BMCC Unit 3 – The Baroque Period PDF

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These go over the barouque period of music...

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Unit 3 – The Baroque Period Historical and Cultural Events: Jamestown founded (1607); Galileo confirms the earth revolves around the sun (1610); King James Bible (1611); Reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715); Salem Witch Trials (1692); Arts and Letters: Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1600); Rembrandt’s Self Portrait (1659); Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667); Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689); Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726) Though the word baroque has at times meant bizarre, flamboyant, and elaborately ornamented, modern historians use it simply to indicate a particular style in the arts. A helpful characterizations of baroque style is that it fills space – canvas, stone, or sound – with action and movement. Such a style was very well suited to the wishes of the aristocracy, who also thought in terms of completely integrated structures. The aristocracy was enormously rich and powerful during the 17th and 18th centuries. While most of the population barely managed to survive, Europeans rulers surrounded themselves with luxury. The baroque period (1600 – 1750) is also known as the “age of absolutism” because many rulers exercised absolute power over their subjects. In Germany, for example, the duke of Weimar could throw his court musician Johann Sebastian Bach into jail for a month because Bach left to leave his job. Along with the aristocracy, religious institutions powerfully shaped Baroque style. Churches used the emotional and theatrical qualities of art to make worship more attractive and appealing. During this time, Europe was divided into Catholic and Protestant areas: France, Spain, Italy Austrian Empire – all Catholic; England, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, parts of Germany – all Protestant. The middle class influenced the development of baroque style as well. Successful merchants and doctors would commission realistic landscapes and scenes (paintings) from everyday life. Many new scientific discoveries were made during the baroque period. The work of Galileo (1564 – 1642) and Newton (1642 – 1727) represented a new approach to science based on the union of mathematics and experiment. They discovered mathematical laws governing bodies in motion. Such scientific advancements led to new inventions and the gradual improvement of medicine, mining, navigation, and industry during this time period. 1. Baroque Music (1600 – 1750) The two giants of baroque composition were George Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach’s death in 1750 marks the end of the Baroque period. Other masterful baroque composers included Claudio Monteverdi (Italy), Henry Purcell (England), Arcangelo Corelli (Italy) and Antonio Vivaldi (Italy). This latter composers were not recognized to such great extents until the 1940s when the invention of the

long-playing record sparked a “baroque revival”. The baroque period can be divided into 3 phases: early (1600-1640), middle (1640 – 1690), and late (1690 – 1750). The best known baroque music that we know today mostly comes from the late phase of this period, however the earliest phase was the most revolutionary musically. Music (especially in Italy) was composed for texts conveying extreme emotion, and the text ruled the music. Opera was created in the earlier part of the baroque era. Opera was drama sung to orchestral accompaniment – their melodic lines imitated the rhythms and inflection of speech. Homophonic texture was most popular. It was felt that words could be projected more clearly with just one main melody and a chordal accompaniment. To stress extreme emotions in a text, composers used dissonance more freely. In baroque music, a new style developed where voices were accompanied by melodic lines designed specifically for instruments. During the middle phase of this period the new musical style spread quickly from Italy throughout Europe. Medieval church modes gradually gave way to major and minor scales. By approximately 1690, major and minor scales were the tonal basis of most compositions. Many aspects of harmony – including an emphasis on the attraction of the dominant chord to the tonic – arose in this period. During the late baroque, instrumental music became as important as vocal music for the first time. Characteristics of Baroque Music: Unity of mood Baroque music usually expressed one basic mood throughout. Emotional states like joy, grief, and agitation were represented – and at that time were called affections. Composers molded a musical language to depict the affections; specific rhythms or melodic patterns were associated with specific moods. In vocal music, striking changes of emotion in a text inspired corresponding changes in the music. Rhythm Unity of mood in the music was conveyed by continuity of rhythm. Rhythmic continuity provided a compelling drive and energy and the forward motion is rarely interrupted. The beat is emphasized far more than in Renaissance music. Melody Baroque melody also conveys a sense of continuity. An opening melody may be heard a number of times in the course of a piece. Even when that melody is presented as a variation of its original appearance, the character tends to remain the same. There is a continuous expanding, unfolding, and unwinding of melody. Many baroque melodies sound elaborate and ornamental, and they are not easy to sing or remember. A baroque melody gives an impression of dynamic expansion rather than balance or symmetry.

Dynamics The level of volume tends to stay fairly constant for a stretch of time. When dynamics shift, the shift is sudden, like physically stepping from one level to another. This alternation between loud and soft is called terraced dynamics. Gradual changes in volume through crescendo and decrescendo are not prominent features of baroque music. The main keyboard instruments were the organ and harpsichord, both wellsuited for the continuity of dynamics. An organist or harpsichordist could not obtain a crescendo or decrescendo by varying finger pressure. Texture Much baroque music is homophonic in texture however late baroque music is predominantly polyphonic in texture with two or more melodic lines competing for the listener’s attention. Usually the soprano and bass lines were most important. Imitation is fairly common with a melodic idea heard in one voice and then making an appearance later in another voice(s) as well. Not all late baroque music was polyphonic though. A piece might shift in texture, especially in vocal music, where the changes of mood in the words demand musical contrast. Also, Baroque composers differed in their treatment of musical texture; Bach liked using a more consistently polyphonic texture, whereas Handel used much more contrast between polyphonic and homophonic texture. Chords and the Basso Continuo Chords became increasingly important during this era. Previously there was a concern with individual melodic lines more than chords that formed when the lines were heard together. So, technically chords were by-products of the motion of melodic lines. Baroque composers thought of melodic lines and chords to match with it. Chords gave new prominence to the bass part. The bass part served as the foundation of the harmony and the whole musical structure rested on the bass part. This new emphasis on chords and the bass part resulted in something most characteristic of the Baroque period – the basso continuo. Basso continuo was an accompaniment to the music and in Italian it means “continuous bass”. Continuo is the word we use to abbreviate saying “basso coninuo”. Continuo is usually played by two instruments: one keyboard instrument such as organ or harpsichord, and one low melodic instrument such as cello or bassoon. The keyboard player reads something called a figured bass in which the left hand plays a written out bass line while the right hand improvises chords following the specific numbers (figures) in the musical score written above the bass part.

Words and Music Like in the Renaissance, composers used music to depict the meaning of specific words and they used word painting. Composers often emphasized words by writing many rapid notes for a single syllable of text. This technique also displays a singer’s

virtuosity. Typically the individual words and phrases of a text are repeated over and over as the music continuously unfolds. The Baroque Orchestra During this era the orchestra evolved into a performing group based on instruments in the violin family. The Baroque orchestra had between 10 and 40 players. The instrumental makeup was flexible and might vary from piece to piece. At its center was the basso continuo and upper strings (1st violins, 2nd violins, violas). The use of woodwinds, brass and percussion were variable. To the strings could be added recorders, flutes, oboes, trumpets, horns, trombones or timpani. Trumpets and timpani were used mainly when the music was festive. Bach, Vivaldi, Handel and other composers shoes their orchestral instruments with care and obtained beautiful effects from specific tone colors. Unlike in previous times, composers were specific about which instruments should be playing in a particular piece. Baroque Forms A piece of Baroque music usually has unity of mood. Bqorue pieces however usually have a set of pieces that are contrasting that are performed together. These sets of pieces performed together are called movements. A movement is a piece that sounds fairly complete and independent but is part of a larger composition. Each movement usually has its own themes, comes to a definite end, and is separated from the next movement by a brief pause. Baroque music still uses ternary form (ABA) and binary form (AB), but also uses continuous or undivided form as well. Other examples of form will be explored as we continue this unit. Regardless of form, Baroque music features contrasts between bodies of sound. There is often a regular alternation between a small group and a larger group of instruments, or an alternation between instruments and voices with instrumental accompaniment. This exploration of contrasting sounds provides a key to understanding and enjoying Baroque music.

2. Music in Baroque Society Before 1800, most music was written to order, to meet specific demands that came mainly from churches and aristocratic courts. Opera houses and municipalities also required a constant supply of music. There was a great demand in the era for “new” music and audiences didn’t want to listed to older pieces or older styles. Music was a main source of diversion in the courts of the aristocracy. One court might employ an orchestra, a chapel choir, and opera singers. The size of the musical staff depended on a court’s wealth. Each court had a music director, who’s job had both good and bad features. Pay and prestige holding this post were quite high, and anything the composer wrote would be performed. But no matter how great, the composer was still considered a servant who could neither quit or even take a trip without the patron’s permission. Some rulers such as Frederick the great were good musicians themselves and would often perform their own works with their hired musicians.

Churches also needed music and church music was quite grand. There would be an organ and choir, and many churches had a Baroque orchestra to accompany the services. It was in church where most ordinary citizens heard music regularly. The music director at a church (like those in a court) had to produce new music regularly and was also responsible for training the choristers in the church school. Fine church music contributed to the prestige of a city, and cities competed to attract the best musicians. Church musicians however earned less than court musicians. Their small pay was supplemented by allotments of firewood and grain, as well as small fees for weddings and funerals. Bach often complained at times that there weren’t enough funerals and that people were too healthy and not dying regularly enough for him to get paid a steady wage. Most people in the Baroque period became musicians if their father was one – father to son, passing down a tradition. Such was the case with Bach, Vivaldi, Purcell, Couperin, and Rameau. Sometimes boys were apprenticed to a town musician and lived in his home. In exchange for musical training the boys did odd jobs such as copying music by hand. Many Baroque composers began their training as choirboys, learning music in the choir school. In Italy, music schools were connected with orphanages. The word for music school – conservatory – comes from the Italian for “orphan’s home”. Orphans, foundlings and poor children were given thorough musical training, and some became the most sought-after opera singers and instrumentalists in Europe. Composers like Vivaldi (a priest) were hired to teach at these schools. Vivaldi’s all-female orchestra in Venice was considered one of the finest ensembles in Italy. During the Baroque period women were not permitted to be hired as music directors or as instrumentalists in court or opera orchestras, however a number of women did succeed in becoming respected composers. To get a job a musician had to pass a difficult examination, performing and submitting compositions. There were also nonmusical job requirements such as being expected to make a “voluntary contribution” to the town’s treasury, or even to marry the daughter of a retiring musician. Bach and Handel turned down the same job because one of the requirements was to marry the organist’s daughter. Italian musicians held the best posts in most European courts and were frequently paid twice as much as local musicians. Composers were an integral part of baroque society, working for courts, churches, towns, and commercial opera houses, Even though they wrote their music to fit specific needs, its quality is so high that much of it has become standard in today’s concert repertoire. 3. The Concerto Grosso and Ritornello Form The Baroque period is filled with contrast between loud and soft sounds, and contrast between larger and smaller groups of performers. This principle governs the concerto grosso, an important form of orchestral music in the late baroque period.  In a concerto grosso a small group of soloists is pitted against a larger group of players called the tutti. Tutti in Italian means “all”.  Usually 2-4 soloists plays with anywhere from 8-20 musicians for the tutti.

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The tutti consists mainly of string instruments, with a harpsichord as part of the basso continuo. A concerto grosso presents a texture between the tutti and the soloists. Soloists usually have fanciful and brilliant, more virtuosic lines. Concerto grossi were frequently performed by private orchestras in aristocratic palaces. Consists of several movements that contrast in tempo and character. Most often there are three movements: (1) fast, (2) slow, (3) fast. The opening movement is usually vigorous and determined, clearly showing the contrast between tutti and soloists. The slow movement is quieter, often lyrical and intimate. The Last movement is lively and carefree, and is often dancelike. The first and last movements are often in ritornello form, which is based on alternation between tutti and solo sections. In ritornello form the tutti opens with a theme called the ritornello (which is the refrain). This theme is always played by the tutti and returns in different keys throughout the movement – but it usually returns in fragments, incomplete. Only at the end of the movement does the complete ritornello return. Although the number of times a ritornello (tutti) returns varies from piece to piece, a typical concerto grosso movement might be outlined as follows: 1. a. Tutti (f), ritornello in home key b. Solo 2. a. Tutti (f), ritornello fragment b. Solo 3. a. Tutti (f), ritornello fragment b. Solo 4. Tutti (f), ritornello in home key

In contrast to the tutti’s ritornello, the solo sections offer fresh melodic ideas, softer dynamics, rapid scales, and broken chords. The following is a perfect example of typical ritornello form:

 Listening: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major (c. 1721), by Johann Sebastian Bach  Bach wrote 6 Brandenburg Concertos. This is one featuring a virtuosic harpsichord solo part.  First movement: Allegro – typical ritornello form. The appearance of the soloists brings a lower dynamic level and new tone color. Tutti always comes in again in a loud dynamic to contrast. Solo sections are more polyphonic and stress imitation between the flute and violin. The soloist parts tend to be more brilliant, fanciful, and personal compared with the more vigorous and straightforward tutti sections.  Only the harpsichord plays during the long final solo section. Bach builds a tense climactic point for the movement through the rhythm and dazzling scale passages the require a virtuoso harpsichordist’s skill.

4. The Fugue The fugue is one cornerstone of Baroque music. It can be written for a group of instruments or voices, or for one single instrument like an organ or harpsichord.  A fugue is a polyphonic compositions based on one main theme, called a subject. Throughout a fugue, different melodic lines called voices imitate the subject. The top melodic line is called the soprano voice, and the bottom is called the bass. The texture of fugue usually includes 3, 4 or 5 voices.  The form of fugue is extremely flexible. The only constant feature of fugues is how they begin. The subject is almost always presented in a single, unaccompanied voice. By highlighting the subject this way, the composer tells us what to remember and listen for. In getting to know a fugue you should follow its subject through the different levels of texture.  The first time the subject appears it is in the home key or tonic key. When it appears the second thime it is called the answer and it is usually in a related key, the fifth note of the home key’s scale which we call the dominant key. The fugue almost always begin and end in the same key – the tonic (home) key.  In many fugues the sublect is accompanied by another voice with a different melodic idea. This melodic idea is called the countersubject. It is a constant companion to the subject.  Longer musical interludes between each presentation of the subject are called episiodes. Episodes are usually sequences which take us from one key area to another key area.  A fugue subject can be varied in a number of ways. It can be: 1. Turned upside down – inversion 2. Presented backward – retrograde 3. Presented with lengthened note values – augmentation 4. Presented with shortened note values – diminution  Fugues usually convey a single mood and sense of continuous flow. Often there is a preceding movement that accompanies the fugue. It is short piece which we call a prelude.  Listening: Organ Fugue in G Minor (Little Fugue; c. 1709), by Johann Sebastian Bach 5. The Elements of Opera The Baroque era witnessed the development of a major innovation in music -Opera. Opera is a drama that is sung to orchestral accompaniment. This unique fusion of music, acting, poetry, dance, scenery, and costumes is a theatrical experience offering overwhelming excitement and emotion.  Opera began in Italy around 1600 and since then has spread to many countries. Even today it remains a powerful form of musical theater.  In an opera, characters and plots are often revealed through song, rather than the speech used in ordinary drama. In opera, music is the drama.  Opera performers sing and act simultaneously.  Scenery, lighting, and stage machinery are intricate and are used to create the illusion of fires, floods, storms, and supernatural effects.

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In the orchestra pit are the instrumentalists (the orchestra) and the conductor, whose great responsibility it is to hold everything together. The personnel for a large opera – from conductor to stagehands – may reach a startling total of several hundred people. These include vocal coaches, rehearsal accompanists (pianists), technicians, stagehands and musicians. The creation of opera includes the joint efforts of a composer and a dramatist. The libretto, or text, of an opera is usually written by the librettist, or dramatist, and set to music by the composer. Composers often c...