Medieval Music: Gregorian ChantsDufay: Mass for the inauguration of Florence

cathedral (1436): 2 voicesPolyphonic Music:

Religious: Josquin the Prez (1450-1521)Secular: Madalena Casulana

Reformation:Martin Luther: hymns

Counter-Reformation:Palestrina: homophonic harmonyText matches musical cadence: clarity

• Undeniable master of the Northern Baroque musical tradition

• Served as organist and musician at courts and towns in German states• Various small towns• Court of Duke of

Weimar• Court of Prince of

Cöthen• Saint Thomas Lutheran

church and school at Leipzig

• Sought to convey devotion and piety in his religious music

• Cantatas – multi-movement work for choir, soloists, and instruments, specific to the sacred lessons of the readings and sermon for each Sunday

• Oratorios – lengthy choral works, similar to opera in scale, but without staging or scenery

• Passions – similar to an oratorio, but focused specifically on the Gospel story of Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection.

• Bach wrote more than 300 cantatas – 5 complete sets, for each Sunday and feast day of the Lutheran church

• The church patrons demanded new cantatas each week, which Bach had to write and prepare the musicians to perform.

• He usually based them on familiar Lutheran chorales (simple church tunes), but added independent melodies to create elaborate counterpoint, well-suited to Baroque tastes.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwWL8Y-qsJg

• Much larger in scope than the cantatas.• Musically, the contrapuntal treatment is

similar, but the emphasis is also on the narration of the story.

• Uses full orchestra as well as soloists and choir

• St. Matthew Passion is perhaps his greatest choral composition, requiring over 3 hours to perform and large musical forces.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggm0SZCWKZo

• Wide variety of music for a wide variety of occasions• Funerals• Marriages• Civic celebrations• Commissions

• Well-known examples include the Brandenburg Concertos, a set of six works that explore the possibilities of instrumental combinations:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ9qWpa2rIg

• Minuet in G• Minuet

• A genre that uses a single thematic idea throughout the entire work.

• Continual overlapping of counterpoint, with the subject being imitated in various voices while other material is introduced.

• Tremendously challenging either to perform or to compose.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yIcoPrAgvs&feature=related