rhythms of favorite dances came to permeate all genres, even church music

5. Virtuosity Virtuoso instrumentalists always existed
Due to low status of instrumental music:
They improvised their music (played by ear)
Their music was rarely written down
In late Renaissance and early Baroque, composers began to write it down
Written works did not capture complexity of virtuoso improvisation
Performers came to use written music as a guide for (often ornate) improvisation

6. Vocal Music
Baroque vocal music abandoned vocal ensemble music in favor of solo singers
Imitative polyphony of older motets & madrigals moved to instrumental medium
Imitative instrumental genres were written mostly for keyboard (organ & harpsichord)
Often associated with church music
Fugue is the most famous genre to emerge from these practices

7. Vocal Music (2)
Vocal music also provided a large body of well-known tunes, sacred and secular
Instrumental performers would often improvise on these tunes
Instrumental composers began to write sets of variations on these tunes

8. Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643)
Leading organ virtuoso of early Baroque
Worked in Florence & Rome (at St. Peter’s)
Famous performer, composer, & teacher
Known for expressiveness & extravagance of his improvising & his compositions
His favored genres included:
Toccatas, canzonas, stylized dances & suites, and sets of variations on vocal melodies

10. St Peter’s in Rome

11. Some Instrumental Works
Toccatas—
Free-form pieces that capture the spirit of improvised performances
Canzonas—
Rigorously organized works emphasizing imitative texture–ancestor of the fugue
Stylized dances—
Short binary form works, often in suites
Sets of variations
Based on vocal melodies or harmonic patterns

12. Frescobaldi, Suite (1a) Canzona—
An imitative keyboard work modeled after Renaissance chanson.
First section uses a single motive imitatively

13. Frescobaldi, Suite (1b) Canzona (cont.)—
The second, contrasting section introduces a new motive for imitation
Sections tend to end with strong cadences

14. Frescobaldi, Suite (2) Balletto and Corrente—
Pairing slower and faster dances was a common practice (cf. pavane & galliard)
Both dances use binary form, homophonic texture, same key, & very similar bass lines
In other respects the dances differ–good examples of “inner” vs. “outer” form
Balletto uses duple meter, slow tempo
Corrente uses triple meter, faster tempo

15. Frescobaldi, Suite (3a) Passacaglia—
A set of variations on a brief series of chords (and their accompanying bass line)
Originated in Spain as an improvised bridge between verses of a song
Frescobaldi may have been the first to turn it into a variation form
Similar to ground bass works, but the bass line is repeated less strictly

16. Frescobaldi, Suite (3b) Frescobaldi’s Passacaglia
Based on a four-measure harmonic pattern that ends (inconclusively) on the dominant
At times he inverts or omits the ground bass
Eighteen variations over this simple pattern
Frescobaldi creates endless variety through changing rhythms and chromaticism
In a surprise move, the last five variations are more sober, switching to minor mode