Characteristics – age of monarchy

era of change & exploration, age of absolute monarchy, grandiose, ornaments, dramatic – pp. 106-107

Scientists of the period

p. 107 Newton, Galileo, Harvey

Catholic countries

pp. 107-108 France, Austria, Spain, Italy

.Lutheran country

p. 108 – Northern Germany, England, Scandinavia, Holland

Paradise Lost

Know with what religious sect it was associated

Milton wrote it., Puritan

Monody

A single melody with continuo accompaniment and developed by the Camerata, it paved the way for opera. – Monody is homophonic

. Know that in the Baroque, instrumental music was both polyphonic and homophonic

but early vocal music was homophonic,

a shift from the Renaissance high polyphony.

Florentine Camerata

a group of men who sought to revive the ancient Greek musical drama,  developed monody and thus paved the way for opera

Basso continuo – What is it?

What are some possible instrument combinations for it?

Thus, a basso continuo needs two instruments

Two instruments, one playing the bass line and the other playing the filler chords.

Keyboard for chords –a Harpsichord, organ, or clavichord paired with & either a cello or bassoon to double the bass line

Figured bass

the numbers below the bass of a musical piece indicating chords

Major-minor tonality of the Baroque

The baroque period saw a shift from the modes of the Middle Ages to mostly major/minor modality

Equal temperament

  A system of slightly adjusting the tuning of intervals within the octave, thus making it possible to play in every major and minor key

Characteristics of baroque style

rhythm, melody, terraced dynamics (all on one level). There is a line of loud and a line of soft perhaps, but there is little crescendo or decrescendo; vigorous rhythm based on regular accent and carried by a moving bass part, a continually expanding melody

Conceto delle donne

a professional trio of women at a court in Northern Italy

Doctrine of the affections

one mood throughout a piece

Castrato

Boys were castrated to keep their voices from lowering. The voices were high, but powerful. They sang in churches and in the opera seria.

Improvisation

embellishing a piece of music in performance

Women’ s roles in baroque music – How did it change

Expanded into professional performance careers, including singing in operas

Cantata as a part of Lutheran service and also its medium

(SATB soloists, SATB chorus, & orchestra)/ The text was taken from the reading of the day.

Chorale

monophonic, German religious text/  To be sung by congregation Baroque composers often used chorales as a basis for their cantatas. Martin Luther arranged a famous chorale using a Psalm text and a well-known melody.

Bach’ s professional positions

cantor of St. Thomas’s Church in Leipzig, court organist and chamber musician to the Duke of Weimar, court musician to the prince of Nhalt-Cothen

Bach was most known as an

organist

Form of the chorale tune “Wachet auf”

AAB

Opening movement of Wachet auf is

a grand chorale fantasia

The form of the duet from Bach’s cantata is

A-B-A

Oratorio

a play sung by soloists, chorus, and orchestra concert style (no staging)

Source for the oratorio stories

Bible (Old Testament mostly)

Domenico Scarlatti

His patron was the Princess of Portugal for whom he composed more than 400 harpsichord sonatas

Handel’ s life –In what countries did he live and work?

He was born in Germany, studied opera in Italy, and spent most of his adult life writing operas and then oratorios in England. He was a master of these two media.

Fancesca Caccini

She was the daughter of Giulio Caccini and a composer and performer

Henry Purcell

He was born in England in the late 17^th c. He wrote for the church and for the theater. He was organist at West Minster Abbey. His opera is Dido and Aeneas.

Strozzi

She was a professional composer and possibly a courtesan

Recitative

is the part of a dramatic work that moves the plot. Secco recitative is for solo and continuo

Choral climax in Part II of Messiah is the

“Hallelujah Chorus.”

became important in the Baroque

instrumental music

John Blow

an English composer of operas and masques as well as instrumental music, including Venus and Adonis

Difference in violins

in the Baroque and today

Suite

a collection of pieces in various dance forms, all in the same key. The dances are either in AB or ABA form

Virgil wrote the...

Aeneid, on which “Dido and Aeneas” is based

Nahum Tate wrote the....

libretto based on Virgil’s book. Purcell composed the music

Dances in a suite

allemande, courant, sarabande, (other?), gigue

Gigue

English dance, fast 6/8 meter

Form of the suite dances

AB or ABA (binary or ternary)

Handel’s Water Music

is a suite

Where was the Water Music first performed

on a barge floating down the Thames

Monteverdi

He was Italian, born in the Renaissance. He wrote madrigals and motets. Then he was a bridge into the Baroque, in which he wrote operas. His most famous opera, L’Orfeo, was composed for the private patron, the Duke of Mantua. When the public opera house opened in Venice, he composed for it, including The Coronation of Poppea.

Lully

He was born in Italy, but he spent most of his life in the service of Louis XIV, for whom he composed operas and ballets. He teamed up with the comedic playwright Moliere for some of his works.

Form of the rondeau

ABACA

Keyboard instruments of the baroque

organ, harpsichord, clavichord

Harpsichord

plucked strings, no crescendo/decrescendo, no sustained pitches

Toccata

improvisatory, virtuosic keyboard work

Source for stories for Handel’s operas

mythology and historical figures

Fugue

a keyboard form based on the principle of voices imitating each other

Aria

It is for solo voice and orchestra from a dramatic work. It does not move the plot, but rather it gives the singer a chance to vent his/her feelings about the action.

In a fugue, the areas of relaxation where the subject is not heard are called what?

episodes

Contrapuntal devices to alter a fugue theme

augmentation, diminution, inversion, retrograde

Basso ostinato

a melody repeated continuously in the bass of a piece

Exposition in a fugue

opening section in which the subject sounds in all voices

The Well-Tempered Clavier

is a set of 48 preludes and fugues by Bach, composed to illustrate the advantages of the equal temperament for keyboards.

Vivaldi

Italian composer, composed over 400 concertos, had the patronage of a girl’s orphanage in Venice

The Art of Fugue

Bach’s last demonstration of contrapuntal mastery

Episode in a fugue

parts without the subject

Characteristics of the Rococo

ornate art, term derives from the French word for “ shell,” it aimed at enchanting the senses

Watteau was a great...

Rococo painter

The Beggar’s Opera

Gay/Pepusch/ballad opera, England

3 violin makers

Amati, Guarneri, Stradivarius

Concerto grosso

a concerto that alternates a full orchestra of strings with a small group of solo instruments, called the ripieno and the concertino

Baroque dates

1600-1750

Differences in Baroque and current violins

type of strings, cost of the instrument, playing techniques

Prelude from Dido and Aeneas

Purcell

LISTENING

Purcell - Dido’s Lament (Recitative and Aria) from Dido and Aeneas

Test – This piece starts at the aria.

LISTENING

Strozzi

“Amor dormiglione”

LISTENING

J. S. Bach

Chorale fantasia from Cantata No. 140, Wachet auf

LISTENING

J. S. Bach

Unison chorale from Cantata No. 140, Wachet auf

LISTENING

Handel

“Rejoice greatly” from Messiah

LISTENING

Handel

“Hallelujah” from Messiah

LISTENING

Handel

Alla hornpipe from Water Music

LISTENING

Mouret

Rondeau, from Suite de symphonies

LISTENING

Vivaldi

Spring  from The Four Seasons

LISTENING

Bach

Contrapunctus 1, from The Art of Fugue

LISTENING

BACH

Toccata & Fugue in D Minor

Spring is in what form?

 ritornello

Dido’s Lament is in what form?

ostinato 

The “Hallelujah” opens with what kind of texture?

homophonic

The Choral Fantasia from Wachet Auf has what texture?

polyphonic

The Toccata in D Minor is played on what instrument?

“Rejoice Greatly” is scored for what medium?

soprano  & orchestra

The Contrapunctus is written for what instrument?

In the Suite de symphonies, the rondo theme features what instruments?

trumpets & timani

The text for “Amor dormiglione” is directed towards what god?

Cupid

The opening melody of the Dido and Aeneas Prelude has what kind of character?

playful tune and sprightly tempo