1. Music: An Appreciation 9th -10th Edition by Roger Kamien
Part IV
The Baroque Period

2. The Baroque Period Time Line Shakespeare: Hamlet-1600
Cervantes: Don Quixote-1605
Jamestown founded-1607
Galileo: Earth orbits Sun-1610
King James Bible-1611
Newton: Principia Mathematica-1687
Witchcraft trials in Salem, Mass.-1692
Defoe: Robinson Crusoe-1719
Swift: Gulliver’s Travels-1726

3. Baroque facts “Baroque” term Aristocracy very rich Age of absolutism
Bizarre, elaborately ornamented
Aristocracy very rich
Age of absolutism
Absolute power of rulers
Science improved
Inventions
Improvement of medicine, mining, navigation and industry
Experiment-based, not just observation
Baroque artists interested in forming a total illusion like a stage setting

4. The Baroque Style Time of flamboyant lifestyle
Baroque style “fills the space”
Visual Art
Implies motion
Busy
Architecture
Elaborate

5. Ch. 1 - Baroque Music Two giants of Baroque composition
Johann Sebastian Bach (period ends w/ Bach’s death)
George Frideric Handel
Other noted composers
Claudio Monteverdi
Henry Purcell
Arcangelo Corelli
Antonio Vivaldi
Period divided into three phases
Early:
favored homophonic
texture
Late:
Vocal music = Instrumental music
Middle:
major & minor
scales

6. Characteristics of Baroque Music
Unity of Mood
Expresses one mood throughout piece
Rhythm
Rhythmic patterns are repeated throughout
Provides compelling drive & energy
Melody
Opening melody heard again and again
Continuous expanding of melodic sequence
Dynamics
Volumes are constant with abrupt changes – terraced dynamics

7. Characteristics of Baroque Music
Texture
Late Baroque mostly polyphonic
Extensive use of imitation
Chords and the Basso Continuo
Chords meshed with the melodic line
Bass part served as foundation of the harmony
Basso Continuo: accompaniment played by keyboard instrument following numbers which specifies the chords – similar to modern jazz & pop “fake book” notation
Words and Music
Text painting/word painting continues
Words frequently emphasized by extension through many rapid notes

8. The Baroque Orchestra Based on violin family of instruments
Small by modern standards
10-30 players
Varying instrumentation
Strings, woodwinds, brass, & percussion
Baroque trumpet
Difficult to play, no valves
Composers specified instrumentation
Works were rearranged frequently
Composers obtained beautiful effects from specific tone colors

9. Keyboard instruments (partial list)
Organ
Clavichord
Harpsichord
Piano was invented around 1700 by Bartolomeo Cristofori

10. Baroque Forms Common basic forms:
Instrumental music frequently made up of movements
Movement: a piece that sounds complete in itself,
but is part of a larger composition
Performed with pause between movements
Unity of mood within individual movements
Movements often contrast with each other
Common basic forms:
Ternary
A B A
Binary
A B
A A B
A B B
A A B B

11. Ch. 2 - Music in Baroque Society
Music written to order
New music, not old-fashioned, was desired
Courts:
Music indicated affluence
Court Music Director
Good prestige, pay, and other benefits
Still considered a skilled servant

12. Some aristocrats were musicians
Church music was very elaborate
Most people heard music only in church
Churches had organ, choir and sometimes orchestra
Church musicians earned less
Some, though few, public opera houses
Few public concerts
Music careers taught by apprenticeship
Orphanages taught music as a trade

13. Ch. 3 - The Concerto Grosso and Ritornello Form
For small group of soloists and orchestra
Multi-movement work
Usually 3 movements
Fast
Slow (usually quieter)
Fast (sometimes dance-like)

14. Ritornello Frequently used in 1st & last movements of concerto grosso
Theme repeatedly presented in fragments
Contrast between solo sections and tutti

15. Listening
Brandenberg Concerto No. 5 in D major by Johann Sebastian Bach
For string orchestra and group of soloists
Soloists: flute, violin, and harpsichord
First movement
Ritornello form

16. Ch. 4 - The Fugue Cornerstone of Baroque music
Polyphonic composition based on one main theme
Vocal or instrumental
Subject
Main theme
Each voice enters after previous voice has completed presenting the subject
Countersubject
Material against the subject
Episode

17. Listening Organ Fugue in G Minor by J. S. Bach
Note individual voice entry on same melody (subject)

18. Ch. 5 - The Elements of Opera
Italy ~ 1600
Music + acting + singing + dancing
Drama sung to orchestral accompaniment
Text in opera is called libretto
Music is written by a composer
Libretto is written by a librettist
Opera can be serious, comic, or both
Voice categories of opera
Dramatic Soprano, Lyric Soprano, Basso Buffo..
Acts : different stage setups, scenery
Usually 3 Acts (I,II,III)

19. The Elements of Opera (cont.)
Two primary types of solo songs:
Recitative:
A vocal line that imitates the rhythms and fluctuations of speech
Secco recitative VS accompanied recitative
Presents plot material
Aria:
Solo singing with orchestral accompaniment
expresses emotion—usually a “show-off” vehicle for the singer
Other types: duet, trio, quartet, quintet, etc.
Three or more singers make up an ensemble

20. Chorus: groups of actors playing crowd parts
The prompter—gives cues to singers
The orchestra pit – sunken area in front of stage where the orchestra is placed
Prelude or overture - instrumentals that open opera acts
Modern questions concerning text in opera
Translation of text and effects upon text painting
Supertitles-projection of text above the stage

21. Ch. 6 - Opera in the Baroque Era
Result of musical discussions of the Camerata in Florence (1575) – Greek tragedy model
Euridice (Peri-1600)
1st known opera
Orfeo (Monteverdi-1607)
1st large scale (great) opera
Opera composed for court ceremonies
Display of magnificence and grandeur
Patrons compared to ancient heroes
1st public opera house 1637 in Venice
Rise of virtuoso singer— castrato ( )

22. Ch. 7 - Claudio Monteverdi
Italian, early Baroque composer, violist, singer and music director
Worked last 30 years at St. Mark’s in Venice
Composed both sacred music and secular music for the aristocracy (madrigals, church music, operas)
Only 3 of his 12 operas still exist
Popular works:
“Orfeo”
“The coronation for Poppea”
Introduced the pizzicato and tremolo effects

23. Listening Tu se’ morta from Orfeo by Monteverdi
Note: Homophonic texture
Use of text painting

24. Ch. 8 - Henry Purcell English composer (1659-1695)
Highly regarded, held court positions
Buried beneath the organ in Westminster Abbey
Dido and Aeneas (English text)
Ground Bass
Repeated musical idea in bass
Variation form—melodies above change
Also called basso ostinato

25. Listening Dido’s Lament from Dido and Aeneas by Purcell
Note: Recitative followed by aria
Aria makes use of ground bass

26. Ch. 9 - The Baroque Sonata Instrumental work
Multi-movement piece for one to eight instruments
Trio sonata
Three melodic lines: basso continuo and two higher instruments
Written as three parts, but performed by four players
Sonata da chiesa—church sonata (dignified)
Sonata da camera—chamber sonata (more dance-like, intended for court performance)

27. Ch. 10 - Arcangelo Corelli Italian violonist/composer
Wrote sonatas, concertos
Invented the double stops for violin
Listening
Trio Sonata in A Minor, Op.3 No. 10
For 2 violins and basso continuo
Note: Polyphonic texture
Multi movement work
Contrast between movements

28. Ch. 11 - Antonio Vivaldi Late Baroque Italian composer
Il prete rosso (the red priest)
Taught music at girls orphanage in Venice
Girls performed at mass hidden behind screen
Wrote sacred and secular vocal and instrumental music
450 concerti grossi and solo concertos
Famous as a virtuoso violinist & composer

29. Listening Four Seasons (1725)
Set of 4 solo concertos for violin string orchestra and basso continuo
La Primavera (Spring), Op. 8, No. 1, from the Four Seasons
Note: Polyphonic texture & ritornello form
Baroque program music
Descriptive effects (trills for bird songs, string tremolos for thunder)

30. Ch. 12 - Johann Sebastian Bach
German, late Baroque composer
Organist and harpsichordist
Deeply religious (Lutheran)
Worked in sacred and secular positions
Weimar/Cothen/Leipzig
Large family (20 children)
Known during lifetime as keyboardist
Wrote in every form except opera
Recognized for technical mastery
Master of counterpoint
All music majors study Bach’s compositions
He is the model for learning to write music

31. J.S.Bach’s works Art of Fugue 48 preludes and fugues for piano
Brandenburg Concertos
Mass in B minor
A lot of church music
St. John and St. Mathew Passions
Cantatas
chorales
Organ works
Italian concertos
French Dances
Many more…

32. Listening
Prelude and Fugue in C Minor, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I by Bach
Note: Ornamental passage in the style of improvisation
Concludes with bright C major harmony
Pedal point

33. Ch. 13 - The Baroque Suite Instrumental, multi-movement work
Written for listening, but based upon dance
All movements in same key but different character
Often began with a non-dance overture
French overture—2 sections
1st slow, dignified
2nd faster, often beginning as a fugue

34. Baroque Suite’s movements
French overture
Air
Allemande (German origin)
Courante (French origin)
Sarabande (Spanish origin)
Gigue (Scotch and Irish origin)
Other movements can be present:
Bouree
Gavotte
Minuet
Chaconne

35. Listening Note: Extensive polyphony Suite No. 3 in D Major (~1730)
by J. S. Bach, 2nd, 4th, & 5th mvts.
Note: Extensive polyphony
Contrast of dance forms and
tempo in various movements

36. Ch The Chorale
Lutheran church service was social event of the week
Lasted 4 hours with 1 hour sermon
Music was major part of worship service
Congregation participated in singing chorales
Chorale:
hymn tune w/ German religious text
Steady rhythm/easy to remember
Themes taken from folk songs and hymns of the 16th and 17th Century.

37. Ch. 14 - The Church Cantata Cantata:
Multi-movement church work for chorus, soloists, organ and small orchestra
Vernacular religious text
Resembled opera in its use of choruses, recitatives, arias, and duets
No acting or dancing

38. Listening
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Awake, A Voice Is Calling Us)
by J. S. Bach (1731), Movements 1, 4, & 7
Note: Vernacular (German) text
Chorale tune basis
Polyphonic until chorale in movement 7
Movement 7—provides for congregation to join in

39. Ch. 15 - The Oratorio Like opera: Unlike opera:
Large-scale work for chorus, soloists, and orchestra (no organ)
Contains arias, recitatives, ensembles
Unlike opera:
No acting, scenery, or costumes
Based upon biblical stories/ Narrative text
Chorus section is very important
Not intended for religious services
Commonly performed today in both churches and concert halls

40. Ch. 16 - George Frederic Handel
Born in Germany—same year as Bach
Not from musical family
Father wanted him to be a lawyer
Troublesome life
Studied music in Germany, then to Italy to study opera, finally England to work
Became England’s most important composer

41. Ch. 16 - George Frederic Handel (cont.)
Master of Italian Opera and English Oratorio
Wrote many operas in London
Had own opera company
Worked as composer, performer, & impresario
Suites and concerti grossi
Buried in Westminster Abbey

42. Listening The Messiah (1741) by G. F. Handel Lasts for 2,5 hours (!)
Meditative rather than dramatic
Hallelujah Chorus
Most popular part of the oratorio