Baroque Study Guide

8/4/2019 Baroque Study Guide

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MUS 1000-013 Introduction to MusicThe Baroque Period ( 1600 175 0 C.E.)

Study Guide Salient Points

Required Reading:

Kamien text (sixth edition)Pages 91-147Required L istening:(all selections found on the Kamien 5-CD set sixth edition)Selection Composer Kamien Disc # Track #sBrandenburgConcerto No. 5

JS Bach CD #1 63-67

Fugue in G Minor JS Bach CD #1 68-70Tu se morta(from Orfeo)

C. Monteverdi CD #1 71

Didos Lament H. Percell CD #1 72-73La Primavera(from The FourSeasons)

A. Vivaldi CD #2 1-9

Orchestral SuiteNo. 3

JS Bach CD #2 10-11

Wachet auf, ruftuns die Stimme, IV(from Cantata No.140)

JS Bach CD #2 12-14

Wachet auf, ruft

uns die Stimme,VII (from CantataNo. 140)

JS Bach CD #2 15

Evry Valley (fromThe Messiah)

G.F. Hndel CD #2 16

Hallelujah (from TheMessiah)

G.F. Hndel CD #2 17-22

There will be additional listening from these and other composers in class.

The term baroque has, at various time meant the following:

1. Elaborately ornamented2. Flamboyant3. Bizarre

The three historical subdivisions within the Baroque Period are:1. Early (1600-1640)2. Middle (1640-1680)3. Late (1680-1750: death of J.S. Bach)


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List three significant historical and/or cultural events which occurred during theBaroque Period:

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2. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

3. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Name three important artists of the baroque period and a representative workfrom each:

1. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

2. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

3. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Name two important writers of the baroque period and a representative work fromeach:

1. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

2. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

General Characteristics of Baroque Music:

Main Points:1. The early baroque period was characterized by homophonic texture.2. The late baroque period was characterized by polyphonic texture.3. Baroque melodies are elaborate and ornamental.

Supplemental Points:

1. Unity of mood: Affections (musical language depicted these Affections)2. Continuity of rhythm3. Repetition of melody4. Terraced Dynamic5. Varied Textures (imitation and contrast)

6. Use of Chords & Basso Continuo (figured bass)7. Operas of the early baroque were always based upon Greek mythology and

ancient history.

Who were the two giants of baroque composition:

1. Johann Sebastian Bach2. George Frideric Hndel


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What was the social status of a composer/ in the Baroque era?

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The Baroque Orchestra:1. It was based upon instruments of the violin family2. Instrumentation was flexible and could vary from piece to piece3. Usually consisted of between 10 and 30/40 musicians

Terminology: Movement

A composition that sounds complete and independent, but is part of alarger work.

Terraced dynamics

The alteration between loud and soft dynamics.

Libretto The text of an opera written by the librettist (dramatist) and set to music by

the composer.

op. The abbreviation for opus (Latin for work).

Castrati The highest paid musicians for the baroque period. Male singers who had

been castrated before puberty. Combined the lung power of a man with vocalrange of a woman.

Aria A song for solo voice with orchestral accompaniment.

Augmentation A lengthening of the original notated time values of a subject.

Diminution The shortening of the original notated time values of a subject.

Ground Bass A musical idea in the bass that is repeated over and over while the melodies

above it change.

Embellishments Ornamental tones, not printed in the music, that 17th & 18th century musicians

were expected to add to the music.


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Tutti The term used to describe when the full orchestral ensemble is playing.

Musical forms (as applicable to the baroque era): (Solo) Concerto

A composition, usually in 3 movements, for soloist and orchestra.

Concerto Grosso A composition, usually in 3 movements, for a group of soloists and orchestra.

Ritornello form Usually found in the 1st and 3rd movements of concerti grossi, it is and

alternation between tutti and soloists.

Fugue A fugue is a polyphonic composition based on one main theme, called a

subject. Throughout a fugue, different melodic lines, or voices, imitate thesubject.

Opera Opera (or drama) is sung to orchestral accompaniment. This unique fusion of

music, acting, poetry, dance, scenery, and costumes offers a theatricalexperience of overwhelming excitement and emotion. Character and plot arerevealed through song, rather than the speech used in ordinary drama.

Baroque Sonata A multi-movement composition for one to eight instruments.

Trio Suite A sonata written with three melodic lines; two high, one low.

Baroque Suite A set of dance-inspired movements usually written in two-part form (with each

section repeated AABB.)

The Chorale The chorale, or hymn tune, was sung to a German religious text. Chorales

were easy to sing and remember, having only one note to a syllable andmoving in steady rhythm.

The Chorale Prelude New church music was often based on tradition melodies written as far back

as two centuries earlier. Before the congregation began to sing a hymn, theorganist might play a chorale prelude, a short composition based on thehymn tune that reminded the congregation of the melody


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The Church Cantata The principal means of musical expression in the Lutheran service, and one

which used chorales. It was usually written for chorus, vocal soloists, organand a small orchestra.

In the Lutheran services, there were different Gospel and Epistle readings for

each Sunday and holiday, and the cantata text was related to them. The cantata was a sermon in music that reinforced the ministers sermon,also based on the readings.

The Oratorio A large-scale composition for chorus, vocal soloists, and orchestra; usually

set to a narrative text. No acting, scenery, or costumes A succession of choruses, arias, duets, recitatives, and orchestral interludes. Choruses serve either to comment on or to participate in the drama. A narrators recitatives usually relate the story and connect one piece with

another. Longer than cantatas (sometimes 2 hours) and have more of a story line.

Primary Composers of the Baroque Period:

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) Created the earliest operatic masterpiece: Orfeo(1607) His works form a musical bridge between the sixteen and seventeenth centuries. His work is considered passionate and dramatic, a marked departure for

compositional techniques of the Renaissance. Credited with creating new orchestral effects, including pizzicato and tremolo. First prominent composer to use recitative and homophony

Henry Purcell (1659-1695) A master of all the musical forms of the late-seventeenth-England. Historians consider his opera Dido and Aeneasis considered the finest ever written

to an English text. The last English composer of international rank until the twentieth century. Was held is such high regard that he was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) A master composer of Concerti and Concerti Grossi Was so influential as a virtuoso violinist and composer that Bach even arranged

some of his concertos. Spent most of his life in Venice, where he was violin teacher, composer, and

conductor at the music school of the Piet, an institution for orphaned or illegitimategirls. He presented a concert of orchestral and vocal music in the chapel everySunday and holiday throughout his tenure, amassing a large volume of works.


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Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) The masterpieces of Bach mark the high point of baroque music. Known as an organist during his life-time. Four sons became famous composers of the Classical Period. Interest renewed by Mendelssohns 1829 performance of the St. Matthew Passion.

George Frederic Handel (1678-1759) Hndel shares Bachs stature among composers of the late baroque. He wrote a great deal of instrumental music (suites, organ concerti, concerti grossi) The core of his output consists of English oratorios and Italian operas. Composer of The Messiah(1741)

Other Prominent Composers of the Baroque Era whose works will be demonstrated inclass:

Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)German composer of organ, choral, and chamber music; the most famous of which isthe Canon and Gigue in D Major for 3 Violins and Basso Continuo.

Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)French composer of harpsichord music.

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)Versatile and prolific German composer of instrumental music in all media and forms.

Documents

Baroque Study Guide