Important form in the late Baroque period Concerto Grosso – a small group of soloists is set against a larger group of players Anywhere from 2-4 soloists Best and highest paid musicians of the orchestra Tutti – when all musicians play together Anywhere from 8-20 musicians Mainly stringed instruments Usually performed by private orchestra for the aristocrats

 Several movements  Contrasting in tempo and character  Usually 3 movements  1- fast  Determined – showing differentiation between soloist and tutti sections  2- slow  Quieter than the 1 st movement  Often lyrical and intimate  3- fast  Lively, carefree  Can be dance like

 1 st and last movement of concerti grossi are often in ritornello form.  Ritornello Form – based on alternation between tutti and solo sections  Tutti section – ritornello (refrain)  Returns in different keys throughout the movement  Fragment  Whole again at the end  Number of returns varies from piece to piece  Concerto grosso outline A. tutti, ritornello in home key B. Solo A. tutti, ritornello fragment B. Solo A. tutti, ritornello fragment B. Solo A. tutti, ritornello in home key

 Concerto Grosso  Ritornello Form  Set of 6 concertos  Written for a German aristocrat  Performed for Bach’s employer – prince of Cothen  Each concerto is written for a different unusual combination of instruments  Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 – written for a string orchestra and soloists – flute, violin and harpsichord

 First Movement: Allegro  Opens with ritornello – continuous flow of rapid notes  Ritornello has a definite ending  Soloists present dropping dynamic level and changing the tone color  Fragment of ritornello  Alternation elongates throughout the movement  Soloists parts are vibrant and fancy  Tutti sections are straightforward  Harpsichord is the only instrument to play during final solo section  Prince had just bought one and Bach most likely wanted to showcase

 Fugue – a polyphonic composition based on a main theme  Written for a group of instruments or voices or for a single instrument  Can be written independently or introduced by another short piece – prelude  Bach and Handle wrote hundreds  Subject – main theme  Voices – different melodic lines  Imitate the subject  Texture of the fugue ranges from 3 -5 voices  Subject is constant  Takes new meanings with shifting of keys or combined with different melodic/rhythmic ideas

 Fugue form is very flexible  Only constant feature is how they begin  Subject is presented in a single unaccompanied voice  Subject is presented in two different scales  First in the tonic - call  Second in the dominant - answer  Later is imitated by all the remaining voices  May seem like a round, but does not continue indefinitely  After the subject is presented the melody line may continue its own way in each voice  The composer has freedom to choose when the subject will be presented in voice and key  Between presentations are transitions - episodes  Countersubject – the subject in one voice is constantly accompanied in another voice by a different melodic idea  Constant companion  Above or below the subject

 Musical procedures  Stretto – subject is imitated before it is completed – one voice tries to catch another  Pedal point – single tone is held while the other voices produce a series of changing harmonies  Variations of Fugue  Inversion – turned upside down  Steps and leaps of intervals are reversed  Retrograde – beginning with the last note of the subject and going backward to the first.  Augmentation – original values are lengthened  Diminution – shortened values

 Bach’s best known organ Piece  4 voices taking turns presenting the subject  Top voice and then progressively through the lower voices  Subject gains speed as it progresses  Subject appears 5 times following initial presentation  New material, countersubject, downward sequences, melodic patterns…  Subject presented in major keys  Final statement in minor  Ends in a major chord – thought be more conclusive during the time period