Chapter 7: Introduction to Baroque Art and Music

The Baroque Era ( ) First appeared in Italy Baroque: Excessive ornamentation in the visual arts and a rough, bold instrumental sound in music – Energetic detail – Grandiose, flamboyant – Drama created through contrast

Baroque Architecture and Music Construction on the grandest scale – Saint Peter’s in Rome Space filled with abundant, even excessive, decoration

Baroque Music Grandiose music composed for such vast spaces Compositions for “colossal” forces – Baroque orchestra of King Louis XIV sometimes had as many as 80+ players – Some sacred choral works required 24, 48, or even 53 separate lines or parts Love of energetic detail within a large-scale composition Highly ornamental melody above a solid chordal foundation Abundance of melodic flourishes

Arcangelo Corelli – Sonata for Violin and Basso Continuo, Opus 5, No.1 Bass provides the structural support while the violin adds elaborate decoration above

Baroque Painting and Music Large and colorful paintings Overtly dramatic Drama created by means of contrast Pure shock created by presenting gruesome events from history or myth in a dramatic way Music also highly dramatic Doctrine of the Affections: Different musical moods could and should be used to influence the emotions (affections) of the listener Drama of the stage joined with music to create Opera

Characteristics of Baroque Music Remarkable variety of musical style Introduction of many new musical genres: – Opera, cantata, oratorio, sonata, concerto, and suite Two elements remain constant – Expressive, sometimes extravagant melody – Strong supporting bass

Expressive Melody Use of soloist to communicate raw individual emotion All voices not created equal – Emphasis on the highest and lowest sounding lines – Middle lines fill out the texture S A T B

Monody: “Solo song” Solo singer supported by a bass line and a few accompanying instruments More elaborate, showy, style of singing Music reinforces the text

Rock-Solid Harmony Provides strong harmonic framework for elaborate melodies Basso continuo (continual bass): A small ensemble of at least two instrumentalists who provide a foundation for the melody heard above – Usually a low string instrument and a harpsichord Figured bass: Numerical shorthand places below the bass line – Basis for improvised chords

Elements of Baroque Music - Melody Two different melodic styles – Somewhat mechanical instrumental style, full of figural repetitions – More dramatic, virtuosic style of singing marked by flourished and melismas Melody expands lavishly over long musical spans, not short symmetrical phrases

Elements of Baroque Music - Harmony Chord progressions that we hear today originated in the Baroque Music built around stock chord progressions – (I-VI-IV-V-I) – Melody unfolds while the chord progressions repeat Modern “two-key” system: Major and Minor

Elements of Baroque Music - Rhythm Uniformity rather than flexibility Meter and certain rhythmic patterns are established at the beginning and continue to the end Strong recurring beat (groove) Rhythmic clarity and drive Rhythmically propulsive

Elements of Baroque Music - Texture Homophony: Basso continuo provides a wholly chordal framework – Many 17 th -century composers rebelled against the predominantly polyphonic, imitative texture of the Renaissance Hostility to Polyphony gradually diminished Polyphony: Counterpoint – New genre of the Fugue – Bach and Handel

Elements of Baroque Music - Dynamics Early 17 th -century, composers began to write dynamics in their music Use of two basic terms: piano (soft) and forte (loud) Sudden contrasts of dynamics rather than gradual crescendos and diminuendos Terraced dynamics: Shifting of volume suddenly from one level to another – Similar to contrasts between major and minor