Baroque Study Guide

Baroque (1600-1750)
Baroque means bizarre, flamboyant, elaborately ornamented.

art:
Bernini, Rembrandt

Government:
King Louis XIV held court in palace of Versailles, a magnificent setting that fused Baroque painting, Sculpture, and architecture into a symbol of royal wealth and power.
Baroque ruling class was extremely rich and powerful and surrounded themselves with luxury.

Early Baroque (1600-1640)
Middle Baroque (1640-1680)
Late Baroque (1680-1750)

Math:
New Approach to science mixing the union of mathematics and experimentation
Mathmatical laws governing bodies of motion
• Galileo (1564-1642)
• Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
Innovations in medicine, mining, navigation and industry

Early Baroque
As in the Renaissance, music was composed for texts creating extreme emotion. Emphasis on Drama and text. Therefore, text Was homophonic.

Italian’s created opera in the early baroque period.

Opera- Drama sung to orchestral accompaniment. Melodic lines imitated the rhythms and inflections of speech.

Middle Boroque
Medieval Church Modes disappeared and replaced by major and minor modes and tonalities. By 1680, major and minor was the way of the world.

Instrumental music became much more important.
Many Compositions written for specific instruments: The string family (Violins) being the most prominent.

Late Baroque
Most of the Baroque music heard today is from this period.

Instrumental music was very popular. Late, Boroque Composers glorified in polyphony.

Characteristics of Baroque Music
Unity of Mood
The music expresses one mood throughout. If the music is joyful, it is joyful the whole way through.

Rhythm
Rhythmic patterns heard in the beginning of the piece are repeated throughout. Forward motion rarely interrupted.

Melody
An opening melodic figure will be heard over and over throughout the piece. When a melody is varied, its character still remains the same.
Melodic Sequence – Repeating a melodic figure on a higher or lower pitch level. Melodies are very elaborate and ornamental.

Terraced Dynamics
Dynamic shifts are sudden, not gradual. There are no crescendos/decrescendos.

Texture
Late Boroque music is predominantly polyphonic. Two or more melodic lines are competing for the listener’s attention.

Chords and the Basso Continuo (Figured Bass)
Basso-Continuo- Figured Bass. This was a way of writing chords with numbers to identify what the bass line would be and how the chords would be voiced over it. The Basso, or bass is the bass line performed by a low instrument such as a cello or bassoon. The continuo is improvised by an organ or a harpsichord. The chord symbol and numbers specify only a basic chord. The voicing is up to the player.

Words and Music
Like in the renaissance, the boroque composers use music to depict the meaning of specific words. IE: Heaven set to a high note or hell to a low note.

The Boroque Orchestra
Evolved into a performing group based on the violin family. Basso Continuo (Harpsichord, Cello, Double Bass or Bassoon) upper strings, first and second violins and violas. Some use of woodwinds, brass and percussion. Trumpets and timpani joined the orchestra when it was trying to be festive. The Boroque trumpet, like the French horn had no valves, but was given rapid, complex melodic lines.
The trumpet was associated with Royalty

Timbre Timbre was very important in the Baroque period because they used it to change the color of the music by adding, subtracting and combining different instruments.
They also changed the dynamics in the same way.

Something new!
Movement- Fairly complete piece that sounds like it can stand alone, but is part of a larger set. Music was written in sets with pieces that contrast. Usually Movements have their own themes, comes to a definite end and has a brief pause before the next one starts.
A Baroque composition could be in three movements:

Fast and energetic
Slow and solemn
Quick, light and humorous

Baroque Suite- Set of Dance inspired movements
Solo Concerto- soloist pitted against an orchestra
Concerto Grosso- group of soloists pitted against an orchestra
Opera-a large scale drama sung to orchestral accompaniment.
Fugue- Polyphonic work based on one main theme that is imitated in different voices throughout the piece
Sonata- Multimovement work for 1 to 8 instruments
Cantata-a piece that was sung. A Staple of the Lutheran church (A sonata that was sung)
Oratorio- Large scale composition for chorus, vocal soloists and orchestra that tells a scared story. No acting scenery or costumes.

Concerto Grosso- small group of soloists set against Large group called “Tutti”
Tutti is mainly strings with Harpsichord as part of the basso continuo.

Ritornello- alternates between tutti and soloists. Tutti opens with a theme called the Ritornello. The theme then comes back in fragments and in different keys throughout the piece. At the end, it comes back one last time in the home key.

Fugue:
Fugue- Polyphonic composition based on one main theme called a subject. Throughout the piece, different voices imitate the subject.
Countersubject- Independent voice that accompany’s the subject
Episode- Transitional section in between presentation of the subjects
Keyboard instruments:
Clavichord- produced sound via a metal wedge that would strike the string when the key was depressed.

Harpsichord- The harpsichord had 2 manuals. Strings were plucked when the key was depressed. It had a stronger sound than the clavichord but was incapable of producing dynamics. Principle basso continuo instrument.

Piano was originally called gravicembalo col piano e forte. It was invented in 1709 by Bartolomeo Cristofori in (1655-1731) Despite the significance of the new hammer and escapement action, the piano was not generally used until late in the 18th centrury and virtually no baroque music was composed for this instrument.

Organ- The baroque organ possessed a greater variety and power of tone than the renaissance organ. It was primarily associated with church music both as solo and as accompanying instrument.

Wind Instruments:
Oboe Bassoon and Flute were the principal woodwind instruments. The end blown recorders were still being used in the late baroque, the transverse flute was rising to power.
Brass instruments included trumpets, horns and trombones were employed mostly in large ensembles, rarely as solo instruments.

Percussion instruments:
Timpani were the only percussion instruments in general use and only employed in large orchestras.

String Instruments: Violins, Violas and cellos replaced the viol. The bass viol was retained from the viol family. The master violin makers came from three families in Cremora Italy:
• Nicolo Amati (1596-1684)
• Giuseppi Bartolomeo Guarneri (1698-1744)
• Antonio Stradaveri (1644-1737)

The violin sound became the dominant timbre in the late baroque ensemble music.

Opera- Born in Italy . Drama sung to Orchestral accompaniment. Unique fusion of music, acting, poetry, dance, scenery and costumes.

Camerata- group of composers in Italy that sought out to invent a new vocal style of music modeled after the Greek tragedy.

Early Opera was sung by a solo voice with a chordal accompaniment. It was Homophonic in texture because they didn’t want to obscure the text with polyphonic lines.

Venice 1637, the first opera house opened. Between 1637 and 1700 there were 17 opera houses alone!
Plot of the Opera was delivered in Song. The music kept the plot moving forward and provided the Drama!

Opera stars were people who could sing and act simultaneously.

Opera Personnel:
Star Solo Singers- Carry out the main plot lines. Memorize lots of text and music and virtuoso singers.
Secondary Soloists- They have lesser, but necessary roles in the plot and music.
Chorus- Sing background in costume and fill the music out.
Dancers- dance in costume
Extras- filled out the scenes. They would carry spears or fill out crowds
Stage hands- operate complicated scenery lighting and stage machinery.
Conductor and Musicians- Placed in the pit, are responsible for the music that is the backdrop for the entire production.

Also involved are vocal coaches, rehearsal accompanists, technicians. Total number of people involved numbers in the hundreds.

Construction of an opera is a collaboration between a librettist and a composer. The librettist writes the plot “libretto” and then sends it to the composer.

Opera is divided up into from one to five acts sub-divided into scenes.

Aria- solo voice with orchestral accompaniment. It is appropriate for the audience to respond with applause after the conclusion of the aria.

Recitative- Melodic lines imitated the rhythms and inflections of speech. Often leads into an aria. Usually, only one note per syllable.

Ensemble-When more than 3 people are singing or playing, the group is referred to as an ensemble.

Overture- Short orchestral piece with no singing drawn from material later in the piece that is meant to provide people with a sense of the overall dramatic mood.

Preludes- Short orchestral piece before acts, aside from the first act

Prompter- Gives cues, helps people remember words, etc. Sits in the Prompter’s box.

Orchestra Pit- Sunk in area where the musicians play.

Castrati- Male singers, who would have their reproductive organs removed before puberty, were able to sing in the soprano range. Castrati had the lung power of the man, with the range of a woman. They were paid extremely well. This was done in italy between 1600 and 1800 in Italy with the consent of impoverished parents who hoped that their children would grow up to be rich and famous.

Popular operatic themes were ancient Greek and Roman Cultures.

Euridice by Jacopo Peri is the earliest Opera that was preserved. It was written for the marriage of Henry IV and Marie De Medici was performed in Florence in 1600.

Orpheo By Monteverdi was composed in 1607. This was considered the first Great Opera. Orpheo descended into Hades to bring back his love, Euridice.
Use of Pizzicato (Plucked Strings) and Tremolo (Rapidly moving the bow back and forth over the strings)

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Born in Venice to an Italian violinist of St. Mark’s Cathedral. He was a fine musician and took holy orders at the age of 25 to be a priest. Poor health caused to him to leave the ministry after a year. Because of his religious background and his red hair, he was known as the “Red Priest”.

Solo Concerto – piece for solo instrument with orchestral accompaniment. He not only wrote them for violin, but for flute, piccolo, cello, bassoon, and mandolin.

Listening Example: Antonio Vivaldi: La Primavera (Spring) was a concerto for violin and string orchestra (1725). The Four Seasons is a set of four solo concertos for violin, string orchestra and basso continuo. Each depicts sounds and events associated with one of the four seasons. Bird Songs can be heard in this movement along with Murmuring streams are depicted by soft running notes. In the next solo section, Tremolos in the strings represent thunder and lightning. To make his intentions perfectly clear, he wrote poetic sonnets to go before each concerto.

Program Music- instrumental music associated with a story, poem, idea or scene.

Like most of Vivaldi’s music, Spring is in 3 movements. Fast-Slow-Fast. The first and last movement is in Ritornello form.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
His Music
Created masterpieces in every form except opera. (He was into polypohony)

He wrote instrumental music for orchestra, small groups, solo organ, harpsichord, clavichord, violin and cello.

The bulk of the choral music was for the Lutheran Church.

Bach is very much into unity of mood, as is a characteristic of Baroque music. Melodies are intricate, elaborate and highly elaborate. Distinctive rhythmic drive kept the music always moving forward.

In the Baroque period, Bach invented a system of tuning called “equal temperment”, where instruments were all tuned to A=440. This allowed all instruments to be tuned the same way.

The Well Tempered Clavier was a collection of preludes and fugues. 2 volumes each with 24 preludes and fugues in all 12 major and minor keys. Today it is standard keyboard repertoir.

At the end of his life, like Bach, he became totally blind.

The Baroque Suite
Suites -are sets of dance inspired movements. Movements that are written in the same key but differ in tempo meter and character.

George Frederick Handel (1685-1759)
Born in Halle, Germany one month before Bach

Oratorios Large scale choral work written for solo voices, chorus and orchestra, usually set to a narrative text. Most are biblical stories but are not intended to be performed in church. They told stories like opera, but were not as long, had no expensive sets, costumes, props.

Some aristocrats were jealous of Handel being more popular than them and began plotting his ruin. They couldn’t bear a foreign born composer being so popular. They hired people to tear down concert signs, rob concert goers and put on huge parties on Oratorio night. This led to Handel’s second breakdown.

He recovered quickly and went back to work.

At the end of his life, like Bach, he became totally blind.