Key
Musical Developments in the Baroque Era (1600-1750)
TONALITY was the major Baroque development
in music. Bach’s music, particularly in
works such as The Well-Tempered Clavier, consolidated the development of
tonality. Tonality serves as the basis for
European and other music for the next 400 years.
Opera
–
first opera in 1599
-
composers looking back to what they imagine to be Greek theater
–
first significant composer: Monteverdi (alas, not covered)
–
heavy emphasis on recitative (see glossary) in early opera
–
favors treble (high) voices
–
stories tend to be quite complex and based on Greek or Roman myths and history
– Baroque opera reaches a pinnacle in music of Handel,
a German-born composer trained in
[1] – an aria [vocal solo in an opera] from Handel's
opera Semele. (1744)
– note the brilliant ornamentation and virtuoso technique.
– although this example is in English, nearly all opera of
this time (outside of
– the text for this aria is rather brief, but the aria seems
to go on for a long time (over six minutes).
How is this an example of text painting? The character Semele has been given a magic mirror by an evil
sorceress. The mirror causes anyone
looking into it to become quite vain and self-absorbed. While gazing in the mirror, she sings,
Myself I shall adore,
If I persist in gazing;
No object sure before
Was ever half so pleasing."
– Even Handel’s best and very popular operas fell out of
favor, and were rarely if ever performed again until the 20th
Century. Compare that to the case of
Handel’s Messiah (an oratorio, an un-staged drama, similar to
opera, usually on religious themes), which has been performed every year since
its premiere in 1742. Semele was
not a success in 1744, getting only 6 performances. (Performer: Ruth Ann Swenson)
Listen to & be able to recognize the Hallelujah
Chorus, an excerpt from Handel’s Messiah on the textbook CD. Remember the date: 1742. Note variety of textures: homorhythmic,
changing to polyphonic around 0:53; a fugal passage around 1:47, and contrast
between long notes and homorhythmic short notes.
[2] “Dido’s Lament” from Dido and Aeneas, an opera by
Henry Purcell. (1689) The use of a
ground bass points to the “bottom up” harmonic, tonal thinking of the
Baroque. The use of the tritone
interval (“trouble”) also points to the importance of this interval in tonal
thinking. It is also one of the many
great text painting details in this aria.
(performer: Barbara Bonney). (DVD in class: Maria Ewing). Note minor key.
Instrumental music & genres
– instrumental music increases greatly in importance and
development.
– many forms and genres emerge: the concerto, the
suite (a multi-movement work for an ensemble or instrumental solo), trio
sonata, and various keyboard genres such as the toccata (a virtuoso display
piece), the prelude, and the fugue.
[3] – Winter, 1st movement, from The Four Seasons,
a Vivaldi violin concerto
[CAUTION: WIDE DYNAMIC RANGE ON CD] (Performed by Catherine Mackintosh,
violin, The Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood, conductor)
– a concerto is a multi-movement (usually
fast-slow-fast) work that combines a soloist or group of soloists with a larger
ensemble. (see glossary)
– How well does this concerto fit the doctrine of affect
(or the doctrine fit this concerto)?
Note minor key
[4] – Spring, 2nd movement, from The Four Seasons, a Vivaldi
violin concerto
– imagine an opera singer singing the melody of the second movement;
Vivaldi composed many operas, and although they are not performed today, I
think one can hear the dramatic & operatic influence on Vivaldi's
instrumental music.
Listen to & be able to recognize the Bach
[5] – Bach Organ Fugue in G minor,.a.k.a.
“The Little G minor Fugue”
– a fugue is a strict form of composition
based on a theme (a.k.a. “subject”) that is stated and repeated in following
voices at different tonal levels. These
statements are followed by episodes that develop smaller ideas, usually
fragments of the theme; statements of the fugue alternate with episodes. The fugue developed out of an earlier
keyboard form from the Renaissance known as the ricecar. The ricecar was a keyboard version of the
vocal motet, which of course was based on imitative counterpoint. The term ricecar relates to the Italian word
for "search"; notice how, in a complex texture, you have to search
for the theme. (performer: E. Power Biggs)
– Tonality is a system of major
and minor keys; note the
use of the minor key here. There is a
slight preference for the minor keys in the Baroque period.
Sacred
music
[6] Bach Christ lag in Todesbanden, Cantata No. 4. 2nd
movement of an 8-movement cantata.
(A cantata is multi-movement work for voices & orchestra, usually a
mix of arias, recitatives, duets, and choruses; text usually narrative; starts out as a secular form but
eventually is more associated with sacred themes.) Note complex texture, which includes imitation and
sequences.
Melodic Style -- A Baroque melody is often perceived
as a continuous expansion of an idea, without short, regular phrases.
Number trivia: Bach and Handel were both born in 1685. The end of the Baroque era in music coincides with the death of Bach in 1750.
~~~Baroque
art~~~
key images (be able to associate bold info with image; be
able to identify all as Baroque)
light motion
drama
complex
ornamented
convoluted
diagonal
El Greco 10.3
Bernini 10.8, 10.12
Bernini 10.13-14 Title: Ecstasy of St
Teresa
Caravaggio 10.15 Title: The Calling of
St Matthew
Date: c. 1600
Artemisia Gentileschi 10.16
Rubens 10.26
10.31 genre: still life
Vermeer 10.33 Dutch
Rembrandt 10.34, 10.37
A later era’s view on the monstrosities of the Baroque:
When you arrive at
BAROQUE SUMMARY
ART: light, motion, drama, complex,
ornamented, convoluted, diagonal
CHURCH still an active patron with
the energy of the Counter-Reformation; ROYAL patronage & PRIVATE patronage
shape tastes too
POLITICS: emergence of The State IDEAS: scientific method
(1687